Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

MOVING TO SPAIN

Three cities in Spain voted world’s best for foreign residents

For the first time, three Spanish cities have clinched all three top spots in the latest ranking of best places in the world for foreign residents, as voted for in the InterNations Expat City Ranking 2023.

Published: 20 November 2023 13:30 CET
Three cities in Spain voted world's best for foreign residents
Málaga (left), Valencia (top right) and Alicante (bottom right) have been ranked the three best cities for foreign residents in a recent global survey by Internations. Photo: Jesper Brouwers/Unsplash, Joe Kassis/Pexels, Will Meyers/Unsplash

The Andalusian city of Málaga took the top spot when it came to the world’s best city for foreign residents, closely followed by Alicante in second and Valencia in third.

All three Spanish cities had top 10 ratings in categories such as Ease of Settling In, Quality of Life, and Personal Finance. They were all highlighted for their welcoming cultures, enjoyability, and affordability.  Málaga and Alicante also made it into the top 10 for “Expat Essentials” such as housing.

Málaga 

The southern city of Málaga took the number one spot as “Expats’ Favourite City” in 2023, beating 48 other countries worldwide. This is a step up from its 2021 ranking of second place. 

The Andalusian city is known for being the gateway to the Costa del Sol and its beaches, as well as its strong arts and cultural scene. 

According to the respondents, Málaga was ranked best for Local Friendliness. A total of 89 percent said that the locals are particularly friendly towards foreign residents, versus 65 percent globally. Unsurprisingly it also came in second place when it came to finding friends.

Málaga also came in second place for in the Quality of Life Index, and first place for its much-sought-after climate and weather.

An aerial view of Málaga. Photo: Enrique / Pixabay
 

Foreign residents also loved the city for its leisure options, ranking it in second place. Málaga also featured among the top 10 in the Travel & Transit (8th) and Healthcare (10th) categories.

Unsurprisingly city’s lowest (but still above average) ranking was for working, coming in 13th spot. It also ranked very close to the bottom (41st) for the local job market. Despite the lack of good jobs, the city claimed the top spot for work-life balance.

When it comes to accommodation, the city came in sixth for housing, 11th for easiness of finding housing and fifth for affordability. The city scored particularly well among foreigners who want a low cost of living too, coming in top for Personal Finance and general cost of living. Overall, 88 percent of foreign residents are happy with their life in Málaga, compared to 72 percent globally.

READ ALSO: How much does it really cost to live in Spain’s Málaga?

Alicante

Alicante has long been a popular place for foreigners to move to, particularly among the Brits. This year it places second out of 49 in the Expat City Ranking 2023.

Of Spain’s 50 provinces, Alicante comes out as the favourite spot for Brits with 76,739 living there. 

READ ALSO – MAP: Where do Spain’s British residents live in 2023?

The city excelled in the Ease of Settling In category coming in second and also claimed the top spot in the Culture & Welcome category. In fact, it took top spots for feeling welcome, feeling at home and social lives.

Alicante also ranked in third place in the Personal Finance category, showing that it’s reasonably affordable too. The majority of foreigners (78 percent) are happy with the general cost of living, compared to only 44 percent globally. The city even ranked first globally for affordable housing.

READ ALSO: Four in ten properties sold to foreigners in Spain are in Alicante

Quality of life is another reason Alicante scored highly. Healthcare came in fifth place, scoring for its affordability (6th) and availability (8th).

READ ALSO – Alicante vs Valencia: Which one is better to live in Spain?

Alicante (pictured) is a slightly cheaper city to live in than Valencia. Photo: Dean Milenkovic/Unsplash
 
 

Foreign residents also enjoy the excellent local leisure options (7th), which were boosted by great air quality (7th) and climate and weather (3rd).

It narrowly missed out on the top spot largely due to its low ranking in the Working Abroad category where it came in 40th place.

Foreigners reported that the local business culture does not promote creativity (39th), independent work (40th), or flexibility (41st). The ratings for their personal career opportunities (40th) aren’t any better either. 

Despite this, overall 92 percent of foreigners are happy with their life in Alicante, compared to 72 percent globally.

Valencia

Valencia was named the best city for foreign residents in the InterNations Expat City Ranking for 2022, and while this year, it has slipped to third place, it’s still one of Spain’s most popular cities. 

Despite this, it’s still a favourite city among foreigners who rank it particularly high for its quality of life, leisure options and recreational sports.

READ ALSO – Moving to Valencia: A guide to the best neighbourhoods to live in

Valencia is known as being the birthplace of paella, but is also loved for its fantastic beaches, atmospheric old town and the 7km Turia Gardens park that wind their way around the city. 

