1 Year Living In Spain - Update! Exciting News, Changes & What Life Is Really Like!

hey everyone welcome back to the channel so I'm just a few weeks shy of my one-year anniversary of living in Spain so that means I'm currently in the process of renewing my non-lucrative Visa for two more years now I'm not going to cover that in this video today because we're in process so hopefully in about four to 6 weeks that will all be completed and I will release a video covering all the documents how long it takes what you got to do there is one thing I will note though it will be done through your local immigration office here in Spain when you do your renewal so you don't have to worry back to your home country dealing with consulates that's all over so if you've watched my older videos you'll know that when I moved over to Spain I lived down on the cadel soul in Malaga province in F horola Well I have actually moved now I'm up on the Costa Blanca in alacante province in the city of benador and we are quite enjoying it it's a little different uh than the cadel soul there's a lot of reasons why we moved I made an entire video on that about a month or so ago I will link it below but we are thoroughly enjoying our new home up here on the Costa Blanca we've been here for about 2 months now and uh got no complaints all right so I'll just cover a few things uh to start off uh in regards to banking uh like I said in my older videos wise money transfer service that is going to be one of the most valuable tools you have I still use it every month um that's how I get my money over here to Spain in regards to my bank account in Spain I'm still with sand taner still highly recommend them um at Santander it seems like they're one of the only banks that don't have a lot of fees so I don't have a monthly fee or an at M withdrawal fee uh basically the requirements are move €600 into your account or more and use your card like I a couple times a month and that's basically it and everything will be free now on to healthc care because I'm in the process of renewing uh my Visa I had to renew of course my private healthc care for another year so I'm now good up till the 31st of December 2024 and I stayed with the same company asss and uh yeah they've been fabulous my uh premium went up only €2 this year so now I'm at 643 for the entire year so fantastic I still deal with the office down in uh Fen Hera because Judith and the staff there were absolutely amazing and they continue to be and the online portal is very useful like I said in previously videos I did kind of more of a deep dive I'll link that below and then the other thing about living up here in benador is there's a group of hospitals here that have won like it's one of the most prestigious Awards here there's a chain of them throughout the Valencia Community here on the coast and uh well here I'll just explain it to you so HCB de benador is accredited with the Joint Commission International the most prestigious International Health Quality seal in the world so basically they cater to International clients the doctors there speak a slew of languages um and they have over 40 Services combined into the One hospital so it's basically a One-Stop shop and it's won awards for I guess like the quality of the healthcare luckily I have not had to use it so uh thank God for that but it's literally one of the best hospitals I guess in Spain our Hospital networks in Spain so very happy with that [Music] so you're probably wondering why I moved from the cadel soul up to the Costa Blanca well there's a bunch of reasons and I outlined them in a video uh definitely check that out but one of the major reasons um was the style and the price of the property we find your money goes much further and the property seemed to be bigger up here uh we're currently living in a three-bedroom basically American style property we have a full kitchen a full dining room uh full laundry room three bedrooms we love it we're kind of right in the center um we're close to all the festivals and fiestas and all that kind of stuff that takes place so we're really enjoying the new property we're still going to rent for a few more years uh we're going to check some other areas out around the alacante province we could end up just buying in benador but the houses here are a much better value and they seem to have much more space which coming from North America is kind of a big deal so our lifestyle here in Spain has been amazing of course that's why many people move over here combined with the weather and the food and the amount of things going on like the fruits and the vegetables the seafood the meat it is amazing here in Spain the cost of it is really I mean they've had some inflation but not like the inflation they've had back in Canada and the United States where people's grocery bills are going through the roof of course Spain is an extremely safe country when you compare it back to North America and other parts of the world uh there's not a lot of shootings going on here uh it's extremely safe we walk around sometimes we're out till 4 in the morning uh because stuff obviously starts late here and finishes late here and we walk around the streets and no you're going to have no problem the other great thing is their trail system systems here are amazing like if to get out for hiking and walks and stuff like that they were fantastic back in Canada and that was one of the things we really really enjoyed about