We hope you liked this week's video. Since so many people are moving to Spain, and Valencia is becoming more and more popular, we thought we'd share our experience of living there in the hopes of helping other expats and digital nomads. There are always pros and cons about any place. Let us know what you think and if you agree or disagree with the points we mentioned. Next week we'll be back exploring another beautiful destination and we'll be eating delicious food as usual 🙂- Brandon & Anja
Thank you for an excellent video. We are retired educators planning on visiting southern Spain in the fall to look for our next home. This area looks beautiful. We love a walkable and accessible city. Gracias! Dean & Cindy
@@DeanRamser Thanks for watching! If you haven't already, you should check out our regular Valencia video, and our Benidorm video. We've been gone from Spain for a bit, but we really miss it. Valencia is a beautiful city.
I loved watching your video and would like to help shedding some light on certain matters (as a Spaniard who has lived and travelled abroad, which truly gives you a completely different perspective). PEOPLE IN SPAIN ARE NOT RELAXED AT ALL. THEY ARE OVERWHELMED! Yes, one should not confuse healthy and social leisure with “a relaxed attitude towards life”. Spain is and has been a very restless country (if it were a relaxed country, it wouldn't have conquered a whole continent, believe me). It is a country thanks to which the United States exists (don't forget about Blas de Lezo and his help fighting against the English to give the States its independence); the dollar is also a Spanish creation, and of course, a wide range of American cities that are now World Heritage sites were founded by Spaniards, not to mention Los Ángeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Bárbara, Pensacola... Today, Spaniards work more hours than their European neighbors. In general, Spanish companies exploit their employees more, hiring fewer workers who have to handle double the workload of an English or German worker. So please forgive us if sometimes you have to wait for someone; that Spanish person has probably been going non-stop all day... And don't even get me started on bureaucracy. There are no excuses. Yes, it's lamentable. CONSTRUCTION IN SPAIN IS OF HIGH QUALITY. (So… why isn't your house in the city center, and neither are the houses of your expatriate friends?) Typically, visitors and expatriates in Spanish cities choose to live in the charming historic city centers. These areas epitomize the archetype of a Spanish city, right? Let's keep in mind that the historic city center of a Spanish city today represents only 10% of the total city area. The buildings in the other 90%, many of which were constructed from the 1990s onwards, have good finishes and insulation. (Unlike in America, Spain doesn't use wood and cardboard construction; instead, it uses concrete and sturdy, resistant materials. If a tornado comes, the house won't be blown away...) However, living in a modern apartment is much less romantic, and foreigners prefer to focus on that 10%, where, apart from low-quality, small apartments, they will be surrounded by people with fewer resources (humble owners), tourists, and a lot of immigration. Ultimately, this is not where most Spaniards live. These small areas of the city experience very high demand, and as a result, prices are skyrocketing. Apartments in these areas can date back to the early 20th century, and many of them lack insulation or renovations because, simply put, the owner doesn't need it to be able to rent it out at a high price. Never let the owners be greedy and demand what you need. Pay close attention to the contract you sign. INFRASTRUCTURE IN SPAIN IS EXCELLENT: Coming from -especially- the American continent (no matter which country), where public transportation is very deficient, you will have noticed how well connected Spain is. With large and modern airports, ports, highways, and... train stations. Spain, after China, is the second country in the world with the most high-speed rail kilometers. Don't worry if your favorite band doesn't come to Valencia because you can be in Madrid in just 2 hours, which for a citizen of a huge country like yours and accustomed to long distances, is nothing. SPAIN IS A SAFE COUNTRY. I'm glad you perceive and enjoy it. I didn't appreciate how lucky I was to walk alone at night anywhere in Spain until I heard about the experiences of other foreign friends. People in Spain (with exceptions, of course) are generally respectful and civilized, and they understand leisure in a completely different way. While in northern European countries, people drink excessively, engage in drug use, look for fights, and destroy property, Spaniards become friendlier and more outgoing. Yes, we are more civilized than them ;) As you may have noticed, Spaniards also enjoy writing (sorry for such a lengthy text). 😊 Os deseo lo mejor! Disfrutad España.
Esas casas baratas en la construcción son antiguas y con el turismo sus dueños las alquilan a altos precios. Es mejor ir a pisos, edificios más señoriales y a construccion de menos de 40 años en donde tienen generalmente calefacción y refrigeración . Yo nunca viviría en Valencia Julio y Agosto a menos que tuviera aire y calefacción. Los valencianos tienen sus recursos y están acostumbrados. Como marcharse de la ciudad con el calor y las fallas.
We've been away from Valencia for almost a year now, and although there were things we disliked we do really miss it sometimes, and Spain in general 😊. Thanks for watching.
Wow- really liked this video. How rare it is that anyone is willing to just say it straight up. This is rare and very worthwhile information, simple and honest. And it was particularly valuable where you're discussing very relevant issues everyone will face (and virtually no one else is talking about): vet services; apartment rental hurdles and frustrations in Valencia; the disruption of the Las Fallas festival (believe me, I've lived in New Orleans and Mardi Gras is intriguing there exactly "once"). I particularly liked your even handed review of issues that can be either a plus or a minus based on your perspective and then presenting some of both possibilities. This was all valuable--especially the candor. Thank you.
Thanks so much for watching! We try to be as honest as we can with these types of videos. Sugarcoating everything isn't going to help anyone. Valencia is great, but it's not perfect (nowhere is). Before we moved, the Facebook groups we were in painted a very different picture compared to reality. We moved when the pandemic was slowing down, and apartment prices (plus the process if finding a place) were nothing like what we had read. Everyone has different pros and cons, so we did our best to share our thoughts and experiences- and be honest, without being too negative.
No problem! We're glad you found it helpful. Moving to a new country can be quite stressful, so we did our best to give honest information, without sugarcoating things too much. It's a beautiful city! If you're prepared, and know what you're getting yourself into, then it will just make your lives that much easier.
Nope! It sucks. We ended up being told from our immigration attorneys that my clients would need to be other businesses (so B2B) instead of persons (B2C). Whether that actually needed to happen, idk. But we didn't go there. We're actually moving to The Netherlands instead on Feb 12 :) @@uno_andonly216
Thanks for watching! Do you live in Valencia? Any personal pros or cons for you, that we didn't cover? It's interesting to hear other people's experiences.
I (Anja) am from Berlin and me and Brandon used to live there together and it's definitely one of our favorite cities. Valencia is a lot more chill and feels more like a long-term summer vacation which is fun for a while but gets old after a while. I think if your girlfriend is from Valencia you will have a much different experience because you'll actually be able to immerse properly and see everything from the eyes of a true local. Spanish people are really nice overall. Things should also be a lot easier if you have her to help you navigate bureaucracy. Have fun! I'm sure you'll have a great time! And thanks for watching! :)
Your traveling to different places is what I am hoping to start doing so I am following you. Valencia is where we were thinking first and I loved the video thank you.
Thanks a lot guys! I just wish there were more videos like yours about different cities on CZcams! Great job! Knowing all this about Valencia, where would you prefer to live in Spain? Looking for some alternatives with better travel opportunities and reasonable rent prices.
Thanks a lot, we're glad our video helped! 😊 To be honest, I don't think there are many places in Spain that are cheaper than Valencia and also have better travel opportunities. Maybe Alicante would be a bit cheaper and I think they have the biggest budget airport in Spain there. But most of the reasons that made us leave Valencia apply to all of Spain. Overall, as a city we liked Madrid and Bilbao more. However, at this point in our lives Spain isn't really the right place for us.
Thanks for watching! We're glad we had the chance to live there for a bit, and glad we got the opportunity to see a bunch of the country. You should definitely give it a go of you get the chance. 😃
Hi, I was actually surprised you mentioned not having a heater in your house. AirCon is not standard but usually a house comes with heating. Was also surprised about the lack of live music because I heard the city is very lively. Personally don’t care about big concerts but do love a good pub with some musicians. We are going to move there soon but will not be living in the city itself. Just half n hour away on El Campo. Thanks for a honest review ❤
This video is authentic and very helpful. There are many biased videos from mega rich Americans who go and buy properties and fit them out to their needs and then say Valencia is the best place ever. I guess everywhere is great when you have unlimited funds. Thanks for some real feedback from normal people!
No problem! This is true. Living there (well, anywhere in the world, really) is completely different being rich VS being on a strict budget. That's often the problem with informational videos like this; however, hopefully this video will be helpful to people of all types of backgrounds and financial situations. 😀
No problem! It's definitely something to keep in mind as a pet owner. A lot of people tend to go away during that time if they have pets, which we would definitely recommend if you have a sensitive animal.
Thanks for a video guys! I've been living here for 1,5 year now and I agree with all the pros and cons you've mentioned! Biggest pain for me moving to Spain was that major rock / metal bands usually skip Spain and I don't really like the local club parties with latin / dj music :(
We were lucky to have a handful of decent shows by the end of our year in Valencia, but we definitely had to travel more outside of the city (and country) that we hoped! We know it's not a con for everyone, but it's nice to see we aren't the only ones who think so. 😆
I also looked at bands going to Valencia and there were none. Rock, punk and metal are pretty high in my list of concerts and must haves at least an hour away. Great video, keep the honesty 🤘🤘
Its funny, but the end of our time in Valencia we did manage to see a handful of solid bands before we left. Once we left Valencia and moved back to Budapest (which typically has a lot of good live music options) there was only one event we attended the entire year we lived there. Naturally, once we moved again, there are THREE concerts back to back that we'd have loved to go to. TYPICAL. Hahaha.
Can you please do more of these videos of pros and cons. I enjoy how honest you both are and we are looking to leaving the US and would love to be more educated.
Thanks! But besides Valencia, Berlin and Budapest are the only other European cities we've lived on together, and Anja is from Berlin. Budapest is the only other Pros and Cons video we could have done. We considered it but have since left, and likely won't make one now.
Really appreciate the honesty in this video! These are some pretty big cons. Maybe one day I’ll find my dream place….not wanting to raise my kids in the US anymore with all the gun violence!!
If we've learned anything from living in 9 countries together, it's that there is no perfect place- it's all about realizing what things are most important to you, and trying to find a place that checks most of the boxes. Valencia may be your dream place! A lot of people say it's great for raising kids. In the end, it just didn't have all that we needed. Thanks for watching!
I live here with my three children, my son plays basketball here. It’s wonderful. For raising children. Not to mention the beach here in Valencia and the community. You have to immerse yourself in activities and meet people or you can feel alone. It’s truly up to you.
To be fair its not guns that are the problem, its the people, no matter what country you go to, you can easily get killed. A gun doesn't hurt anyone unless their is a person behind it.
Great video! I was considering on moving to Valencia but decided against it. I heard that they make it very difficult for people over 60 to drive a car. It’s a beautiful city and I liked the fact that one can take a ship to Mallorca for approximately 40€. I’ll stay in Germany for now but I’m considering the Dominican Republic as my final destination.
We tried to be! The video is meant to help anyone thinking of moving to Valencia, so we wanted to make sure those watching know both the good, and the bad.
We'd be lying if we didn't admit that it grew old after a while. I think it's great to enjoy it for a few days..but we definitely understand the people who dip out and leave the city for a bit. 😂 Highlight was definitely seeing all the beautiful Fallas art at the museum!
Yeah, also housing nightmare in Portugal now 2022. Most are retired expats in Porto, Portugal mostly bought homes or had really budgets so had a MUCH easier time than I did as a digital nomad in my 40s.
We often like to "test out" locations just to see how we like them. Especially before committing to staying in a place for a longer period of time. The apartment hunting situation was shocking to us. There was a real lack of professionality while dealing with agents. They wouldn't respond to emails, or calls. They would see Whatsapp messages, and totally ignore them (even when communicating in Spanish). We rented a temporary place for a month, and it took us searching for a few weeks before moving, and that entire month within Valencia, to find an apartment. So many places wanted 6 months, to a year upfront, and they weren't even nice apartments. When our lease was up, we knew we didn't want to stay in our current apartment, and knew we didn't want to go through the rental process again. Especially since finding a nicer, and more affordable apartment felt like a near impossible task.
This was excellent. We are a bit (okay, a lot) older than you so our lifestyle is probably a bit different but I was wondering, given your prior travels, what place(s) you’d considered preferable to Valencia and why? I know, big ask, but we are traveling over the holidays this year (Dec-Jan) to the Christmas markets first and then on to Spain as we look at different places in Europe with an eye toward longer stays. I’m curious to know which places have ticked the most boxes for you. Thanks for the realistic assessment of Valencia. We look forward to our stay there in a few months.
