Cost of Living in Nerja.
Note: I originally did a Cost analysis in 2022. I’ve just updated the post with our costs during the 1st quarter of 2023. There are some surprises.
So how expensive is it to live in Spain? Or, more precisely, Nerja?
I dug up all our costs, comparing the first 3 months of 2023: January, February and March.
I’m breaking down our total costs below.
COST OF LIVING IN NERJA – APRIL 2023
When I first did this cost analysis last year (March to September of 2022), our numbers totalled this:
Total breakdown here.
So surprisingly, our costs have gone down by 300 Euros in 2023. Most of that has been due to lower grocery costs (that’s a surprise) as well as fewer restaurant outings. These declines though have been offset by higher rent and, if converting to our home currencies, a stronger Euro (which is a real cost if your savings are in USD or CAD).
More below.
Breaking down some of our costs
Rent. Our rent went from 800 Euros in 2022 to 850 Euros. After a couple of years of rents being frozen due to Covid, we were hit by a 6% increase in December. That’s for a 3 bedroom townhouse with a huge yard. We get a lot for our money. We would easily pay more than double (maybe triple) what we pay for something equivalent in Montreal (where we previously lived). Our rent includes water usage. We also have a pool in the complex.
Note: the average apartment in our complex is now about 700 Euros (just to give you an idea of what you can pay on average)
A few useful Resources
Private health insurance in Spain. We recommend Innoinsure, they make it easy. And you don’t need a Spanish bank account – you can pay with foreign credit cards. More info here.
Spartan FX. Buying a house or car in Spain and need to transfer and exchange a large sum of money? More here.
Wise. For everyday transfers and exchanges of money from your home country. Nobody should be using banks anymore. More here.
Electricity. Our average bill comes out to 55 Euros/month. On my last cost analysis people were surprised that it was so low (water is heated by gas in our apartment and we don’t have a TV or a dryer). We’ve had months where we’ve paid as little as 33 Euros. We rarely ever heat the apartment in winter, our worst months are July and August when we use the AC.
Wifi. Axartel is our service provider. We find internet speed average at best (compared to other places we’ve been around the world). But they respond quickly when there are issues.
Cellphone service. We both have phones which we charge up once a month with Vodafone. 10 Euros each and it meets all our needs.
Gas/garbage. Our water is heated by gas and every 6 months we have to order new tanks from Cepsa. It’s not expensive though. Twice a year our landlord gives us a 12 Euro garbage bill that we have to reimburse.
Food. Besides rent, food is our major expense. And when I say food that includes alcohol – we drink wine every night and I usually also enjoy a shot or two of rum (Brugal rum from the Dominican Republic is my favorite). It also includes many bathroom products (TP, toothpaste, face creams, nail polish, shampoo, conditioner etc. We usually buy all that at Mercadona).
For convenience we do most of our everyday shopping at the local Coviran (bread, coffee, milk, wine, water etc). A couple of times a month we do a big shopping at Mercadona (which is downtown and convenient). We also occasionally shop at Iranzo. We nickname it “the expat store” because we buy imported stuff there that we don’t find elsewhere (Oriental soups, Indian sauces, and tofu products for Lissette). It’s more expensive though so we’re careful what we buy there.
Fresh vegetables/fruits are bought at a local fruteria owned by a Spanish man and his wife. It still amazes us the selection of exotic fruits you can buy in Spain.
Pharmacy, hardware store, and odds and ends from China Home round up some of our other “basic” costs.
Note: Our monthly “food and other basics” expense last year was 888 Euros/month. Summing it up this time, it’s come down to 595 Euros/month. I don’t know how that is possible honestly…I’ve accounted for it the same way and I don’t think we’ve really changed our consumption habits. Have prices come down?
Restaurants. We don’t go to restaurants much. We love Indian food (Mum’s is our favorite) and we usually order in twice a month (40 Euros each time. But it’s usually good for 2 meals). We have a Chinese restaurant close by where we also order a couple of times a month. Finally, we have a little Spanish restaurant that specializes in take away food: roasted chicken, potato tortillas, bacalao in tomato sauce, paella…They’re quite inexpensive.