Canada is the nature part well Spain has Bas I mean the country is not as big but there is so many trails along coasts into Old castles and there is so much and we're going to hit the interior of the country and see what's going on there it's supposed to be a little more underpopulated so the hiking and uh sightseeing should be absolutely amazing so the lifestyle here is kind of what you make of it but you can live a very healthy lifestyle outside of course the beaches are unrivaled here they're amazing and benador is uh they have two giant beaches basically like wangara had that 8 kmers of beach well uh they basically have that here only it's broken into ponente and lante beach with a nice Old Town down smack dab in the center of it it's absolutely gorgeous all right so what's the shopping like here is it the same as North America yeah it is and then some they have literally everything you don't need to worry about bringing a ton of stuff uh obviously can ship stuff over if that's what you want to do we went the other rout where we just bring some suitcases and uh we literally stocked all our house here plus your electronics aren't going to come from North America and work over here so you got to buy all brand new TS and all that stuff not a big deal um the stores here are fully stocked from stuff all over Europe in the world for instance carfor which is like Europe's Walmart it's kind of a bad way to explain it it's much better than a Walmart but they have everything from washing machines TVs Automotive pets uh a little bit of clothing and they have a fantastic uh food section wine and alcohol also they have an international section where they carry products from the United States France Germany South America the UK It's amazing And they also have an app and if you use the app and you scan it every time you go through the checkout you'll eventually get a uh kind of like a store credit check like my last one here in September was €27 so it's not really lifechanging but it's kind of nice to get a little bit back and also a grocery store here up on the Costa blanket consome they also have kind of a similar program they'll email you a check uh at which you can use in in store uh they're an also a very well stocked grocery store meat selection is fantastic they also carry some International products Thailand Vietnamese uh of course Mexican and of course the UK so the stores are amazing you don't have to worry you're not going to go without most cities and uh at least the bigger sized cities have kind of like uh like a big box shop shopping area in it the one here in fin Strat just outside of benador is fantastic they have literally everything all kinds of nice restaurants up there uh decathalon pet stores uh clothing stores of course uh media Market which is like your Best Buy uh what else a Leroy Merlin is like your Home Depot so you're not going to go without um life is pretty much the same here it's just way nicer that's really all I can say about that so another great thing about living in Spain of course is there is no need for a car now of course if you're living out in the Campo or in the interior then you're probably going to want one or if you're commuting uh long distances but we are not doing that the public bus service here in benador is really good it will get you it actually leaves the city and goes to other areas like altaa alir finestrat so that that's very convenient uh the standard Fair would be a60 but if you're here for a long time or if you live here like us you can get a card uh from the bus driver and it drops your fair down to 70 cents uh so amazingly cheap they also have the medium to long range buses that will get you everywhere like alacante Valencia uh Barcelona Dena fantastic service just like down in the South they had the advans buses at you can book them all online and uh book your trip in advance pay with your card you just show up with your phone scan it and of course they have international airport just like down in Malaga you can get pretty much anywhere in the world same as Alicante uh and if you can't get any of there you can it's a quick I think it's a 45 minute flight over to Madrid and then literally the world is at your fingertips close proximity to Africa of course if you want to do some visiting down there Middle East is not far and Spain is an amazing base to travel Europe uh and of course you have highspeed trains going all across uh Spain and up into France and and and onwards so we plan on exploring all of Spain and then using our base here in alacante to travel all of Europe we're looking to go to Amsterdam for like the Tulips when they come out next year and stuff so we are loving the travel options and it's very affordable um like most of the flights the trains are very affordable of course uh the flights depending on where you're going inside the country I find Iberia is fantastic Airline uh and then of course there's Ryan Air if you're looking for some really really cheap flights and uh they have a ton of destinations out of Alicante in the summer like you could get up to Norway and all through Scandinavia and those kind of areas in the summer I think those routs kind of uh get uh peeled back a bit in the winter but anyways the travel options and transportation are out of this world here it's so completely different back in Canada it's like a fortune just to go from Toronto to Calgary and now it's like I can fly to another country for under A1 EUR