Thanks for watching! It's certainly true that it all depends on your lifestyle and the kind of vibe you're looking for in a city. Valencia (and Spain in general) has that "relaxed" type of vibe that a lot of retirerees often enjoy. If that's what you're looking for, it could very well be the place for you. Spain is beautiful, and Valencia is a great city if you can overcome the beaurocracy and hurdles at first. 😂 We are more into cities that have a lot of live music- also unique bars and a variety of decent foreign restaurants. For us, both Berlin and Budapest or Prague check those boxes. As we mentioned in the video, it's also important that can we easily travel to other places around Europe (and abroad), so both of those cities check those boxes. Where do you plan on traveling to see Christmas Markets? You can't beat Germany and Austria at that time of year! Where you will be happy is very personal. It really depends on your budget, and of course, your own pros and cons! There are many places around Europe that we could easily spend a few months (Poland, Romania, Italy). Permanently settling is a bit of a different story! I'm sure you guys will be happy no matter where you end up. Every place we've lived has something to love. 😄
The train to Madrid is a High Speed train, but it is not a sort distance at all the pice is under the standards., housing, bureaucracy etc… totally agree. But for me it’s not a right comparison to compare a middle city as Valencia with big cities as Berlin in terms of leisure offers (international rock concerts et…) or flights availability. Overall good points about Valencia
Hey im valencian and liked your videos, i agree in everything you have said except the festivals, We have FIB Festival in Benicassim, and Medusa and Zevra Festival in Cullera, also many festivals during summer in Valencia city, but most of them are of reggaeton or techno not of Rock, but i do agree we lack live music venues indeed. But we have a good selection of nightclubs. And about house insulation it’s true in the buildings built during Franco era, those red brick buildings of the 60-70’s almost sovietic type were built to host the rapid expansion of the cities due to migration from rural areas and they have very bad quality indeed, thin paper walls. But for example mines was built in 1920 and old house in Cabanyal and it has thick walls. Still in summer i need aircon, i think most people live of aircons here in summer. Keep up and safe travels x
We're definitely not the nightclub type of people! Hahaha. For being a medium sized city, there was a decent amount of rock bars compared to some other cities. By the end of our time there, we were able to go to a few live shows- and once we left, a few more bands we like also played shows there. We actually often travel for live music, but living in Valencia (compare to when we were living in Berlin, or Budapest) made things a bit more difficult as well. We died without AC! The place we lived in had no insulation at all. It was pretty bad. We moved back to Budapest afterwards, and the place we have here felt like luxury in comparison. Winter was nice and warm, summer was pretty cool (we also have AC). Now we're leaving here, and will be on the road full time! Were all over the place. Hahaha.
The housing situation was one of the biggest let downs for us. We moved to Valencia with the intention of potentially purchasing, but we quickly realized that most of the property in our budget fell into the "poor construction category" and would need a lot of work to be comfortable all year round. Definitely not a problem for those coming with bigger budgets, but for us, it was certainly an issue.
@@wherearewe-yt The thing is, most of spain's houses that are from the 70's-80's are badly done because they needed a lot of houses due to the growth of cities because of all the workers coming from the countryside so yeah, but if you look for houses beyond 2000's or traditional houses ( depending on which comunity you are in the traditional house is different) you probably will get a better insulation... but as you said they are more expensive or basically need a whole renewal. Housing in capital cities is crazy nowadays because nobody wants to live in the countryside
No need to apologize at all, your are not lying, all that is completely true. The one that worries me the most is the rent issue. Renting in Valencia is getting almos impossible, and people keep coming, but there are not enough housing here. Please take that into accounf before moving here.
Thank you for watching! It was bad for us, but I can't even imagine how bad it is for a local trying to find an apartment, with Spanish wages. When we left our apartment, it was only showed to foreigners. A lot of Ukrainian immigrants, especially. They increased the rent of our flat by €150 for the next tenants!! It wasn't even worth what we paid. It definitely is not worth that increase..
@@wherearewe-yt Except the price is dictated by supply and demand. It's very hard to live in the interior in Spain because of the harsh climate, and everyone wants to live near the beach. Large parts of the interior are also quite empty, and there's certainly not much in the way of work in rural areas. The specifics of Spain means that it's very hard to earn a living outside of cities, and so you have a lot of people that want to live in cities. That means property is expensive, just as it is expensive in other popular cities throughout the world. Seriously.
I wrote a script to book the NIE police appointment in Valencia. That would have tried continuously from 4am to noon. It didn’t manage to get one. But then you find out that there are websites that sells appointments. We found appointments in Málaga and voilà! 😅
That's pretty crazy that your script didn't work. I (Anja) actually paid for getting my appointment for the NIE number in the beginning because I couldn't be bothered to try myself, but for the green Registration Card I managed to make an appointment myself in Valencia. It was such a hassle, though.
Hey this is great, it’s a cool perspective you guys have given you’ve actually settled in other multiple major countries so it really highlights the pro or con. I’m moving to Europe in 2024 and considering 2 places: Valencia or Budapest (mainly due to cost of living) Few questions: 1. Is the Fallas only 1 day or like a whole week? 2. The Christmas market in Madrid is amazing!! Is it really that bad in Valencia? (Im a huge fan of Christmas markets) 3. Is the housing quality common is certain areas or mostly ALL of Valencia? 4. Do u guys have videos about living in Hungary?
Thanks for watching! Living in multiple places definitely helps to give a bit of perspective. 1) Fallas is technically a week long festival, but it goes on for closer to a month, really. People are shooting off fireworks at all times of the day, WEEKS before the main festival begins. It's non-stop. The festival itself is incredibly cool for a day or two. The lead up is what makes it a con for us. 😬 2) We were in Madrid for Christmas the year before Valencia, and thought the Christmas markets there were pretty terrible. Anja is from the birthplace of Christmas Markets (Germany)- so we have very high standards. If you liked the one in Madrid, you will LOVE the markets in Germany. Budapest also has decent Christmas Markets. We went to several in Valencia that were marked on a Christmas Market map- and they were all quite bad (in our opinions). 3) When we were living in Valencia we were apart of a few different expat groups, and a lot of people shared our experience with the housing quality/ no AC/ no heating. It's pretty common. Of course, it's not impossible to find a place of better quality, but you won't really know until you move in, unfortunately. We lived in a temporary flat for a month before we found out apartment, and it was or much higher quality AND had heating. 4) We have multiple videos showing Budapest, but haven't made a PRO and CON video yet. I would say that a lot of our Valencia PROS/ CONS are reversed though. 😂 We prefer the weather here because it's four seasons, while Valencia felt more like 2. There are a lot more music events here (at least for our tastes). The location of Budapest is significantly better for travel. It's slightly more affordable as well. CONS would be the language being VERY difficult to learn. Hungarian is also only useful in Hungary, while Spanish is many places- which makes it hard to find the motivation to learn, unless we plan on staying permanently. Hungary is also pretty conservative- and we are not. Overall, we prefer Budapest for sure. As we said in the video, PROS and CONS are pretty personal, so don't take our word on it! It's certainly smart to visit both places before hand, if it's possible. We have videos of both Valencia and Budapest, so make sure to check them out. They may help!
It really depends on your budget, to be fair! A lot of people are very happy in Valencia, but for us, it just didn't make much sense. We live in Budapest (again) and are happy here. The overall costs are cheaper for us. If you were open to anywhere, SE Asia was quite a great place to be as well. I feel like it's such a personal question- since everyone has totally different pros and cons.
Thanks for this, so informative!! Can you talk a bit about the visa you got for Brandon? I assume you did it via Family Reunification (with EU-citiezn)? We're in a similar situation (EU + British) so we're trying to understand how to get a visa for my partner (British) - we've been told Family reunification but would love to hear a bit about your experience, as we plan on doing it in September!
As my durable partner Brandon has the same rights as me in the EU (which would be the same for you as long as you are either married, in a registered partnership, or durable relationship, which means you have lived together for at least 1 year and you can prove it). He got a "Residence card for family members of EU nationals" based on cohabitation/unmarried durable relationship. The rules are technically the same in all EU countries, or at least they should be (it's much more of a pain in the ass in Spain than in Hungary for example though due to Spain's more complicated bureaucracy). If we move to a EU country I have to register and become a resident first and get a Registration card. Then he has to apply for his Residence card as my family member. Getting a Registration card as a EU citizen is pretty easy but depends on your circumstances. You just need to show you can sustain yourself (job, self-employment, or savings etc) and that you have health insurance and a place to live (rental contract etc). Once you get your Registration card you need to show the same thing for your partner and also prove your relationship .
@@wherearewe-yt Thanks! So did you get the residency card for Brandon in Spain or somewhere else? I heard it's quite a lengthy process in Valencia but wanted to hear about your experience..Did you use an immigration lawyer?
@@deliaandjordan4905i just read somewhere, that couple should first enter spain and than regulate status,,, i guess that is the procedure, but i am also waiting for an anwser
@@deliaandjordan4905 you have to get it in each EU country you live in, so yes, we got it in Valencia. We had direct comparison to what it was like in Hungary and there it was just 1 single appointment and then they sent the card. in Spain it took multiple appointments at different government bodies and they wanted way more proof and it took much longer.
I (Brandon) used to teach English online - but the whole industry has changed in the past few years, unfortunately. We're now just concentrating on making a bunch of videos and pushing them out, to try and make money that way. We're off to SE Asia again soo, which will hopefully make things a bit easier! Haha.
I think you have a valid opinion and thats only yours. May be you did nt research a lot before moving. I live in Madrid and certainly there are a lot of differences with Valencia. I have to tell you that the issues with the renting are difficult too in USA, if you dont have a good credit score, you also pay a month rental to the agency. Here in Spain things move pretty much with the offer and demand. As there are lots of people travelling here, prices are a madness, go to Barcelona and you ll notice what I say. Valencia was a medium small city, not a lot of flights there, not a lot of pelple too. You d consider coming to Madrid.
We always do a lot of research before moving or traveling to a new place. We were also in Valencia groups on Facebook for over a year before we moved. Unfortunately, many people made the renting situation seem a lot easier than it was. Arriving as the pandemic slowed down- it meant things changed and prices went up. We have lived in almost a dozen cities together, and the renting situation in Valencia was unlike any other. It's unheard of in most places to have to pay an agent a month's rent to take 5 minutes of their time to show you a place. Especially when you're the one who found the apartment and arranged a meet up. The agent did virtually nothing. 😂 We stayed in Madrid for 5 weeks before we moved to Valencia, and we like it better. There's more travel options and more events, but it's also more expensive. We intended to find a much cheaper place than we did in Valencia. Otherwise, we'd have probably tried to find a similarly priced place in Madrid. We definitely can't wait to come back and travel Spain, but it's not our ideal place to live, unfortunately.
Hi! I can't thank you enough for this video. I am moving to Valencia for one year for school. I'm from Philadelphia in the U.S. You really helped paint an honest picture which I appreciate. I'm going for the program, not for the city specifically although I look forward to the good aspects of the city! My question to you is, which neighborhood would you recommend most, Cuitat Vella, Russafa, Mestalla or Aiora? I realize after one year maybe you don't know as much about each place but I'd love to hear your perspective. I care a lot about supermarkets as well.
No problem! We are glad we could be of help. All of the neighborhoods you've mentioned would be suitable for a student. There are decent bars and restaurants in each of those areas. Rusaffa is definitely the most popular area for expats. There are a lot of foreign restaurants there, vintage shops and trendy spots- though it's pretty quiet when you walk around during the day. Ciutat Vella and the area near Mestalla are home to our favorite rock bars. We lived in Aiora- and we liked it. It feels more residential, but we could still walk to all of the main attractions, including the City of Arts and Sciences, the beach and downtown. We had several grocery stores within a 10 minute walking distance. We could definitely recommend it! As we said, grocery stores are all over, so it shouldn't be an issue. They are mostly medium sized, but the city centre tends to have "smaller" stores. The best/biggest grocery store in the city is a Carrefour near the City of Arts and Sciences. It will be the only one that compares to North American sized grocery stores. I'm sure you'll be happy where ever you choose. Now that you have a better idea of what to look out for, you should be fine! 😜
Thank you for the interesting insights... I definitely wanna check out Valencia but I wanna live a bit outside of the city. Do you think it can be more affordable there to find something climate proof? 😅🐱
Living a bit outside the city should definitely be somewhat less expensive and the competition should be lower as well. People often mentioned Paterna or La Canyada for a more local feel. Finding somewhere climate proof, especially for the winter is just difficult in Spain in general. Our friend lived in a newer building but it was still freezing cold. It's pretty normal to be cold in your house during the winter and I think people just accept it.