Affordability of healthcare came in first place, while availability came in third, ranking among the best healthcare worldwide.

READ ALSO – REVEALED: The cheapest and most expensive areas to buy or rent in Valencia 

Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences. Photo: JOSE JORDAN/AFP
 

Ease of getting around, public transport and being able to walk and cycle were also cited as highlights.

Like the other two cities though the Working Abroad category did not score highly, coming in 36th place. Career Prospects went down to 47th, which is the worst rated among the Spanish cities included in the ranking.

Despite this, 79 percent are happy with their work-life balance (vs. 63 percent globally). Foreign residents are pleased with the general cost of living (3rd) and Personal Finance (6th). It also came in 7th for affordable housing.

This could be helped by the fact that most feel welcome there and consider local residents to be friendly (89 percent vs. 67 percent globally for both factors).

A total of 80 percent of foreigners are happy with their social life in Valencia, compared to only 56 percent globally. These above-average results lead to a 6th-place ranking in the Ease of Settling In.

Overall 91 percent of foreigners are happy with their life in Valencia, compared to 72 percent globally.

Two other Spanish cities also scored highly in the rankings. The capital of Madrid came in sixth place, while the Catalan city of Barcelona took 13th spot. 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

RENTING

Do I have to pay the estate agent a commission if I rent in Spain?

Who has to pay the real estate agent commission (usually equivalent to one month's rent) in Spain: the landlord or the new tenant? And are there exceptions to the rules or underhand tricks agents use to get tenants to cough up more money?

Published: 24 April 2024 10:16 CEST
Updated: 27 April 2024 15:03 CEST
Do I have to pay the estate agent a commission if I rent in Spain?

Up until 2023, the general rule in Spain was that both the landlord and the tenant would both have to pay estate agency fees when a rental contract was processed through them, although in some cases it was just the arrendatario (tenant) rather than the arrendador (landlord) who had to foot most of this commission.

Tenants often had the sense they weren’t getting much in return out of it, as it was common to find apartments hadn’t been cleaned, filled with broken furniture and other appliances that weren’t working.

On top of a commission to the agency equal to one month of rent, tenants had to pay one to two month’s deposit and a month’s rent, meaning they had to pay a total of three to four months’ worth of fees upfront, which would rack up to a lot of money. 

READ ALSO: The cities in Spain where people fight most over a place to rent 

Thankfully, Spain’s housing law, brought into force in May 2023, put an end to this and now it’s solely down to the landlord to pay the agency fee as they’re the ones who hired them.

The law, which modified part of the Urban Leasing Law of 1994, now states: “The expenses of real estate management and formalisation of the contract will be borne by the lessor,” that is, the owner of the property.

READ ALSO – Renting in Spain: Can my partner move in with me?

One of the main problems is that agencies have been doing this for so long that they stand to lose quite a bit of money and may continue to ask tenants to pay on the side. 

Alejandro Fuentes-Lojo, a lawyer specialised in real estate law explained to Spanish news site Newtral: “Many professionals will try to circumvent this prohibition, and in some cases they will try to make the tenant pay out of pocket, but we must warn that if they agree, they will be unprotected by the law”.

Be aware, even though tenants shouldn’t have to pay the full agency fees anymore, there are certain circumstances in which they may still have to pay something.

The Rental Negotiating Agency (ANA), states that there are a series of exceptional cases where real estate agencies can pass some of these expenses on to tenants, specifically when they are offered a series of additional services that directly benefit them.

These expenses could include house cleaning services at the end of the lease, repair services and legal advice during the duration of the contract, or other services where it can be proven that they have a direct benefit for the tenants. These expenses can only be collected after the contracts are signed.

READ ALSO – Q&A: When can you legally leave a rental property in Spain? 

The general director of ANA and a lawyer specialised in leasing, José Ramón Zurdo, states: “The new Housing Law does not regulate or limit the impact of expenses that accrue after the signing of the contracts, because the limit of expenses that can be passed on is closed after this time”.

According to the new housing law, expenses that can’t be passed on to the tenant include management expenses charged by real estate agencies for intermediating, searching for tenants and showing the homes. Tenants can also not be charged for expenses of formalising contracts or paying any lawyers or notaries involved.

There are also four exceptional cases where agencies can still charge fees to tenants, when they are not habitual residence leases and, therefore, are not regulated by the Urban Leases Law.

These include:

  • Tourist accommodation
  • Rental of commercial or office space
  • Seasonal rentals
  • Luxury housing leases – Properties whose surface area exceeds 300 m2 built, or whose rent exceeds the interprofessional minimum wage by 5.5 times.

READ ALSO: Spanish court rules buyer can purchase property directly from seller without paying agency fees

SHOW COMMENTS