Spain has long been a country that foreigners want to move to, with good weather, culture, food and quality of life being some of the main draws.

Its reputation as one of the world’s favourite destinations to live in has now been further consolidated after it came in second place in the latest Internations Expat Insider 2023 survey. 

The only country that came out ahead of Spain was Mexico. The others in the top five were Panama, Malaysia and Taiwan. The only other European country that made the top 10 places was Portugal in 10th place.

The worst five destinations for foreigners according to Internations respondents were Kuwait, Norway, Turkey, South Korea, and Germany.

With more than 12,000 respondents, it’s one of the most extensive surveys on living and working abroad and offers insights into life in 53 destinations worldwide.

Respondents’ provided detailed information on satisfaction with their respective countries in categories including – quality of life, ease of settling in, working abroad, personal finance, administration and language.

Spain in first place for quality of life 

Spain took the top spot 1st when it came to quality of life, with foreign residents particularly happy with their health and well-being (4th place) and leisure options (1st place).

Spain offers plenty of world-class beaches, historic cities, opportunities for sports and a wide variety of natural areas for an outdoor lifestyle.

Residents in Spain are satisfied with their social lives, coming in 10th place, finding it fairly easy to fit in with the local culture (2nd place).

Since the first Expat Insider survey in 2014, Spain has always ranked in the top 10 for quality of life and consistently featured among the best worldwide for its leisure options.

In fact, 88 percent of foreigners living in Spain are content with the culture and nightlife in España, compared to 68 percent globally.

Nine out of ten respondents said they’re pleased with the opportunities for recreational sports compared to 75 percent globally.

Thankfully, Spain’s great climate and sunny weather, the third best according to the survey, makes it easy for foreigners to enjoy these activities on a regular basis.

Spanish healthcare is highly valued

The quality of healthcare in Spain also ranked highly among foreign residents. They are satisfied with both the availability (84 percent happy vs. 71 percent globally) and the affordability (82 percent happy vs. 62 percent globally) of healthcare.

Spain’s quality of medical care came in 10th place globally. Quality public healthcare is free for those paying into the social security system and private healthcare insurance costs far less than in other countries such as the US.

READ ALSO: How does Spain’s healthcare system compare with the US?

Poor career opportunities 

Although Spain came out ahead overall, there were several categories where Spain didn’t perform well at all. Unsurprisingly, most of these had to do with working life. Spain performed worst in the working abroad category, coming in 34th place.

Less than half of respondents said that moving to Spain has improved their career prospects (vs. 59 percent globally), and 36 percent are unhappy with the local job market (vs. 26 percent globally). Job security came in 43rd place and the state of the local economy also ranked poorly, in 39th place overall.  

Foreigners in Spain often agree that you don’t move to Spain for career growth. Jobs are not easy to get, and moving up the career ladder is hard. In fact, it’s consistently ranked as one of the worst places to start a business and salaries and low compared to many other Western European countries.

Spain’s frustrating bureaucracy

Spain also ranks below the worldwide average in the admin category, in 33rd place. Nearly half the respondents (47 percent) have difficulties dealing with the notoriously difficult bureaucracy, which takes up a lot of time and causes plenty of frustrations and delays. 

READ ALSO: How to get a ‘cita previa’ (appointment) in Spain when it seems impossible

On the positive side, the country ranks 10th in the work and leisure subcategory. This is mainly due to the fact that many are satisfied with their work-life balance (73 percent happy vs. 63 percent globally).

Cost of living and language

Despite the poor work opportunities, finances don’t appear to cause issues many for foreigners in Spain – more than two in three are happy with the general cost of living, compared to only 44 percent globally.

When it comes to the language 36 said they find it challenging to live in Spain without local language skills (vs. 32 percent globally), but luckily 62 percent say the local language(s) are easy to learn.