Very helpful video thank you! I'm planning to move to Spain but buying a flat so renting issues shouldn't affect me that much but quality is important, any tips on neighborhoods or types of buildings where you've seen higher quality? We're hesitating a lot between Madrid and the capital's advtanges or Valencia and have the beach, where would you buy if you planned to stay 10 years? Las Fallas is worrying for me, with a dog and even for me the noise will drive me crazy. Is it all over the city or is there a nice neighborhood we could aim for that would be a bit calmer? We were considering the old center but housing quality and Las Fallas are troublesome :S Thanks a lot!
From what we've heard, you should probably stick to "newer builds" if you're planning on buying. I think the quality is pretty similar throughout the city, but I highly recommend you join the Facebook groups "Valencia Expats" and "Expats in Valencia" for some insight from people who have actually bought property themselves. That would give you a much better idea! We stated in Madrid for 5 weeks before we moved to Valencia, and we both prefer it there; however, as we mentioned, our Pros/Cons are different from other people, so you may not feel the same! Valencia is absolutely beautiful, and has that relaxed beachy vibe. Madrid has more restaurants, more entertainment and is the HUB of Spanish travel. If you are planning on traveling around Spain while you're there, its far easier from Madrid. All the main trains leave from there. It's far more difficult getting around from Valencia. Same goes for flights. Madrid has a lot more options. We would choose Madrid, if money wasn't an issue. But many people would disagree! Honestly, it's pretty tough to escape Fallas if you plan on living in Valencia itself. We stayed in a place down town first, and it was quite loud the whole time. When we lived in Aiora, it was more quiet (since it's more residential)..but you could still hear fireworks in the distance, all day, every day. That's why many people with dogs leave for Fallas. If you can, I would HIGHLY recommend checking out both cities before you commit. I would especially suggest you visit Valencia during Fallas to see what you're getting into. We're not exaggerating when we say it's essentially a whole month of noise and fireworks. 😂 Madrid and Valencia are both great cities though. It completely depends on what YOUR pros/cons are! Think about what your dealbreakers are. Take a look at our Valencia video- it will help you get a better vibe for the city. Good luck!
@@wherearewe-yt Thank you so much for the great insights! I'll definitely join the Facebook groups! I lived in Madrid for 3 years and absolutely loved it, I'm down to go back but my wife really wants the beach and isn't sure going to Valencia during summer every other weekend is going to satisfy her needs (prob by car, not train but rentals won't be cheap). And Valencia allows with the same budget to have a much nicer flat. So it's tough choice but both options seem good so at least we can't go wrong with either 😂
It would be nice to find out what it's like living the Campo around Valencia. I think that because you are living in the city many of the issues would not be so bad if you lived in the Campo.
None of the issues we had would be any different living in the countryside. If anything, it'd likely be worse! Haha. Besides Fallas, of course. That would be the ideal time to live in the middle of nowhere. 😆
That's a damn fine looking, cat! How were the grocery prices in Valencia and Spain, overall? Wife and I visited Lisbon a month back and even with taking into considering the normal Euro conversion being about 1.5x the USD, it would still be about 10% to 15% cheaper than current US Grocery Store prices. With the current Euro conversion of about 1.1x to the USD it was about 30% to 40%. The prices for pretty much everything in US is remarkably extortionate right now. I'm solidly middle class making just over $120k/year and it's just getting ridiculous for necessities, I'm also not in an expensive city (midwestern city that's not Chicago, Dallas, ATX, etc...). Wife is worried about the foreign language factor, but I'm not too worried about it (I find it interesting/a little fun, personally).
Hahaha. Thanks! She is indeed. 🐈⬛ We recently went to visit my (Brandon) family in Canada, and grocery prices were FAR more expensive in Canada. We were able to buy fresh fish, cheeses, vegetables, and meat for quite cheap in Spain! Wine and alcohol is ridiculously cheap (good bottles of wine for $2-3). The selection of cheap, frozen aisle types of foods that you find in North America is much smaller. Overall, we quite enjoyed the grocery stores and markets in Spain. Better than where we currently live (in Hungary). I wouldn't worry too much about the language barrier. Learning the basics goes a long way. And with Google Translate, it's pretty easy to photo translate menus and things like that, if you're unsure of what you're buying at restaurants or the grocery store. And even then, Spanish people are typically quite outgoing, and pretty friendly overall!
Good evening, i hope all is well with you guys. My wife and I are visiting next month for our anniversary and were wondering how the weather is in March?
The weather is pretty nice in March. I suppose it all depends on where you're from and what you're used to. For us, it was nice enough to still sit outside and enjoy some drinks. It's typically between 13-20°C (55/68F).
I bought a lovely flat in Gandia Valencia community (a 40 mins train trip from Valencia Stacion Del Nord and airport). It’s 3 mins away from the beach on the third line of beach. And the beach is actually better here than Alicante which isn’t too far anyways. There’s 7km of lovely sandy beach to enjoy in the summer and there’s the city center which is always charming and full throughout the whole winter, that’s 10 mins drive from the beach area or a bus ride of 15 mins. I will rent that flat thorough the year so please get in touch if you’re interested. And If you don’t know this region, is worth checking it out. I’m buying my second flat now in the center city of gandia and it’s much cheaper than Denia (where all the Brit’s are) and it’s near by. I can also give advice on buying a flat here. Best wishes
From what we've heard, it does. I have a feeling the issue is pretty common in most big cities. You can check out "Winging It Wish Ash" to see some of her videos related to her struggles as a non-EU citizen (she's American) trying to live and study in Barcelona. She has also had quite a bit of trouble along the way- but she's still there, so that's something! Haha. 😅
Hey guys… nice video! I have a question for you guys about moving to Spain . I am Dutch and live in Canada ( Moncton , I am sure Brandon knows where that is 😉) and my wife is Canadian . We are thinking of moving to Spain in the next few years. How easy/ difficult is it to take a none European Union resident with you to live in Spain?
You guys can live anywhere in the EU together and she will get a 5-year "Resident Card for EU Family Members" from that country. If you are married it should be a bit more straight forward. You'll have to find long-term accommodation, register at the town hall, get health insurance, either have a job or show that you have enough other income or savings (I think it's 9k Euros per person but these numbers change), and get your registration card (for EU citizens) from the police station and then you can apply for her resident card afterwards. I wouldn't say it's difficult but in our experience in Spain the process is a lot longer and a bit more complicated and they are a lot less relaxed with what kind of documents they'll accept (for example you need to show your savings in a Spanish bank account and you have to show bank statements from the past 6 months).
Americans became used to moving away from their families which I guess makes it easier to do. If you have close connections with your family you would probably stay put. Your info can be helpful for people who want to relocate. I believe more people want to move to the U.S. than any other place in the world. My daughter lived in Rota, Spain a couple years. She is in the U.S. Navy. I noticed that expats usually list healthcare as a top reason to leave the U.S. That has not been my experience, so maybe I am an exception. My Healthcare, other than Medicare, is $27 a month and my copays are minimal. My wife's insurance is $132 a month.
Hi Great video. We are moving to Valencia and I was wondering if you can answer my question: do you know if I can purchase spiders in Spain? I have a large tarantula collection and would like o continue my hobby there. Thank you for any help.
Hmmm..that's definitely not our area of expertise! Not too sure. I recommend you join the groups "Valencia Expats" and "Expats in Valencia" on Facebook (if you have it). Both groups are pretty large, and I'm sure someone in that group would be able to answer your question!
We actually made a video in Benidorm. It's probably the least Spanish city in Spain and just a place where people vacation. Not really our jam, but it's a nice day trip. Bands and especially big artists (like P!nk) don't play concerts there, though. There's definitely more of that in Valencia. Most artists play in Madrid and Barcelona.
We were renting. It's not up to the tenant to get a place insulated and do construction projects like that. If we had asked the landlord they would have raised our rent by a lot. They didn't even want to install aircon when we asked. It's also quite normal that Spanish houses are insulated badly, though. If we owned a place in Spain we would definitely get a professional to improve the insulation aspect.
Our temporary places in Madrid and Valencia were both quite nice - so it made it that much more obvious when we moved into our permanent spot. Two or three months of living comfortably, followed by burning alive or freezing to death. 😂
Heya, could you possibly help out with moving with a cat, as you said you have a cat and me and my partner are thinking of moving with our cats and that’s one of my biggest scares and would appreciate to know how you guys did it.
That depends on a lot of things, like where you're moving from! Feel free to send us a message on Instagram (wherearewe.ig), and we can try and help answer some questions.
In Spain we used DKV and we can't complain. We paid around 60 Euros each per month and everything was covered with no deductible. I got DKV specifically because I wanted to be able to go to a clinic called Medicality in Valencia that is English speaking, and they accept DKV. But every other place accepts DKV, too. Now, that we moved away we cancelled the insurance and got Safetywing for the time being because this year we'll start traveling full-time and we needed something that's not country-specific.
I'm sure it would be a bit easier to find a property to rent outside of the major cities, but I don't think it would really change the problems with housing quality and insulation. We haven't lived outside of Valencia ourself, so it's tough to say!
What if you're employed as a US employer as a salaried worker? Would you still need that Renter's insurance since I wouldn't need that EIN number as a contractor (as I'm not a contractor)? Thanks!
Yes, you still need the insurance. They don't care if you work abroad. You wouldn't qualify for the insurance, though. You'd also still need a tax number (NIE) and all that since you'd have to pay income tax in Spain if you live there for more than 183 days in a year. Being a salaried worker elsewhere and living in a EU country long term doesn't really work legally due to tax reasons. You also pretty much need a NIE for anything in Spain. You can't pay your electricity bill without it. Even when you make Amazon orders you often have to give your NIE.
@@wherearewe-yt Interesting. I thought as long as there was a tax treaty between the country of residence and the USA (my home country) then the tax liability is non-existent as long as I can provide proof to each country that I'm paying federal government taxes in either of those countries (at least, that's how I interpreted the treaty language). Otherwise, I guess the NIE and all that makes sense as they probably want to know who is using what where and why. Thank you for your insight! Bonus question: for countries in EU that have the "Digital Nomad" type visas, assuming the tax treaty exists between that nation and USA, what's the extent of Renter's payment insurance and other externalities that an expat may face?
Yes, taxes are quite high in Spain. Especially when you don't make a ton of money they take a lot more from you than some other countries in Europe. Especially social security payments are quite high once you don't get the discount anymore after the first couple years. Depending where you from Portugal might have a more favorable tax system.
@@wherearewe-yt I think the best solution for me would be to stay in my current situation, and keep an eye open on job offers with good financial retribution in Valencia.
Gee, the part about having to pay a year's rent in advance for an apartment (with paper thin walls) is kind of a deal breaker. Is all of Spain like that?
When it comes to the thin walls, the north might be better insulated. When we stayed in an Airbnb in Madrid it was a lot better. About the rent in advance, we aren't sure since we only rented in Valencia. It's probably easier in cities with less competition where more apartments are available, since the landlords can't be that picky.
Mostly you are right, BUT ... 2022 was a near post COVID year, before COVID, there were more festivals, most inside the river. In music, we have the best marching bands, but not a lot of rock concerts or live music. Newer homes have better isolation, but as you rented what nobody else with more guarantees wanted, quality was low. Wrote that, even good isolated new homes need AC and heat systems. Valencia airport is not the international one, Alicante is the good nearby, or Madrid / Barcelona / Mallorca, and it is cheaper in summer but in "charter", that is why regular flights, are more expensive, because there is an even cheaper class because of tourism, probably you would have discovered that going to any agency instead of thinking that internet is cheaper (and it isn't). Most people with pets hire pet hotels for "fallas" with one year in advance.
All these things are good to know, but are like "insider tips" for people who spent their whole lives in Valencia... Thats not the case for tourists or expats just arriving, it takes a long time to sort out these issues and in the meantime, you can waste a lot of money and time.
@@frenchartantiquesparis424 Good to have internet to share it. And they are no secret. If those expats asked, even in English to native people, drinking a coffee, or - no need to make friends - on tourist info spots, they would know it.
