The Part These "Spain Is Cheap" Stories Always Leave Out

Mediterranean-style home in Spain

One of the tiredest refrains from the expat crowd is, “Spain is soooo cheap!”

From an American income standpoint, that’s true enough. Still, it pointedly ignores the reality of millions of Spanish people living on Spanish salaries, which, to be clear, are on average much lower than American salaries.

It’s how damn near every article begins – especially from Business Insider.

Hard numbers are an easy, if not lazy, way to quantify a shift in lifestyle when moving abroad. I also find them to be the least interesting part of why someone moves abroad.

The most recent article making the rounds on social media is about a woman who moved from Florida to Spain, and the headline points out how much cheaper Spain is than Florida.

At this point, it’s just tired.

So let’s get it out of the way. Yes, living in Spain is cheaper than in Florida. Great. Moving on to the parts that matter and shape your life here.

Alicante, where the article's subject, Jennifer, lives, is less expensive to live in, in part because the subject chose a different type of housing. A 2,600 square-foot, four-bedroom home is going to cost more than a 1,300 square-foot two-bedroom apartment. The maintenance alone on a 2,600 square-foot home is more expensive, and that’s not even getting into when something breaks, needs replacement, or the insurance.

Jennifer’s next point is the need for patience when you live in Spain.

I don’t mean this in a nasty way, but … well, yeah!

Part of what makes living in Spain so special is the tranquilo y mañana lifestyle. Most things here aren’t rushed. Have an appointment with a handyman? He’ll probably show up, but if he can’t, he’ll say, “Mañana.” And it might be mañana, but it might also be next week. The point is, it’ll get done, but don’t expect it to be rushed unless it’s urgent.

One thing the article points out is that it takes more than a day or two to receive Amazon orders.

Umm … really? This one surprised me.

I use Amazon here in Valencia, and unless something is being shipped from elsewhere in the EU, I typically have my orders within a couple of days. There’s very little I need urgently enough to require delivery the next day. And if it is that urgent, then I’ll find a store that carries what I need.

And honestly, shopping in stores is my preferred method here – and that’s a big shift away from the American lifestyle, where instant gratification and speed reign supreme.

I know for Americans it can be a strange concept, but siestas aren’t designed to inconvenience you. Most Spanish people aren’t even taking a nap during that time. Instead, they’re taking lunch, having an espresso, and – in summer – escaping the oppressive heat. And their workday ends up longer than the American version, often with more hours.

You learn to lean into this rhythm, and after a while, you realize why that break in the day is so important. The summer heat can be particularly brutal.

There are other subtle lifestyle shifts you learn to embrace over time.

In the BI article, Jennifer mentions that supermarkets in her area are closed on Wednesdays. In Valencia, supermarkets tend to be closed on Sundays. In Spain, Sundays are typically family days, reserved for rest and spending time with loved ones. It makes sense once you live here.

After showing up at the market one too many times on a Sunday with your granny cart, ready to load it up, you remember to shop on Saturday or wait for Monday. 😅

Finally, the article covers the difficulty in finding your “usual” food items.

I’ve run into this a lot. I grew up learning Southern-style cooking. Think sausage gravy and biscuits, pinto beans and cornbread, and fried chicken and mashed potatoes.

Some of these things are easy to find in Spain. Others, not so much.

It’s just one more part of moving abroad that can bring a few surprises you didn’t anticipate. A trip to Taste of America can fill in some of the gaps, and online stores like Wondermarket.es can fill in even more, but stock at any of these places is often seasonal or limited.

Jennifer laments her inability to find mushroom coffee (whatever that is!), and I can relate.

Those little tastes of “home” can alleviate the homesickness that’s bound to set in eventually, however mild it may be. Just this past weekend, I was online shopping for some Christmas groceries for my own family.

But what I’ve learned is that you either adapt your eating habits or be willing to pay through the nose for those you can’t compromise on. One of our non-negotiable items is Skippy Peanut Butter. My husband loves it. My daughter loves it. So once a month, I go to Amazon and order the giant jar that satisfies them both. It’s a splurge – but a worthy one.

We’ve learned to live without other things. I haven’t had a proper Southern-style biscuit since we left the U.S. in August 2024. Dill pickles? A very rare (expensive) treat. Grape jelly? Happy hunting! Cornbread? Forget it. You can’t get Martha White here.

There are more tradeoffs than I can list here when you choose to move abroad. Still, I also live in the space of, “I can’t go back to being who I was before I moved to Spain.” Will, me, the kids … We’re all forever changed. And the truth is, some of that change came from letting go of parts of my old life I didn’t realize were weighing me down — the routines that once felt “normal” but were quietly exhausting me. Would I give this life up for my old life in the suburbs?

No. I don’t think I would.

Down the Spain-rabbit-hole you go: