Cost of living in Barcelona?

Question

Hello all

I was wondering how much money you would need to earn to live in Barcelona. Basically this would mean paying rent and having enough money to enjoy the Spanish lifestyle. Any advice would be great, especially on Spanish tax laws, does income tax work the same as in the UK?

Thanks

Answer 1

The cost of living is probably about 30% cheaper than in London. So you really need a reasonable  salary. Some professions such as teaching pay half the UK wage. Living at a reasonable standard on £15,000 is possible in BCN  but only sharing costs with another. Rents are high.

Income tax and employee social security is about the same as in the UK and work in a similar manner. (You wait ages for repayments.)

Council tax is about one tenth of that in the UK and this is achieved with no loss in services.

You used to get mortgage tax relief. Perhaps someone else could say if you still do.

Public transport is cheap so commuting is cheap.

Do not get confused with the costs tourists pay. When you live in Spain, the cost of booze does not come into the calculation.

Answer 2

Depending if you are sharing or living alone.Sharing you will probably end up paying up to 400 euros,with use of kitchen etc.Living alone a bit more expensive,also depending on where you want to live.Centre Barcelona is so expensive,1000 euros and upwards,but if you look on the outskirts you can find from 600 to 800 euros 2 bed flats.Like the other post said the transport system is good,you can move around quickly and cheaply.Workwise it depends what you do.You going to need 1500 euros minimum to live a bit,just a bit though because its not as cheap as you think.The income tax rule is that every month they take between 8 and 10 per cent from your wages and at the end of the year,tax year here is 1 jan to 31 december,depending if you are single,married etc they give you money back or you have to pay more,normally with the monthly deductions it is enough.One thing you got to remember is that here you have to have all your papers in order to get work,theres no problem if you are a british citizen but there are still things you have to do which means lots of queing and fotocopies in government offices.Hope I have helped in some way.

Answer 3

Food was very cheap over there when I went on holiday but I have been told accomidation is quite expensive