The points you made are just confirming what we said though and that Valencia is not an ideal choice (for expats like us). When it comes to the points you made, marching bands aren't exactly the type of live music we are looking for and I don't think most people are looking for that. As an expat with foreign income the competition for better quality apartments is too high so you end up with a crappy bad quality place because you don't have any choice (and without AC because although I agree, every home in Valencia should have it, there is a crazy amount that does not). If you want to travel frequently Valencia is not the ideal airport in the area because Alicante is a more international and better one. If you want to travel in summer you have to book strange charter flights through an agency in person which is quite unusual compared to everywhere else and probably not straightforward to a foreign expat. You have to flee the city every single year with your pet which is expensive and not ideal (especially with a cat because most cats like to stay in their familiar surroundings).
True. But you don't really know what a place is really like until you live there and see for yourself. Everyone has different requirements. For families, for example, Valencia would be a much better choice than other cities that we prefer. It all depends on the individual.
Thank you for this Video. We've been in Valencia for a week now and I've never seen so many cockroaches in my life. I kill at least 2 cockroaches a day in the flat. And it's the second flat, we had to leave the first one after 2 days, also because of cockroaches. The walls of the flats are so thin that you can hear everything from the neighbours. One of the neighbours is practically snoring in my bed, that's how sensitive it is 😂. So funny, when I was writing this text, my wife called me to kill a cockroach 😂. Where exactly in Valencia did you stay? Which neighbourhoods would you recommend? Which city is your next stop?
We were lucky enough to not have any cockroaches! We had one come in from outside at one point, but it never happened again. Have you been staying in El Cabanyal? There seems to be a lot of roach activity there! We lived around Aiora at the time. We really liked our area, and would recommend it for sure. We could walk downtown, to the beach, to the City if Arts and Sciences and to a variety of cool bars. Now we are located in Budapest, where we were living before we headed to Valencia. It's more of our cup of tea- though Valencia is still a great city!
@@wherearewe-yt we live in Russafa. Here is very nice, but very loud in the evenings. And also in the streets there are a lot cockraoches... We want to stay here for 4 weeks and see if Valencia would be a long term city for us. But Ayora would be too far away from the action for us. Let's see what the next 3 weeks bring us. After that we want to have a look at Madrid. Barcelona we were already a few times. We also like it very much, but there is too much going on and it is just too expensive. But expensive is currently felt every country. Since the Corona measures, the world is going crazy.
@@youcal08 We spent a month in Madrid before Valencia, and absolutely loved it. We probably would have stayed there, if it weren't more expensive. Same goes for Barcelona. Spain is great in general- but for our needs, it's just not it right now. Hope you guys find the right fit for you! And thanks! Haha.
We are mostly talking about international artists and bands, especially rock music in our case, since that's what we prefer. Spain is not often on the radar when people go on tour, especially not compared to other countries in Europe like Germany or the UK. Just because a city has a music university doesn't mean Taylor Swift or The Rolling Stones are going to come play in that city. And watching music students play cello isn't everyone's cup of tea either.
@@QueensrycheGirl We are always down for drinks! We probably will only stay a month in Belgrade at first, so we can more of the country. Give us a follow on Instagram- that will be more up-to-date once we start traveling a bit more.
That's really hard to answer for us because we are in our 30s, so nowhere near retiring and we're not from the US. However, as we mentioned in our video, we do think that Spain is a good place for people wanting to retire and many people who have taken that step seem to love it. We just aren't at that stage of our lives yet and right now there are other things that are important to us when looking for a base to live (like concerts and nightlife etc). I think if you are looking for a sunny relaxed place, Spain and Italy are good choice. Portugal is also liked a lot, especially the Algarve area in the south. All of those places have a lower cost of living in comparison to other places in Europe, and health care is great, which is obviously an important factor when it comes to retiring somewhere. And all 3 countries have an "easy" language in comparison to other countries.
I feel like there are a surprising amount of rock/metal bars in Spain compared to other places! Both Valencia (near L'Amistat ) and Madrid (Bajos de Argüelles) have a small area with multiple rock/metal bars all close to each other. There are many major cities around Europe with only one-two such bars. It's too bad that bands don't come more often.
All what you are saying guys it’s a true actually the bad thanks what do you say it’s really true if someone want to come to Spain you have to listen to this guys because all what they are saying will happen for everyone come in
You are absolutely right regarding the quality of the houses, many are very old,,, and many others built after the civil war... with a country half destroyed, ruined, isolated from Europe and aid from the Marshall Plan. United States economic plan for the reconstruction of Western Europe after World War II. Since a military dictatorship was in command here as they were half allies of Hitler and Mussolini who fought on their behalf in the civil war. Until the 60s ,,, now in the new ones there are other materials, regards
Hey I hope somebody replies to this 😅… I’m looking to move to Valencia from London where I have lived for 5 years.. I am selling my property BUT I’m only wanting to RENT in Valencia!! Bit of background of my situation.. I have a LTD British company but I work 14days at sea in the Netherlands and live the other 14 days at home in UK, so I would not want to work in Spain/Valencia. I’d like to simply rent an apartment in Valencia and do the same exact same as I’m doing now in London work 14 days offshore in Netherlands where I live on a vessel 🚢 and then spend the other days in my rented accommodation in Valencia. COULD I DO THIS? What would I need? I have no ties at all , no kids,no girlfriend, no debts, is this possible as I’m not sure how having a British LTD company would effect me living in Spain .. apologies for the long message and probably confusing to some but there we go 😅 anyone living in Valencia who could help me out it would be much appreciated👌🏼🤝🏼 thanks
I guess, the most important question is if you have the right to reside in Spain (or the EU in general) assuming you are British? Do you have an EU passport? Having a British company doesn't really matter but if you are in Spain for more than 183 days in a year, you'll become a tax resident and you'll have to pay your taxes there, regardless of where your company is registered. It would probably best to ask a professional for some advice about your situation, though.
@@wherearewe-yt yes, British citizen with British passport. Thanks for your reply, I will try contact some professionals about it and see what is what 😊 damn brexit has ruined everything 😅😅
Yes, that's probably a good idea. I am not sure what the possibilities are for people from the UK. We met some people in Spain from the UK and the US who were on a "Non-lucrative" visa. You can't work in Spain if you have this visa but maybe that would be an option for you since you said you work in the Netherlands and wouldn't work in Spain anyway. A lot of retirees use this visa. Brexit definitely made it more difficult which is a shame 😫
It's crazy how some countries that don't have a warm climate have very bad insulation. It's the same in the UK. When I (Anja) lived in Scotland it was freezing inside in the winter and many flats only had electric heating.
Me husband kids want to go there and stay a few months to check it out. Our concern is that my husband is covered in tattoos. In your experience, did you get any negative attention because of the tattoos that you have?
@@wherearewe-yt Thank you for your response! We currently live in a small town in Texas US and people treat him like if he's a no one or someone to fear because of his tattoos. Also we are hispanic so when we visit Mexico, it's the same thing. But when we go to a bigger city in Texas, people just mind their own business and don't treat him any less. That's why that was one of our concerns, thank you.
We really loved living in both Hanoi, Vietnam and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Both very affordable, unique and beautiful cities. With the low cost, we were able to have an amazing "work-life" balanced because we could work a lot less, and actually enjoy our time there!
More honest people like you should be content creators. Wonderfully informative video. There is an other american tuber (woman) who claims Valencia is heaven on earth, ewerybody should move there. And before moving, you need to buy this new booklet of mine about Valencia 🤮
Pretty sure we know who you're referring to. 😂 Thanks for watching! It's important to be honest with this sort of stuff. There's no point blowing smoke. Moving to a new place is a big decision- so it's not at all helpful when someone only talks about the good. We travel and move around a lot, looking for the perfect city; however, we've learned that the perfect place simply does not exist! Of course, everything is up to individual wants and needs..but every place has good and bad things about it. There are plenty of great things about Valencia, but at this point in our lives, it's just not for us for long term living. 😁
I visited Spain in 1975, when Francisco Franco was still running the country. Madrid was about as safe as a large city can get. I think you could leave your camera on a park bench, and no one would take it. However, it was strange seeing armed military all over the city.
There definitely seems to be somewhat of a "petty crime" problem in certain areas of Spain. Though I suppose you have that in most of the world these days. 😕
There are plenty of great things about Valencia, and many people absolutely love it! It's an amazing city for visiting as well. For living, its just not for us. Depends on your needs, really! I'm not sure if the housing quality is different in either Malaga or Benidorm, but that was by far the biggest issue for us.
Do you mean we should move there? We really enjoy it there, and would love to spend more time there! A bit pricy for living for us though. I'm sure it would be a great place to live.
I (Anja) actually lived in Scotland for a few years and you are correct, insulation there is terrible! I went to the doctors because I thought I was suffering from arthritis but it was actually chilblains, a reaction to the cold 😂. Not to mention, all the dampness and moldy clothes. However, we do love the UK, and our next video coming out will actually be in the UK, so don't miss it 😊
We hope you liked this week's video. Since so many people are moving to Spain, and Valencia is becoming more and more popular, we thought we'd share our experience of living there in the hopes of helping other expats and digital nomads. There are always pros and cons about any place. Let us know what you think and if you agree or disagree with the points we mentioned. Next week we'll be back exploring another beautiful destination and we'll be eating delicious food as usual 🙂- Brandon & Anja
Thank you for an excellent video. We are retired educators planning on visiting southern Spain in the fall to look for our next home. This area looks beautiful. We love a walkable and accessible city. Gracias! Dean & Cindy
@@DeanRamser Thanks for watching! If you haven't already, you should check out our regular Valencia video, and our Benidorm video. We've been gone from Spain for a bit, but we really miss it. Valencia is a beautiful city.
@@wherearewe-yt Interesting. What are your favorite 2-3 cities to live then?
I loved watching your video and would like to help shedding some light on certain matters (as a Spaniard who has lived and travelled abroad, which truly gives you a completely different perspective). PEOPLE IN SPAIN ARE NOT RELAXED AT ALL. THEY ARE OVERWHELMED! Yes, one should not confuse healthy and social leisure with “a relaxed attitude towards life”. Spain is and has been a very restless country (if it were a relaxed country, it wouldn't have conquered a whole continent, believe me). It is a country thanks to which the United States exists (don't forget about Blas de Lezo and his help fighting against the English to give the States its independence); the dollar is also a Spanish creation, and of course, a wide range of American cities that are now World Heritage sites were founded by Spaniards, not to mention Los Ángeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Bárbara, Pensacola... Today, Spaniards work more hours than their European neighbors. In general, Spanish companies exploit their employees more, hiring fewer workers who have to handle double the workload of an English or German worker. So please forgive us if sometimes you have to wait for someone; that Spanish person has probably been going non-stop all day... And don't even get me started on bureaucracy. There are no excuses. Yes, it's lamentable.
CONSTRUCTION IN SPAIN IS OF HIGH QUALITY. (So… why isn't your house in the city center, and neither are the houses of your expatriate friends?) Typically, visitors and expatriates in Spanish cities choose to live in the charming historic city centers. These areas epitomize the archetype of a Spanish city, right? Let's keep in mind that the historic city center of a Spanish city today represents only 10% of the total city area. The buildings in the other 90%, many of which were constructed from the 1990s onwards, have good finishes and insulation. (Unlike in America, Spain doesn't use wood and cardboard construction; instead, it uses concrete and sturdy, resistant materials. If a tornado comes, the house won't be blown away...) However, living in a modern apartment is much less romantic, and foreigners prefer to focus on that 10%, where, apart from low-quality, small apartments, they will be surrounded by people with fewer resources (humble owners), tourists, and a lot of immigration. Ultimately, this is not where most Spaniards live. These small areas of the city experience very high demand, and as a result, prices are skyrocketing. Apartments in these areas can date back to the early 20th century, and many of them lack insulation or renovations because, simply put, the owner doesn't need it to be able to rent it out at a high price. Never let the owners be greedy and demand what you need. Pay close attention to the contract you sign.
INFRASTRUCTURE IN SPAIN IS EXCELLENT: Coming from -especially- the American continent (no matter which country), where public transportation is very deficient, you will have noticed how well connected Spain is. With large and modern airports, ports, highways, and... train stations. Spain, after China, is the second country in the world with the most high-speed rail kilometers. Don't worry if your favorite band doesn't come to Valencia because you can be in Madrid in just 2 hours, which for a citizen of a huge country like yours and accustomed to long distances, is nothing.