like it's in it's insane so the entertainment options here in Spain are plentiful there's so much to do I of course live in benador which is a huge British um holiday spot so there is everything from like tributes to Michael Jackson pink Adele literally you name it everybody's here Elvis Presley there's comedians there's like illusionists and there is so much stuff going on it's like a little mini Las Vegas without all the casinos like the entertainment is topnotch and most of it is completely free all you got to do is buy a drink uh when you show up we've been out plenty of times we love the comedians of course and the live music other than the tributes but there's like some cover bands uh that like one at the Western Saloon is one of the best bars my wife we go there quite a bit for the uh music and the bands are out of this world it's a really good time and it's super safe and it's pretty affordable considering you're not paying for a ticket you're just paying for a drink here and there uh so yeah and then of course benador seems to be the fiesta capital of course Spain has so much celebrations and religious holidays and parties going on but benador seems to be like the epicenter of it like they have I think one of the biggest Prides uh in the whole country like Pride week and then they have um the fancy dress party which is coming up in November I haven't attended but I looked it up on YouTube and I think it's the biggest in Europe um if not the biggest in the world and it's hard to explain uh what's it we have nothing like it in North America that I know of think of Halloween for Adam adults without the trick-or-treating on steroids it's like 40,000 people on a few blocks dressed up in all these crazy costumes I cannot wait to attend it but there always seems to be something going on if you uh hang out in any of the plazas around town hall there's like a concert or a parade or like we've only been here two months in benador and the amount of parades and fiestas it's mindblowing there's always something going on here it is so fun [Music] all right so what is life like living in Spain of course there's all kinds of trails and outdoor activities and beaches you can do all kinds of that but then you kind of want to be a little more fulfilled throughout your day so there is tons of volunteer opportunities here take a look around your town or your city obviously the bigger cities will have more options um but there is lots to get into animal rescue is Big here in Spain my wife's very interested in uh working with a dog rescue so that's kind of interesting also the Royal British Legion has branches all over Spain and you don't have to be British or served in the military to join they do all kinds of work around uh Spain of course and of course with Remembrance Day and the poppy appeal they do a lot of that kind of stuff of course we're still continuing on our language Journey which will be never ending for us at at our age I I think um we also bought uh season tickets to the local uh football club here in benador which is fantastic and uh so that season runs from September to may they play on Sundays and so we have season tickets to all the home games everybody is super welcoming here in Spain I find that there's no problem to really integrate into the communities or the clubs or whatever um of course in benador there is a large British uh population here and uh they they are super friendly welcoming they don't mind having a couple Canadians kicking around and of course the local Spanish are amazing they are very friendly very inclusive so it's been a wonderful opportunity to live here in Spain highly recommend you do it and there is so much that you can get into of course just what I mentioned plus there's probably so much more that you can get into here the uh possibilities are Limitless so get out and get active and it will make your time here in Spain much better because the honeymoon period does uh kind of wear off of the tapa Sip and wine on the beach you're going to want to get into something or else you might get a little bored all right so do I miss anything about North America um yeah but very very very small little things um one personal space and uh you'll probably know what I'm talking about if you grew up in North America we have these giant yards and houses we have all kinds of space and even when you're in a store or a mall people kind of there's like that little bubble around you that people don't usually invade while here in Spain I think it's a whole European thing they are like right on your heels if you've been over here you probably know what I mean and I'm not talking about on the train and stuff sure that that happens but like there's all kinds of space but they will just stand on top of you I think it's just the way we grow up back home we have tons of space here they don't so people are just used to being like you know pushed together but we're used to kind of having our Elbow Room so I mean it's not a huge deal but I kind of miss that some days anyways some days it's it can be very congested in areas especially when you live in the city like I do uh probably if you're out in the camp oh that is not an issue uh the other thing is your restaurant experience two little minor things so back home as soon as you sit down you usually have a glass of ice water in front of you that I've never seen that anywhere in Europe uh you almost always have to buy your water which is bizarre and