My husband and I are interested in moving to Spain in about ten years. We are currently 33 and 30 and have two children who will both be 18 in ten years. We can’t move now or anytime sooner as we each have another coparent.
We live in the US, in one of the higher COL cities in the nation.
It’s little more than a dream at the moment, but we have been discussing it more and more and both want to move to Europe. Hopefully at that time, our sons would be interested in moving as well and possibly studying in Spain, but obviously that would have to be seen in time.
Our main question is, what should we do now to begin our long journey to moving? We are about to start learning Spanish (I have some basic Spanish but definitely want to become more fluent.)
We are planning on an extended visit in the next two to three years to explore, and hopefully more to come in the next ten years.
We have been looking specifically at Seville, but are open to other areas of Spain as well. We are mainly looking for near the ocean, decent weather (more interested in warm weather than cold) a low to average COL, and somewhere we can find other ex pats as well as immersion in local culture. We also would like somewhere walkable and to not have to own a car.
We are starting our own business next year, which would take place primarily online. If this is successful, is that something we would be able to continue to use as income on a visa if the business is based in the US?
I find the whole thing complicated and just am curious what the options for visas really are. We aren’t highly sought after for tech skills and such, so unless something drastic changes in the next 5 or so years, we wouldn’t be with a company that allows us to work in Spain. We are more interested in working for ourselves, and are wondering if and how that would work.
These could be kind of dumb questions, so I’m not offended by a reality check. I’m just wondering if moving to Spain is something doable for the average American who struggles with HCOL where we are currently. We are not very interested in lower COL states here in the US and US politics is one of the stronger reasons we would like to leave anyway.
Feel free to hit me with the real life parts of this!
Visas situations will change almost certainly in 10 years. Spain has some digital nomad visa but you never know how long will they last given a lot of countries are now voting in politicians actively challenging immigration. If you move because of politics, do something to change politics home, situation is not much better in Europe (and Spain and their mess is a special case of fun as well). Europe is not some kind of wonderland where you’ll be able to live cheaply, cost of living is pretty crippling for many individuals here as well. Highly recommend checking what happens in economical powerhouses of Europe like Germany, Nerherlands and France, their political situation projects to poorer EU countries.
Typically you need a business in EU and pay taxes in EU to be able to live there.
Btw worth checking the map, Seville is not on the coast (and this is EU vs Us perception of distance, 100km from the coast is not at the coast here). It’s by now a semi-desert location with crippling heat waves in summer.