Tapas/coffee. We enjoy going out for Tapas and it’s great value. I’ve documented many of our Tapas experiences on the blog (see the Nerja section for that). We also enjoy Coffee experiences around town (some posts coming up).
“Other”. Finally, we have other costs such as Private Health Insurance. It’s a requirement as temporary residents of Spain. It’s 55 Euros/month each and luckily we haven’t had to use it except for the one time we went to the dentist for a cleaning – and found out that our Adeslas plan covered the cleaning (we paid a ton in taxes in Canada for healthcare and never had dental cleanings covered). I also stuck another 100 Euros/month into “other” in case someone accuses us of underestimating our costs.
I think the above is an accurate depiction of our costs here in Spain. It doesn’t cover things such as travel, I’ve stuck to the day-to-day costs of living.
The bigger picture: It’s interesting analyzing these figures. Back in 2017 we lived in Split (Croatia) and I did a similar breakdown of our costs there…and compared them to a couple of friends who lived in Spain and Portugal at the time (post here). Although costs in Spain today (in Euros) are slightly more than what we all paid in 2017 in Croatia, the monthly cost of living in USD in 2023 is less than it was in 2017. That’s all due to the very strong USD. For Americans, it’s actually cheaper living in Europe today than it was 6 years ago (in 2017 the USD/Euro rate was hovering around 1.23. In 2023 it is at 1.10) . For Canadians, like us, it’s about the same as it was (the Canadian dollar has strengthened against the Euro as well, although not as much as the USD).
Either way, living in Spain is good value compared to either the United States or Canada.
I recently wrote a post on our other blog about living in Spain and working towards Permanent Residency. There were several reasons we’ve wanted Permanent Residency in Spain: we wanted to be in Europe, we wanted to get away from 6 months of winter and, finally, as retirees we wanted a cheaper cost of living. The above is proof that you can have an affordable lifestyle in Europe*.
* PS. I’m stating the obvious if I say that different people will have different costs depending on their lifestyles. The above if just to give you an idea of our costs. I hope it’s helpful to people.
Related: What’s it like living in Nerja? The Pros and the Cons
Related: Where to live as a retiree in Spain? Places…and comparing Theory vs Reality
Related: Where to live on the Costa Del Sol
Hi Frank,
I just read your post, very helpful. I am also looking for some kind of rental arrangement around the same area, can you please share the location or the name of the rental agent/place.
Thanks
ST.
Hi Seno. Her name is Diane, best to Whatsapp her (and tell her I referred you): Whats app +34 666 66 73 11. Good Luck!
Hello,
I just read this article tonight and I have a question for something I didn’t see. In the spreadsheet at the beginning of the article, it shows $110 for health insurance for two people. However, there is nothing in the following paragraphs saying anything about getting the insurance, how much it costs or how the healthcare system works in Spain.
Can you please explain how this works there?
Thank you
Hi Mark
I’ve covered the details of our insurance on other posts.
I’ll just give you an extract:
———–
Part of a non-lucrative visa is being self-sufficient for healthcare, thus the need for private health insurance while in Spain.
Theoretically we could have continued with our Expat insurance policy with Allianz Insurance (we’ve been travelling full-time around the world the last 6 years). But since it’s worldwide health insurance, it’s expensive.
So when we went to Spain we set up an appointment with Adeslas, it’s the largest private health providers in Spain. It cut our insurance costs in half. On top of that, their policy covers 3 months consecutive outside the country.
Get your Spanish private health Insurance with Adeslas using this link.
No problems using foreign credit/debit cards.
Note: Some expats get private insurance to initially apply for their non-lucrative Visa, then opt out for the public system after the 1st year. More on Convenio Especial.
—–
Keep in mind we’re in our mid-50’s, premiums go up as you get older.
Regards,
Frank
Hello, I’ve recently discovered Nerja and now your post. It answered so many of my questions as I’m planning to retire the end of this year and am narrowing down my locations. Can you please share the name of your agent for home/apartment rentals?
Thank you again!
Mai
Hi Mai. I will send you a personal email with details.