SPAIN IS A SAFE COUNTRY. I'm glad you perceive and enjoy it. I didn't appreciate how lucky I was to walk alone at night anywhere in Spain until I heard about the experiences of other foreign friends. People in Spain (with exceptions, of course) are generally respectful and civilized, and they understand leisure in a completely different way. While in northern European countries, people drink excessively, engage in drug use, look for fights, and destroy property, Spaniards become friendlier and more outgoing. Yes, we are more civilized than them ;)
As you may have noticed, Spaniards also enjoy writing (sorry for such a lengthy text). 😊
Os deseo lo mejor! Disfrutad España.
Thanks for the points you are making especially about the build quality in Spain.
Esas casas baratas en la construcción son antiguas y con el turismo sus dueños las alquilan a altos precios. Es mejor ir a pisos, edificios más señoriales y a construccion de menos de 40 años en donde tienen generalmente calefacción y refrigeración . Yo nunca viviría en Valencia Julio y Agosto a menos que tuviera aire y calefacción. Los valencianos tienen sus recursos y están acostumbrados. Como marcharse de la ciudad con el calor y las fallas.
Muy bien aclarado. Siempre hablando que somos tranquilos , 😃 🤗 muy relajados y no conocen el nervio Español. Jajaja
Great comment !
United States does not exist thanks to Spain. We bought the land from the Spanish colonies. Otherwise we'll be still a Spanish Colony.
I am a Spanish from Valencia and I totally agree with you in everything you said. Thanks for your video. ❤
We've been away from Valencia for almost a year now, and although there were things we disliked we do really miss it sometimes, and Spain in general 😊. Thanks for watching.
I've lived in Valencia for over thirty years. This was very well put together and balanced. I agree with everything you say.
Why did you leave ?
Thank you! Really helpful as I was just thinking of relocating to Valencia
Glad you found it helpful!
Very well put together with loads of information! Glad you were able to experience the city, culture and food! ❤️❤️
Hopefully someone will find it helpful, someday.
Great info! Thanks. I needed this info
You're welcome! Glad it could be helpful to you.
Thanks so much for sharing your honest opinions. Some points were very helpful because i couldn't find anyone else covering them!
No problem! Glad you could find it helpful.
Great review of Spain Thanks. Your info is helpful. God Bless.
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for shaving...great info it's important to know positive/negatives...
Thanks for watching!
Thank you!!!! 😊😊😊 for these videos
No problem! Hope it was at least somewhat helpful. 😄
Wow- really liked this video. How rare it is that anyone is willing to just say it straight up. This is rare and very worthwhile information, simple and honest. And it was particularly valuable where you're discussing very relevant issues everyone will face (and virtually no one else is talking about): vet services; apartment rental hurdles and frustrations in Valencia; the disruption of the Las Fallas festival (believe me, I've lived in New Orleans and Mardi Gras is intriguing there exactly "once"). I particularly liked your even handed review of issues that can be either a plus or a minus based on your perspective and then presenting some of both possibilities. This was all valuable--especially the candor. Thank you.
Thanks so much for watching!
We try to be as honest as we can with these types of videos. Sugarcoating everything isn't going to help anyone. Valencia is great, but it's not perfect (nowhere is). Before we moved, the Facebook groups we were in painted a very different picture compared to reality. We moved when the pandemic was slowing down, and apartment prices (plus the process if finding a place) were nothing like what we had read.
Everyone has different pros and cons, so we did our best to share our thoughts and experiences- and be honest, without being too negative.
Thank you so much!!!!! My husband and I are moving to Valencia in September and this is all ready helpful information.
No problem! We're glad you found it helpful. Moving to a new country can be quite stressful, so we did our best to give honest information, without sugarcoating things too much. It's a beautiful city! If you're prepared, and know what you're getting yourself into, then it will just make your lives that much easier.
Did you make it there?? How is it going
Nope! It sucks. We ended up being told from our immigration attorneys that my clients would need to be other businesses (so B2B) instead of persons (B2C). Whether that actually needed to happen, idk. But we didn't go there. We're actually moving to The Netherlands instead on Feb 12 :) @@uno_andonly216
Very on point guys with the cons ! Well done!
Thanks for watching! Do you live in Valencia? Any personal pros or cons for you, that we didn't cover? It's interesting to hear other people's experiences.
I am moving to Valencia from Berlin, my gf is valencian. I found this video very interesting, thanks for your inputs!
I (Anja) am from Berlin and me and Brandon used to live there together and it's definitely one of our favorite cities. Valencia is a lot more chill and feels more like a long-term summer vacation which is fun for a while but gets old after a while. I think if your girlfriend is from Valencia you will have a much different experience because you'll actually be able to immerse properly and see everything from the eyes of a true local. Spanish people are really nice overall. Things should also be a lot easier if you have her to help you navigate bureaucracy. Have fun! I'm sure you'll have a great time! And thanks for watching! :)
Awesome, this was super useful. Thank you!
Still moving to Valencia.
It's still a great city. I'm sure you'll love it! Just don't get a shitty apartment! Hahaha.
Thanks for your honesty!!!!!
No problem! Thanks for watching.
Your traveling to different places is what I am hoping to start doing so I am following you. Valencia is where we were thinking first and I loved the video thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it! Valencia is a beautiful city. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
Thanks a lot for the info, guys!!!
No problem! Thanks for watching.
Thanks a lot guys! I just wish there were more videos like yours about different cities on CZcams! Great job!
Knowing all this about Valencia, where would you prefer to live in Spain? Looking for some alternatives with better travel opportunities and reasonable rent prices.
Thanks a lot, we're glad our video helped! 😊 To be honest, I don't think there are many places in Spain that are cheaper than Valencia and also have better travel opportunities. Maybe Alicante would be a bit cheaper and I think they have the biggest budget airport in Spain there. But most of the reasons that made us leave Valencia apply to all of Spain. Overall, as a city we liked Madrid and Bilbao more. However, at this point in our lives Spain isn't really the right place for us.
Spot on ! Agree!
Great vlog guys!! ❤
Thanks! Our first informational video..and by the views it's getting, probably one of the last. 😂
@@wherearewe-yt I think overtime these videos will hold their value 🙏🙏
@@brickstotrips Let's hope so! Haha.
Thanks for you honestie:)
Great Video guys !🤘
Thanks for watching!
We would love to move to Spain. Thank you for this great video
Thanks for watching! We're glad we had the chance to live there for a bit, and glad we got the opportunity to see a bunch of the country. You should definitely give it a go of you get the chance. 😃
Hi, I was actually surprised you mentioned not having a heater in your house. AirCon is not standard but usually a house comes with heating. Was also surprised about the lack of live music because I heard the city is very lively. Personally don’t care about big concerts but do love a good pub with some musicians. We are going to move there soon but will not be living in the city itself. Just half n hour away on El Campo. Thanks for a honest review ❤
Nice Vid, My wife and I are planing to move to Valencia next year from Utah, US.
Thanks for watching! Hope you found it helpful. Have you visit Valencia before?
@@wherearewe-yt No I haven’t visited yet, but watching your videos and other people, it looks amazing, thank you guys.
This video is authentic and very helpful. There are many biased videos from mega rich Americans who go and buy properties and fit them out to their needs and then say Valencia is the best place ever. I guess everywhere is great when you have unlimited funds. Thanks for some real feedback from normal people!
No problem! This is true. Living there (well, anywhere in the world, really) is completely different being rich VS being on a strict budget. That's often the problem with informational videos like this; however, hopefully this video will be helpful to people of all types of backgrounds and financial situations. 😀
Thank you for the info. I am considering retiring in Valencia.
No problem. Hope this video was helpful for you!
Thank you for commenting about having pets, veterinarian care, and the MONTH long fireworks. Excellent video, thank you for sharing your experience!
No problem! It's definitely something to keep in mind as a pet owner. A lot of people tend to go away during that time if they have pets, which we would definitely recommend if you have a sensitive animal.
Thanks for a video guys! I've been living here for 1,5 year now and I agree with all the pros and cons you've mentioned!
Biggest pain for me moving to Spain was that major rock / metal bands usually skip Spain and I don't really like the local club parties with latin / dj music :(
We were lucky to have a handful of decent shows by the end of our year in Valencia, but we definitely had to travel more outside of the city (and country) that we hoped!
We know it's not a con for everyone, but it's nice to see we aren't the only ones who think so. 😆
Pay attention to 16 toneladas concerts, I believe you will find some nice concerts, not major rock bands, but good ones.
@@OutraCultura Yes! What a coincidence!!! I go there tomorrow to see the show 🤘🤘🤘
Thanks for detailed information. Cheers from Azerbaijan 🇦🇿
Our pleasure! Thanks for watching.
very good advice. I am your fan , now
Haha, thanks for the support! Glad our advice is helpful 😀
I also looked at bands going to Valencia and there were none. Rock, punk and metal are pretty high in my list of concerts and must haves at least an hour away. Great video, keep the honesty 🤘🤘
Its funny, but the end of our time in Valencia we did manage to see a handful of solid bands before we left. Once we left Valencia and moved back to Budapest (which typically has a lot of good live music options) there was only one event we attended the entire year we lived there. Naturally, once we moved again, there are THREE concerts back to back that we'd have loved to go to. TYPICAL. Hahaha.
appreciate it very much
Can you please do more of these videos of pros and cons. I enjoy how honest you both are and we are looking to leaving the US and would love to be more educated.
Thanks! But besides Valencia, Berlin and Budapest are the only other European cities we've lived on together, and Anja is from Berlin.
Budapest is the only other Pros and Cons video we could have done. We considered it but have since left, and likely won't make one now.
Really appreciate the honesty in this video! These are some pretty big cons. Maybe one day I’ll find my dream place….not wanting to raise my kids in the US anymore with all the gun violence!!
If we've learned anything from living in 9 countries together, it's that there is no perfect place- it's all about realizing what things are most important to you, and trying to find a place that checks most of the boxes. Valencia may be your dream place! A lot of people say it's great for raising kids.
In the end, it just didn't have all that we needed.
Thanks for watching!
I live here with my three children, my son plays basketball here. It’s wonderful. For raising children. Not to mention the beach here in Valencia and the community.
You have to immerse yourself in activities and meet people or you can feel alone. It’s truly up to you.
To be fair its not guns that are the problem, its the people, no matter what country you go to, you can easily get killed. A gun doesn't hurt anyone unless their is a person behind it.
How long have you lived there?
Great video! I was considering on moving to Valencia but decided against it. I heard that they make it very difficult for people over 60 to drive a car. It’s a beautiful city and I liked the fact that one can take a ship to Mallorca for approximately 40€. I’ll stay in Germany for now but I’m considering the Dominican Republic as my final destination.
You guys sound very honest
We tried to be! The video is meant to help anyone thinking of moving to Valencia, so we wanted to make sure those watching know both the good, and the bad.
17:48 Even not few valencianos leave the city during fallas, because of the noise, so yeah perfectly understandable guys😉
We'd be lying if we didn't admit that it grew old after a while. I think it's great to enjoy it for a few days..but we definitely understand the people who dip out and leave the city for a bit. 😂
Highlight was definitely seeing all the beautiful Fallas art at the museum!
Yeah, also housing nightmare in Portugal now 2022. Most are retired expats in Porto, Portugal mostly bought homes or had really budgets so had a MUCH easier time than I did as a digital nomad in my 40s.
We often like to "test out" locations just to see how we like them. Especially before committing to staying in a place for a longer period of time. The apartment hunting situation was shocking to us. There was a real lack of professionality while dealing with agents. They wouldn't respond to emails, or calls. They would see Whatsapp messages, and totally ignore them (even when communicating in Spanish). We rented a temporary place for a month, and it took us searching for a few weeks before moving, and that entire month within Valencia, to find an apartment. So many places wanted 6 months, to a year upfront, and they weren't even nice apartments. When our lease was up, we knew we didn't want to stay in our current apartment, and knew we didn't want to go through the rental process again. Especially since finding a nicer, and more affordable apartment felt like a near impossible task.
thank you
Very cool
This was excellent. We are a bit (okay, a lot) older than you so our lifestyle is probably a bit different but I was wondering, given your prior travels, what place(s) you’d considered preferable to Valencia and why? I know, big ask, but we are traveling over the holidays this year (Dec-Jan) to the Christmas markets first and then on to Spain as we look at different places in Europe with an eye toward longer stays. I’m curious to know which places have ticked the most boxes for you. Thanks for the realistic assessment of Valencia. We look forward to our stay there in a few months.
Thanks for watching! It's certainly true that it all depends on your lifestyle and the kind of vibe you're looking for in a city. Valencia (and Spain in general) has that "relaxed" type of vibe that a lot of retirerees often enjoy. If that's what you're looking for, it could very well be the place for you. Spain is beautiful, and Valencia is a great city if you can overcome the beaurocracy and hurdles at first. 😂
We are more into cities that have a lot of live music- also unique bars and a variety of decent foreign restaurants. For us, both Berlin and Budapest or Prague check those boxes. As we mentioned in the video, it's also important that can we easily travel to other places around Europe (and abroad), so both of those cities check those boxes.
Where do you plan on traveling to see Christmas Markets? You can't beat Germany and Austria at that time of year!
Where you will be happy is very personal. It really depends on your budget, and of course, your own pros and cons!
There are many places around Europe that we could easily spend a few months (Poland, Romania, Italy). Permanently settling is a bit of a different story!
I'm sure you guys will be happy no matter where you end up. Every place we've lived has something to love. 😄
The train to Madrid is a High Speed train, but it is not a sort distance at all the pice is under the standards., housing, bureaucracy etc… totally agree. But for me it’s not a right comparison to compare a middle city as Valencia with big cities as Berlin in terms of leisure offers (international rock concerts et…) or flights availability. Overall good points about Valencia
Hey im valencian and liked your videos, i agree in everything you have said except the festivals, We have FIB Festival in Benicassim, and Medusa and Zevra Festival in Cullera, also many festivals during summer in Valencia city, but most of them are of reggaeton or techno not of Rock, but i do agree we lack live music venues indeed. But we have a good selection of nightclubs. And about house insulation it’s true in the buildings built during Franco era, those red brick buildings of the 60-70’s almost sovietic type were built to host the rapid expansion of the cities due to migration from rural areas and they have very bad quality indeed, thin paper walls. But for example mines was built in 1920 and old house in Cabanyal and it has thick walls. Still in summer i need aircon, i think most people live of aircons here in summer. Keep up and safe travels x
We're definitely not the nightclub type of people! Hahaha. For being a medium sized city, there was a decent amount of rock bars compared to some other cities. By the end of our time there, we were able to go to a few live shows- and once we left, a few more bands we like also played shows there. We actually often travel for live music, but living in Valencia (compare to when we were living in Berlin, or Budapest) made things a bit more difficult as well.
We died without AC! The place we lived in had no insulation at all. It was pretty bad. We moved back to Budapest afterwards, and the place we have here felt like luxury in comparison. Winter was nice and warm, summer was pretty cool (we also have AC).
Now we're leaving here, and will be on the road full time! Were all over the place. Hahaha.
I was looking at valencia.. and sicily italy
Housing comment is so true and fundamental.
The housing situation was one of the biggest let downs for us. We moved to Valencia with the intention of potentially purchasing, but we quickly realized that most of the property in our budget fell into the "poor construction category" and would need a lot of work to be comfortable all year round.
Definitely not a problem for those coming with bigger budgets, but for us, it was certainly an issue.
@@wherearewe-yt The thing is, most of spain's houses that are from the 70's-80's are badly done because they needed a lot of houses due to the growth of cities because of all the workers coming from the countryside so yeah, but if you look for houses beyond 2000's or traditional houses ( depending on which comunity you are in the traditional house is different) you probably will get a better insulation... but as you said they are more expensive or basically need a whole renewal. Housing in capital cities is crazy nowadays because nobody wants to live in the countryside
No need to apologize at all, your are not lying, all that is completely true. The one that worries me the most is the rent issue. Renting in Valencia is getting almos impossible, and people keep coming, but there are not enough housing here. Please take that into accounf before moving here.
Thank you for watching! It was bad for us, but I can't even imagine how bad it is for a local trying to find an apartment, with Spanish wages. When we left our apartment, it was only showed to foreigners. A lot of Ukrainian immigrants, especially. They increased the rent of our flat by €150 for the next tenants!! It wasn't even worth what we paid. It definitely is not worth that increase..
@@wherearewe-yt Except the price is dictated by supply and demand. It's very hard to live in the interior in Spain because of the harsh climate, and everyone wants to live near the beach. Large parts of the interior are also quite empty, and there's certainly not much in the way of work in rural areas.
The specifics of Spain means that it's very hard to earn a living outside of cities, and so you have a lot of people that want to live in cities. That means property is expensive, just as it is expensive in other popular cities throughout the world.
Seriously.
I wrote a script to book the NIE police appointment in Valencia.
That would have tried continuously from 4am to noon. It didn’t manage to get one. But then you find out that there are websites that sells appointments. We found appointments in Málaga and voilà! 😅
That's pretty crazy that your script didn't work. I (Anja) actually paid for getting my appointment for the NIE number in the beginning because I couldn't be bothered to try myself, but for the green Registration Card I managed to make an appointment myself in Valencia. It was such a hassle, though.
Valencia can be very cold in the winter. I once had an apartment that grew mold on the wallpaper due to how bad the insulation is.
We had a mold problem in one of our bathrooms! It never got fixed in the year we lived there, even though they came twice to look at it. Hahaha.
Hey this is great, it’s a cool perspective you guys have given you’ve actually settled in other multiple major countries so it really highlights the pro or con. I’m moving to Europe in 2024 and considering 2 places: Valencia or Budapest (mainly due to cost of living)
Few questions:
1. Is the Fallas only 1 day or like a whole week?
2. The Christmas market in Madrid is amazing!! Is it really that bad in Valencia? (Im a huge fan of Christmas markets)
3. Is the housing quality common is certain areas or mostly ALL of Valencia?
4. Do u guys have videos about living in Hungary?
Thanks for watching! Living in multiple places definitely helps to give a bit of perspective.
1) Fallas is technically a week long festival, but it goes on for closer to a month, really. People are shooting off fireworks at all times of the day, WEEKS before the main festival begins. It's non-stop. The festival itself is incredibly cool for a day or two. The lead up is what makes it a con for us. 😬
2) We were in Madrid for Christmas the year before Valencia, and thought the Christmas markets there were pretty terrible. Anja is from the birthplace of Christmas Markets (Germany)- so we have very high standards. If you liked the one in Madrid, you will LOVE the markets in Germany. Budapest also has decent Christmas Markets. We went to several in Valencia that were marked on a Christmas Market map- and they were all quite bad (in our opinions).
3) When we were living in Valencia we were apart of a few different expat groups, and a lot of people shared our experience with the housing quality/ no AC/ no heating. It's pretty common. Of course, it's not impossible to find a place of better quality, but you won't really know until you move in, unfortunately. We lived in a temporary flat for a month before we found out apartment, and it was or much higher quality AND had heating.
4) We have multiple videos showing Budapest, but haven't made a PRO and CON video yet. I would say that a lot of our Valencia PROS/ CONS are reversed though. 😂
We prefer the weather here because it's four seasons, while Valencia felt more like 2. There are a lot more music events here (at least for our tastes). The location of Budapest is significantly better for travel. It's slightly more affordable as well. CONS would be the language being VERY difficult to learn. Hungarian is also only useful in Hungary, while Spanish is many places- which makes it hard to find the motivation to learn, unless we plan on staying permanently. Hungary is also pretty conservative- and we are not.
Overall, we prefer Budapest for sure. As we said in the video, PROS and CONS are pretty personal, so don't take our word on it! It's certainly smart to visit both places before hand, if it's possible.
We have videos of both Valencia and Budapest, so make sure to check them out. They may help!
thank you for great analytics of Valencia. What can you recommend for digital nomad insted of Valencia?
It really depends on your budget, to be fair! A lot of people are very happy in Valencia, but for us, it just didn't make much sense. We live in Budapest (again) and are happy here. The overall costs are cheaper for us.
If you were open to anywhere, SE Asia was quite a great place to be as well.
I feel like it's such a personal question- since everyone has totally different pros and cons.
Thanks for this, so informative!! Can you talk a bit about the visa you got for Brandon? I assume you did it via Family Reunification (with EU-citiezn)? We're in a similar situation (EU + British) so we're trying to understand how to get a visa for my partner (British) - we've been told Family reunification but would love to hear a bit about your experience, as we plan on doing it in September!
As my durable partner Brandon has the same rights as me in the EU (which would be the same for you as long as you are either married, in a registered partnership, or durable relationship, which means you have lived together for at least 1 year and you can prove it). He got a "Residence card for family members of EU nationals" based on cohabitation/unmarried durable relationship. The rules are technically the same in all EU countries, or at least they should be (it's much more of a pain in the ass in Spain than in Hungary for example though due to Spain's more complicated bureaucracy). If we move to a EU country I have to register and become a resident first and get a Registration card. Then he has to apply for his Residence card as my family member. Getting a Registration card as a EU citizen is pretty easy but depends on your circumstances. You just need to show you can sustain yourself (job, self-employment, or savings etc) and that you have health insurance and a place to live (rental contract etc). Once you get your Registration card you need to show the same thing for your partner and also prove your relationship .
@@wherearewe-yt Thanks! So did you get the residency card for Brandon in Spain or somewhere else? I heard it's quite a lengthy process in Valencia but wanted to hear about your experience..Did you use an immigration lawyer?
@@deliaandjordan4905i just read somewhere, that couple should first enter spain and than regulate status,,, i guess that is the procedure, but i am also waiting for an anwser
@@deliaandjordan4905 you have to get it in each EU country you live in, so yes, we got it in Valencia. We had direct comparison to what it was like in Hungary and there it was just 1 single appointment and then they sent the card. in Spain it took multiple appointments at different government bodies and they wanted way more proof and it took much longer.
Great tips thank you ! by the way, what do you do for work ? from home.
I (Brandon) used to teach English online - but the whole industry has changed in the past few years, unfortunately. We're now just concentrating on making a bunch of videos and pushing them out, to try and make money that way. We're off to SE Asia again soo, which will hopefully make things a bit easier! Haha.
I think you have a valid opinion and thats only yours. May be you did nt research a lot before moving. I live in Madrid and certainly there are a lot of differences with Valencia.
I have to tell you that the issues with the renting are difficult too in USA, if you dont have a good credit score, you also pay a month rental to the agency.
Here in Spain things move pretty much with the offer and demand. As there are lots of people travelling here, prices are a madness, go to Barcelona and you ll notice what I say. Valencia was a medium small city, not a lot of flights there, not a lot of pelple too. You d consider coming to Madrid.
We always do a lot of research before moving or traveling to a new place. We were also in Valencia groups on Facebook for over a year before we moved. Unfortunately, many people made the renting situation seem a lot easier than it was. Arriving as the pandemic slowed down- it meant things changed and prices went up. We have lived in almost a dozen cities together, and the renting situation in Valencia was unlike any other. It's unheard of in most places to have to pay an agent a month's rent to take 5 minutes of their time to show you a place. Especially when you're the one who found the apartment and arranged a meet up. The agent did virtually nothing. 😂
We stayed in Madrid for 5 weeks before we moved to Valencia, and we like it better. There's more travel options and more events, but it's also more expensive. We intended to find a much cheaper place than we did in Valencia. Otherwise, we'd have probably tried to find a similarly priced place in Madrid.
We definitely can't wait to come back and travel Spain, but it's not our ideal place to live, unfortunately.
Hi! I can't thank you enough for this video. I am moving to Valencia for one year for school. I'm from Philadelphia in the U.S. You really helped paint an honest picture which I appreciate. I'm going for the program, not for the city specifically although I look forward to the good aspects of the city!
My question to you is, which neighborhood would you recommend most, Cuitat Vella, Russafa, Mestalla or Aiora? I realize after one year maybe you don't know as much about each place but I'd love to hear your perspective. I care a lot about supermarkets as well.
No problem! We are glad we could be of help.
All of the neighborhoods you've mentioned would be suitable for a student. There are decent bars and restaurants in each of those areas. Rusaffa is definitely the most popular area for expats. There are a lot of foreign restaurants there, vintage shops and trendy spots- though it's pretty quiet when you walk around during the day. Ciutat Vella and the area near Mestalla are home to our favorite rock bars.
We lived in Aiora- and we liked it. It feels more residential, but we could still walk to all of the main attractions, including the City of Arts and Sciences, the beach and downtown. We had several grocery stores within a 10 minute walking distance. We could definitely recommend it!
As we said, grocery stores are all over, so it shouldn't be an issue. They are mostly medium sized, but the city centre tends to have "smaller" stores. The best/biggest grocery store in the city is a Carrefour near the City of Arts and Sciences. It will be the only one that compares to North American sized grocery stores.
I'm sure you'll be happy where ever you choose. Now that you have a better idea of what to look out for, you should be fine! 😜
@@wherearewe-yt So helpful!!!