then they don't ever refill it so it's so strange cuz back home like the waiters waitresses they are on you like if your glass is empty boom there's another Coke Zero on the way there's a jug of water on the way they're refilling every like you don't even have to ask here you almost have to flag them down um the service is great uh if you're at a fine dining restaurant the service is fantastic they will stop by all the time but if you're at just kind of like a casual run-of-the-mill place uh once you get your drink and your food they kind of just leave you alone they don't really come back and check on hey do you want another soda or anything like that it's not really a thing you kind of got to flag them down um so I do miss that cuz that especially when it's like hot as hell out here like it can be 40° and they're like here's your 200ml tiny Coke and then they never come back like I probably need to order about three of those at a time um the other thing is when you're trying to get your bill and you if you've probably noticed this so back home sometimes they're really aggressive and they're like trying to flip the table so they're like you're not having dessert here's your bill like get out of here sort of thing um over here they they won't do that they'll just if you have your beer they will just leave you alone they won't bring you your like they won't even come and ask if you want the bill because I believe in Europe it's um viewed as rude to rush people from their dinner in North America it's the opposite like a lot of like my wife always says we're from North America we like to eat and run now not always obviously if we're out for like a special night or it's like date night or whatever but sometimes you're just like all right you know like let's grab a bite and then we'll go to Cara for and you know get some shopping done so you just want to get moving and uh yeah they don't do the really get moving you almost got to flag them down and sometimes it's almost like they will kind of look the other way as they walk by I don't know it's very bizarre um so I do miss that especially when you're you know cuz like everybody back home you go out on a Saturday you're hitting the mall and then you're stopping at whatever restaurant and grabbing a bite to eat and you just want to get moving like you're not there for the 2hour experience so that is kind of weird uh but most times I mean it's really not a big deal if that's what you're doing for the evening or whatever um but yeah that that's really the only two things I miss there's one thing I do not miss which is the freeze and cold of Canada can't stand that uh glad to be in the heat uh now mind I did have a comment one day like somebody said Well it can't be good to be Inus 30 all the time but it can't can't be good to be in plus 30 well in Spain if you've ever been here it's not plus 30 all year long so the summer is hot it's gets up to like 40 in a lot of the areas but as the fall comes like it's already dropping down here what are we in uh the beginning of October the highs well we're in a bit of a heat wave right now but they were like 26 and that will continue to drop like soon in the morning it'll eventually in January or February like I was here last February and it was cold in the morning it was probably like 4° I had gloves on a vest that will be coming back soon so it's not 30 it's not like Mexico where it just stays hot or Thailand where it just stays hot all year round there's definitely a winter season here um I mean Madrid has had snow they've had snow here in benador so it does happen um yeah so I mean it's it's not hot all year round but the shoulder season it can be very warm like September was on almost just as hot as August August was hot and humid here in benador which I was surprised because it's more of an aid kind of uh climate around like the landscape but it was so humid I think it was more humid here than it was in Malaga which I never would have believed inless if I lived here but yeah so that's really all I miss anyways if you're moving to Spain congratulations and if you want to move to Spain do it just make it happen if you can it is so worth it your life will improve tenfold over here uh of course it is what you make of it but the opportunity is here to have a fantastic life so I highly recommend everybody does that all right so I think I covered just about everything I wanted to cover in the video just a few small little points here so keep an eye out for that uh non-lucrative Visa renewal video that will be um that should be very helpful to most of you if you want to look at what's going on in and around either the Malaga area or the Alicante area I am still making travel videos so check out my channel if you want to if you want to see what's happening also if you have any questions you can either leave them Below in the comments or you can go to my channel page on YouTube go to the about section and my email address will be there you can send me an email lots of people have in the past I don't mind answering questions or taking emails uh yeah so for now I think that's about all thanks for tuning in we'll see you in the next [Music] one

Channel: The Empty Middle Seat Travel

Views: 23,825

Keywords: living in spain, life in spain, expat spain, expat living, moving to spain, spain update, moving to spain from canada

Id: 1rRNPi4-QPA

Length: 23min 48sec (1428 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 06 2023