Regards,
Frank
Thank you for this update! Your original budget was a big help in helping me realize the soundness of my plan to move to Nerja in 2024. I felt instantly at home on my visit this past winter and can’t wait to get back. The countdown is on …
Great! Very happy it could help 🙂
Could you please advise what complex do you currently live in? Will be coming to Nerja later this year and would appreciate your help and some recommendations!
Hi Darko. Sorry, I don’t give out where we live. But feel free to write me personally with any questions you might have (Ps we will no longer be in Nerja later this year)
Thank you for this wonderfully put together overview & resource list for those of us looking to move there! It’s given us a great idea of what to expect & what to do. You’re truly appreciated 🙂
Thanks for posting your expenses. We are thinking of a month or two in winter in Nerja as my wife has problems with asthma and the Irish winter is hard on her. I wondered what the costs might be there, and your input gives us a rough idea. Many thanks.
Hi! Where exactly is your complex please? I am in the hunt for a long term rental Or may you be so kind to share your agent please? Thanks!
Hi Kat! I’ve replied back to you on your email.
Thanks for sharing this post. Interesting reading as we plan to spend half the year in spain and half in uk over the next few years.
Our costs are around 3500€ month, with no rent to pay as we own our property. However, we’re still in ‘holiday mode’ when we’re there so not reflecting a true cost of living .
Thank you Wendy. Exactly, we all tend to spend much more on holiday.
Hi Frank and Lisette,
Hello from Estepona! As always, I love reading your posts. We continue to be super happy about our move back to this area but are missing the friends we made in our brief time in Nerja/Almuñecar. Quick note: if you change your cell phone service you always can take your number with you. It’s super easy! (We recently switched from Simyo to Movistar b/c there’s no Orange coverage here and Movistar had a great promotion for phones and WiFi). Please do try Pahuna (Nepalese) if you like Indian food. The chili shrimp and lamb bhutuwa are FABULOUS! (Everything is good… this is another level of Indian food! I’m truly missing this restaurant!) Please be in touch if you plan to visit our area, we’d love to see you again (and we owe you dinner)!
Hi Sarah!
Glad you’re enjoying Estepona 🙂
Thank you about the cell # tip, I wasn’t aware of that. For the Indian, we’re pretty much stuck on Mum’s and always order the same: Veg. samosas, Lamb Vindaloo, and Aloo Gobi. We never order anything else. They do each great.
We’ll take you up on your offer if ever in Estepona!
If I may do a mini hijack of this thread… I’m so glad you like Vindaloo! The dish is native to the region where I’m originally from, although the original and popular version is pork vindaloo. Now I know what I’d cook for the two of you when you eventually make it to my neck of the woods :-))
This cost breakdown is fascinating and surprising. It seems so affordable, especially in the south of Spain!
Does electricity include heating in the winter months?
Yes, we have a couple of AC units that can also be used to heat.
I find this kind of post fascinating, really enjoyed reading about your cost of living in Nerja. I think you guys do incredibly well, considering how much it would cost back in the US or Canada. I am sure here in England also it would cost a lot more. Rent here in the South of England, my sister pays £1,200 for a two bedroom apartment. The cost of living here in the UK has gone up a lot recently, due to a number of factors, as you already know things like Brexit, Covid pandemic and war in the Ukraine have not helped the situation. I guess is the same for the rest of Europe and even the rest of the world.
But sounds like you are getting really good value for your money, having a very comfortable home and a great lifestyle.
Thank you Gilda. I think these days all we can hope for is to have a safe home in a stable country. There’s turmoil all over the world and we’re just grateful that we can live here and have an affordable cost of living…also knowing that our energy bills don’t get too bad.
That is interesting – I would have expected that life in Nerja is cheaper . But I see that it is much cheaper than in Montreal. The health incurance is a pretty good deal I would say. So, next time we visit – let us go to the Indian restaurant for dinner!
Thanks Natasha. We could probably save 100 – 150 Euros of we downsized the apartment (as you know, it’s quite big). A big advantage is warmer weather which translates to lower energy bills in the winter.
You’re on for Indian food!