Thank you for the interesting insights... I definitely wanna check out Valencia but I wanna live a bit outside of the city. Do you think it can be more affordable there to find something climate proof? 😅🐱
Living a bit outside the city should definitely be somewhat less expensive and the competition should be lower as well. People often mentioned Paterna or La Canyada for a more local feel. Finding somewhere climate proof, especially for the winter is just difficult in Spain in general. Our friend lived in a newer building but it was still freezing cold. It's pretty normal to be cold in your house during the winter and I think people just accept it.
Very helpful video thank you!
I'm planning to move to Spain but buying a flat so renting issues shouldn't affect me that much but quality is important, any tips on neighborhoods or types of buildings where you've seen higher quality?
We're hesitating a lot between Madrid and the capital's advtanges or Valencia and have the beach, where would you buy if you planned to stay 10 years?
Las Fallas is worrying for me, with a dog and even for me the noise will drive me crazy. Is it all over the city or is there a nice neighborhood we could aim for that would be a bit calmer? We were considering the old center but housing quality and Las Fallas are troublesome :S
Thanks a lot!
From what we've heard, you should probably stick to "newer builds" if you're planning on buying. I think the quality is pretty similar throughout the city, but I highly recommend you join the Facebook groups "Valencia Expats" and "Expats in Valencia" for some insight from people who have actually bought property themselves. That would give you a much better idea!
We stated in Madrid for 5 weeks before we moved to Valencia, and we both prefer it there; however, as we mentioned, our Pros/Cons are different from other people, so you may not feel the same! Valencia is absolutely beautiful, and has that relaxed beachy vibe. Madrid has more restaurants, more entertainment and is the HUB of Spanish travel. If you are planning on traveling around Spain while you're there, its far easier from Madrid. All the main trains leave from there. It's far more difficult getting around from Valencia. Same goes for flights. Madrid has a lot more options. We would choose Madrid, if money wasn't an issue. But many people would disagree!
Honestly, it's pretty tough to escape Fallas if you plan on living in Valencia itself. We stayed in a place down town first, and it was quite loud the whole time. When we lived in Aiora, it was more quiet (since it's more residential)..but you could still hear fireworks in the distance, all day, every day. That's why many people with dogs leave for Fallas.
If you can, I would HIGHLY recommend checking out both cities before you commit. I would especially suggest you visit Valencia during Fallas to see what you're getting into. We're not exaggerating when we say it's essentially a whole month of noise and fireworks. 😂
Madrid and Valencia are both great cities though. It completely depends on what YOUR pros/cons are! Think about what your dealbreakers are.
Take a look at our Valencia video- it will help you get a better vibe for the city.
Good luck!
@@wherearewe-yt Thank you so much for the great insights! I'll definitely join the Facebook groups!
I lived in Madrid for 3 years and absolutely loved it, I'm down to go back but my wife really wants the beach and isn't sure going to Valencia during summer every other weekend is going to satisfy her needs (prob by car, not train but rentals won't be cheap).
And Valencia allows with the same budget to have a much nicer flat. So it's tough choice but both options seem good so at least we can't go wrong with either 😂
It would be nice to find out what it's like living the Campo around Valencia. I think that because you are living in the city many of the issues would not be so bad if you lived in the Campo.
None of the issues we had would be any different living in the countryside. If anything, it'd likely be worse! Haha.
Besides Fallas, of course. That would be the ideal time to live in the middle of nowhere. 😆
That's a damn fine looking, cat!
How were the grocery prices in Valencia and Spain, overall?
Wife and I visited Lisbon a month back and even with taking into considering the normal Euro conversion being about 1.5x the USD, it would still be about 10% to 15% cheaper than current US Grocery Store prices. With the current Euro conversion of about 1.1x to the USD it was about 30% to 40%. The prices for pretty much everything in US is remarkably extortionate right now. I'm solidly middle class making just over $120k/year and it's just getting ridiculous for necessities, I'm also not in an expensive city (midwestern city that's not Chicago, Dallas, ATX, etc...). Wife is worried about the foreign language factor, but I'm not too worried about it (I find it interesting/a little fun, personally).
Hahaha. Thanks! She is indeed. 🐈⬛
We recently went to visit my (Brandon) family in Canada, and grocery prices were FAR more expensive in Canada. We were able to buy fresh fish, cheeses, vegetables, and meat for quite cheap in Spain! Wine and alcohol is ridiculously cheap (good bottles of wine for $2-3). The selection of cheap, frozen aisle types of foods that you find in North America is much smaller. Overall, we quite enjoyed the grocery stores and markets in Spain. Better than where we currently live (in Hungary).
I wouldn't worry too much about the language barrier. Learning the basics goes a long way. And with Google Translate, it's pretty easy to photo translate menus and things like that, if you're unsure of what you're buying at restaurants or the grocery store. And even then, Spanish people are typically quite outgoing, and pretty friendly overall!
Good evening, i hope all is well with you guys. My wife and I are visiting next month for our anniversary and were wondering how the weather is in March?
The weather is pretty nice in March. I suppose it all depends on where you're from and what you're used to. For us, it was nice enough to still sit outside and enjoy some drinks. It's typically between 13-20°C (55/68F).
I bought a lovely flat in Gandia Valencia community (a 40 mins train trip from Valencia Stacion Del Nord and airport). It’s 3 mins away from the beach on the third line of beach. And the beach is actually better here than Alicante which isn’t too far anyways. There’s 7km of lovely sandy beach to enjoy in the summer and there’s the city center which is always charming and full throughout the whole winter, that’s 10 mins drive from the beach area or a bus ride of 15 mins.
I will rent that flat thorough the year so please get in touch if you’re interested. And If you don’t know this region, is worth checking it out. I’m buying my second flat now in the center city of gandia and it’s much cheaper than Denia (where all the Brit’s are) and it’s near by. I can also give advice on buying a flat here.
Best wishes
We're long gone from Spain, but maybe someone else will find your comment and may find it useful! 🍻
I'd love to hear how you feel Barcelona compares. Do you feel it has the same level of bureaucracy issues?
From what we've heard, it does. I have a feeling the issue is pretty common in most big cities.
You can check out "Winging It Wish Ash" to see some of her videos related to her struggles as a non-EU citizen (she's American) trying to live and study in Barcelona. She has also had quite a bit of trouble along the way- but she's still there, so that's something! Haha. 😅
Hey guys… nice video! I have a question for you guys about moving to Spain . I am Dutch and live in Canada ( Moncton , I am sure Brandon knows where that is 😉) and my wife is Canadian . We are thinking of moving to Spain in the next few years. How easy/ difficult is it to take a none European Union resident with you to live in Spain?
You guys can live anywhere in the EU together and she will get a 5-year "Resident Card for EU Family Members" from that country. If you are married it should be a bit more straight forward. You'll have to find long-term accommodation, register at the town hall, get health insurance, either have a job or show that you have enough other income or savings (I think it's 9k Euros per person but these numbers change), and get your registration card (for EU citizens) from the police station and then you can apply for her resident card afterwards. I wouldn't say it's difficult but in our experience in Spain the process is a lot longer and a bit more complicated and they are a lot less relaxed with what kind of documents they'll accept (for example you need to show your savings in a Spanish bank account and you have to show bank statements from the past 6 months).
hello dear,s....need to visit valencia.....
Americans became used to moving away from their families which I guess makes it easier to do. If you have close connections with your family you would probably stay put. Your info can be helpful for people who want to relocate. I believe more people want to move to the U.S. than any other place in the world. My daughter lived in Rota, Spain a couple years. She is in the U.S. Navy.
I noticed that expats usually list healthcare as a top reason to leave the U.S. That has not been my experience, so maybe I am an exception. My Healthcare, other than Medicare, is $27 a month and my copays are minimal. My wife's insurance is $132 a month.
100% healthcare and horrible quality if food why I want to leave USA right now
Hi
Great video. We are moving to Valencia and I was wondering if you can answer my question: do you know if I can purchase spiders in Spain? I have a large tarantula collection and would like o continue my hobby there. Thank you for any help.
Hmmm..that's definitely not our area of expertise! Not too sure. I recommend you join the groups "Valencia Expats" and "Expats in Valencia" on Facebook (if you have it). Both groups are pretty large, and I'm sure someone in that group would be able to answer your question!
@@wherearewe-yt great idea. Thank you!
@@pinkpotatowithgarlic Hope it works out, and that someone can answer your question!
Check Benidorf. Lots of modern music from Pink to heavy rock. Cheap princes , good food, international food,and large Brit population.
We actually made a video in Benidorm. It's probably the least Spanish city in Spain and just a place where people vacation. Not really our jam, but it's a nice day trip. Bands and especially big artists (like P!nk) don't play concerts there, though. There's definitely more of that in Valencia. Most artists play in Madrid and Barcelona.
Fixing the insulation in your apartment you guys Googled insulation? Where did you guys find somebody to work on your apartment's insulation?
We were renting. It's not up to the tenant to get a place insulated and do construction projects like that. If we had asked the landlord they would have raised our rent by a lot. They didn't even want to install aircon when we asked. It's also quite normal that Spanish houses are insulated badly, though. If we owned a place in Spain we would definitely get a professional to improve the insulation aspect.
Bad housing is true throughout Spain. We were in benedorm and our place was like hades.
Our temporary places in Madrid and Valencia were both quite nice - so it made it that much more obvious when we moved into our permanent spot. Two or three months of living comfortably, followed by burning alive or freezing to death. 😂
Heya, could you possibly help out with moving with a cat, as you said you have a cat and me and my partner are thinking of moving with our cats and that’s one of my biggest scares and would appreciate to know how you guys did it.
That depends on a lot of things, like where you're moving from! Feel free to send us a message on Instagram (wherearewe.ig), and we can try and help answer some questions.
What insurance do you have? Trying to find a good one.
In Spain we used DKV and we can't complain. We paid around 60 Euros each per month and everything was covered with no deductible. I got DKV specifically because I wanted to be able to go to a clinic called Medicality in Valencia that is English speaking, and they accept DKV. But every other place accepts DKV, too. Now, that we moved away we cancelled the insurance and got Safetywing for the time being because this year we'll start traveling full-time and we needed something that's not country-specific.
Whaaat? You lived in Budapest? Do you have a video about that. I am from Hungary living in US and planning to move to Spain
Do you get the season in Valencia? We used to live in Florida and now in SC and love the weather here i am afraid is always summer
We live in Budapest currently, again! But we are leaving soon. We are debating on whether or not we will made a Budapest Pros and Cons video. 🤔
We want to live near Valencia/Alicante as digital nomads. Is the rent issue also a problem outside the city?
I'm sure it would be a bit easier to find a property to rent outside of the major cities, but I don't think it would really change the problems with housing quality and insulation. We haven't lived outside of Valencia ourself, so it's tough to say!
What if you're employed as a US employer as a salaried worker? Would you still need that Renter's insurance since I wouldn't need that EIN number as a contractor (as I'm not a contractor)?
Thanks!
Yes, you still need the insurance. They don't care if you work abroad. You wouldn't qualify for the insurance, though. You'd also still need a tax number (NIE) and all that since you'd have to pay income tax in Spain if you live there for more than 183 days in a year. Being a salaried worker elsewhere and living in a EU country long term doesn't really work legally due to tax reasons. You also pretty much need a NIE for anything in Spain. You can't pay your electricity bill without it. Even when you make Amazon orders you often have to give your NIE.
@@wherearewe-yt Interesting. I thought as long as there was a tax treaty between the country of residence and the USA (my home country) then the tax liability is non-existent as long as I can provide proof to each country that I'm paying federal government taxes in either of those countries (at least, that's how I interpreted the treaty language). Otherwise, I guess the NIE and all that makes sense as they probably want to know who is using what where and why.
Thank you for your insight!
Bonus question: for countries in EU that have the "Digital Nomad" type visas, assuming the tax treaty exists between that nation and USA, what's the extent of Renter's payment insurance and other externalities that an expat may face?
Jeez I was relatively motivated to move in Valencia but after checking the taxes , I’ve right away got turned off.
Yes, taxes are quite high in Spain. Especially when you don't make a ton of money they take a lot more from you than some other countries in Europe. Especially social security payments are quite high once you don't get the discount anymore after the first couple years. Depending where you from Portugal might have a more favorable tax system.
@@wherearewe-yt I think the best solution for me would be to stay in my current situation, and keep an eye open on job offers with good financial retribution in Valencia.
Gee, the part about having to pay a year's rent in advance for an apartment (with paper thin walls) is kind of a deal breaker. Is all of Spain like that?
When it comes to the thin walls, the north might be better insulated. When we stayed in an Airbnb in Madrid it was a lot better. About the rent in advance, we aren't sure since we only rented in Valencia. It's probably easier in cities with less competition where more apartments are available, since the landlords can't be that picky.
Mostly you are right, BUT ...
2022 was a near post COVID year, before COVID, there were more festivals, most inside the river.
In music, we have the best marching bands, but not a lot of rock concerts or live music.
Newer homes have better isolation, but as you rented what nobody else with more guarantees wanted, quality was low.
Wrote that, even good isolated new homes need AC and heat systems.
Valencia airport is not the international one, Alicante is the good nearby, or Madrid / Barcelona / Mallorca, and it is cheaper in summer but in "charter", that is why regular flights, are more expensive, because there is an even cheaper class because of tourism, probably you would have discovered that going to any agency instead of thinking that internet is cheaper (and it isn't).
Most people with pets hire pet hotels for "fallas" with one year in advance.
All these things are good to know, but are like "insider tips" for people who spent their whole lives in Valencia... Thats not the case for tourists or expats just arriving, it takes a long time to sort out these issues and in the meantime, you can waste a lot of money and time.
@@frenchartantiquesparis424 Good to have internet to share it. And they are no secret. If those expats asked, even in English to native people, drinking a coffee, or - no need to make friends - on tourist info spots, they would know it.
The points you made are just confirming what we said though and that Valencia is not an ideal choice (for expats like us). When it comes to the points you made, marching bands aren't exactly the type of live music we are looking for and I don't think most people are looking for that. As an expat with foreign income the competition for better quality apartments is too high so you end up with a crappy bad quality place because you don't have any choice (and without AC because although I agree, every home in Valencia should have it, there is a crazy amount that does not). If you want to travel frequently Valencia is not the ideal airport in the area because Alicante is a more international and better one. If you want to travel in summer you have to book strange charter flights through an agency in person which is quite unusual compared to everywhere else and probably not straightforward to a foreign expat. You have to flee the city every single year with your pet which is expensive and not ideal (especially with a cat because most cats like to stay in their familiar surroundings).
@@wherearewe-yt You are right, and yet, you (expats) come each day more.
True. But you don't really know what a place is really like until you live there and see for yourself. Everyone has different requirements. For families, for example, Valencia would be a much better choice than other cities that we prefer. It all depends on the individual.
Thank you for this Video.
We've been in Valencia for a week now and I've never seen so many cockroaches in my life. I kill at least 2 cockroaches a day in the flat. And it's the second flat, we had to leave the first one after 2 days, also because of cockroaches.
The walls of the flats are so thin that you can hear everything from the neighbours. One of the neighbours is practically snoring in my bed, that's how sensitive it is 😂.
So funny, when I was writing this text, my wife called me to kill a cockroach 😂.
Where exactly in Valencia did you stay? Which neighbourhoods would you recommend?
Which city is your next stop?
We were lucky enough to not have any cockroaches! We had one come in from outside at one point, but it never happened again. Have you been staying in El Cabanyal? There seems to be a lot of roach activity there!
We lived around Aiora at the time. We really liked our area, and would recommend it for sure. We could walk downtown, to the beach, to the City if Arts and Sciences and to a variety of cool bars.
Now we are located in Budapest, where we were living before we headed to Valencia. It's more of our cup of tea- though Valencia is still a great city!
@@wherearewe-yt we live in Russafa. Here is very nice, but very loud in the evenings. And also in the streets there are a lot cockraoches... We want to stay here for 4 weeks and see if Valencia would be a long term city for us. But Ayora would be too far away from the action for us. Let's see what the next 3 weeks bring us. After that we want to have a look at Madrid. Barcelona we were already a few times. We also like it very much, but there is too much going on and it is just too expensive.
But expensive is currently felt every country. Since the Corona measures, the world is going crazy.
@@wherearewe-yt And good luck in Budapest. Is also a nice city, but without beach ;)
@@youcal08 We spent a month in Madrid before Valencia, and absolutely loved it. We probably would have stayed there, if it weren't more expensive. Same goes for Barcelona. Spain is great in general- but for our needs, it's just not it right now. Hope you guys find the right fit for you!
And thanks! Haha.
less live music?
Berklee has a centre there and you say there is less live music?
We are mostly talking about international artists and bands, especially rock music in our case, since that's what we prefer. Spain is not often on the radar when people go on tour, especially not compared to other countries in Europe like Germany or the UK. Just because a city has a music university doesn't mean Taylor Swift or The Rolling Stones are going to come play in that city. And watching music students play cello isn't everyone's cup of tea either.
Maybe you could try Belgrade, Serbia.
Its funny you say that..because we are planning on making some videos there a few months from now! We are going to stay in Serbia for a few weeks. 😁
@@wherearewe-yt Then let me know when you arrive in Belgrade; if I'm there, we can get some drinks... And I can maybe help you to find an apartment.
@@QueensrycheGirl We are always down for drinks! We probably will only stay a month in Belgrade at first, so we can more of the country.
Give us a follow on Instagram- that will be more up-to-date once we start traveling a bit more.
the heat in summer is torture.Like 100 degrees. Its an oven
It really is. Our apartment totally roasted is alive. 🥵
I paid 16€ for a train from Valencia to Madrid a couple of days ago. That's cheap.
That's cheap! We never took any transport that cheap. Even our bus to Benidorm (which is less than a two hour ride) was over €20.
Advise best coountry city to retire from usa.. buy house.. low cost living?
That's really hard to answer for us because we are in our 30s, so nowhere near retiring and we're not from the US. However, as we mentioned in our video, we do think that Spain is a good place for people wanting to retire and many people who have taken that step seem to love it. We just aren't at that stage of our lives yet and right now there are other things that are important to us when looking for a base to live (like concerts and nightlife etc). I think if you are looking for a sunny relaxed place, Spain and Italy are good choice. Portugal is also liked a lot, especially the Algarve area in the south. All of those places have a lower cost of living in comparison to other places in Europe, and health care is great, which is obviously an important factor when it comes to retiring somewhere. And all 3 countries have an "easy" language in comparison to other countries.
En España hay pocos fans de Rock Metal. Y esas bandas es normal no vienen, salvo a Madrid y Barcelona para recoger el poco público de España.
I feel like there are a surprising amount of rock/metal bars in Spain compared to other places! Both Valencia (near L'Amistat
) and Madrid (Bajos de Argüelles) have a small area with multiple rock/metal bars all close to each other. There are many major cities around Europe with only one-two such bars. It's too bad that bands don't come more often.
All what you are saying guys it’s a true actually the bad thanks what do you say it’s really true if someone want to come to Spain you have to listen to this guys because all what they are saying will happen for everyone come in
You are absolutely right regarding the quality of the houses, many are very old,,, and many others built after the civil war... with a country half destroyed, ruined, isolated from Europe and aid from the Marshall Plan. United States economic plan for the reconstruction of Western Europe after World War II. Since a military dictatorship was in command here as they were half allies of Hitler and Mussolini who fought on their behalf in the civil war. Until the 60s ,,, now in the new ones there are other materials, regards
Hey I hope somebody replies to this 😅… I’m looking to move to Valencia from London where I have lived for 5 years.. I am selling my property BUT I’m only wanting to RENT in Valencia!!
Bit of background of my situation.. I have a LTD British company but I work 14days at sea in the Netherlands and live the other 14 days at home in UK, so I would not want to work in Spain/Valencia. I’d like to simply rent an apartment in Valencia and do the same exact same as I’m doing now in London work 14 days offshore in Netherlands where I live on a vessel 🚢 and then spend the other days in my rented accommodation in Valencia.
COULD I DO THIS? What would I need? I have no ties at all , no kids,no girlfriend, no debts, is this possible as I’m not sure how having a British LTD company would effect me living in Spain .. apologies for the long message and probably confusing to some but there we go 😅 anyone living in Valencia who could help me out it would be much appreciated👌🏼🤝🏼 thanks
I guess, the most important question is if you have the right to reside in Spain (or the EU in general) assuming you are British? Do you have an EU passport? Having a British company doesn't really matter but if you are in Spain for more than 183 days in a year, you'll become a tax resident and you'll have to pay your taxes there, regardless of where your company is registered. It would probably best to ask a professional for some advice about your situation, though.
@@wherearewe-yt yes, British citizen with British passport. Thanks for your reply, I will try contact some professionals about it and see what is what 😊 damn brexit has ruined everything 😅😅
Yes, that's probably a good idea. I am not sure what the possibilities are for people from the UK. We met some people in Spain from the UK and the US who were on a "Non-lucrative" visa. You can't work in Spain if you have this visa but maybe that would be an option for you since you said you work in the Netherlands and wouldn't work in Spain anyway. A lot of retirees use this visa. Brexit definitely made it more difficult which is a shame 😫
How much for a luxury apartment in a big city?
We're the wrong people to ask. We're poor. 😂
In Ireland, there isn't good insulation either.
It's crazy how some countries that don't have a warm climate have very bad insulation. It's the same in the UK. When I (Anja) lived in Scotland it was freezing inside in the winter and many flats only had electric heating.
@wherearewe-yt it's mostly winter in Ireland, and I'm from the Caribbean. It really is insane that one is freezing, even indoors.
Me husband kids want to go there and stay a few months to check it out. Our concern is that my husband is covered in tattoos. In your experience, did you get any negative attention because of the tattoos that you have?
Nope! We never had any sort of problem. I have my neck, hands/fingers, arms and leg. I've never noticed any more looks than any other place.
@@wherearewe-yt Thank you for your response! We currently live in a small town in Texas US and people treat him like if he's a no one or someone to fear because of his tattoos. Also we are hispanic so when we visit Mexico, it's the same thing. But when we go to a bigger city in Texas, people just mind their own business and don't treat him any less. That's why that was one of our concerns, thank you.
You are digital nomand?
Which cities/countries you liked most?
We really loved living in both Hanoi, Vietnam and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Both very affordable, unique and beautiful cities. With the low cost, we were able to have an amazing "work-life" balanced because we could work a lot less, and actually enjoy our time there!
Valencia is still pretty provincial compared to Barcelona and Madrid.
How much are you paying per month ?
We were paying 800 Euros per month rent but they raised it to 950 after we moved out.
More honest people like you should be content creators. Wonderfully informative video.
There is an other american tuber (woman) who claims Valencia is heaven on earth, ewerybody should move there. And before moving, you need to buy this new booklet of mine about Valencia 🤮
Pretty sure we know who you're referring to. 😂
Thanks for watching! It's important to be honest with this sort of stuff. There's no point blowing smoke. Moving to a new place is a big decision- so it's not at all helpful when someone only talks about the good.
We travel and move around a lot, looking for the perfect city; however, we've learned that the perfect place simply does not exist! Of course, everything is up to individual wants and needs..but every place has good and bad things about it.
There are plenty of great things about Valencia, but at this point in our lives, it's just not for us for long term living. 😁
I visited Spain in 1975, when Francisco Franco was still running the country. Madrid was about as safe as a large city can get. I think you could leave your camera on a park bench, and no one would take it. However, it was strange seeing armed military all over the city.
There definitely seems to be somewhat of a "petty crime" problem in certain areas of Spain. Though I suppose you have that in most of the world these days. 😕
How about train,
What about trains?
Yikes.... So it looks like Valencia wouldn't be a good place to move then. Damn it! Maybe Malaga or Benidorm?
There are plenty of great things about Valencia, and many people absolutely love it! It's an amazing city for visiting as well. For living, its just not for us.
Depends on your needs, really! I'm not sure if the housing quality is different in either Malaga or Benidorm, but that was by far the biggest issue for us.
Nederlands? cool people!
Do you mean we should move there? We really enjoy it there, and would love to spend more time there! A bit pricy for living for us though. I'm sure it would be a great place to live.
Please visit UK, then you will know what means by bad insulation😄
I (Anja) actually lived in Scotland for a few years and you are correct, insulation there is terrible! I went to the doctors because I thought I was suffering from arthritis but it was actually chilblains, a reaction to the cold 😂. Not to mention, all the dampness and moldy clothes. However, we do love the UK, and our next video coming out will actually be in the UK, so don't miss it 😊
😄😄I will keep watching
If you hate Fallas you really have become a true Valencian XD
Hahaha. We do really love the artistic aspect to it- but we could really do without the constant fireworks part. 🤯