What’s it like living in the Basque Country?

What’s it like living in the Basque?

A great and very inspiring story about Vienna (from Canada) who fell in loved with Spain while working on a sailing ship.

This post covers why she fell in love with the Basque Country and how she’s gone about building a new life in Spain.

Name: Vienna Bassan
Age: 30
Country of Origin: Canada
Number of years in Spain: 9 months

Hi Vienna! You don´t seem like your typical expat. Can you please tell me about yourself and on how you ended up moving to Spain?

Hi Frank, actually no I don’t think this is the typical route to Spain, but I am very happy I made it here. I was born in Canada to a Catalan/Italian father and a Canadian/British mother. Before Brexit kicked in, I was happily living in France on my British passport. After 2019 I had to go back to Canada and rethink my next moves to get back to Europe. Eventually, in 2022, the Ley de Nietos, Ley de Memoria Democrática* was released by Spain, and meant I was about a year out from getting my Spanish citizenship.

*Editor’s note: I didn’t know what this was. Briefly, it means that grandchildren (and others) who had family who were originally Spanish and who lost or had to renounce Spanish citizenship due to political and other reasons were given a window of time in which they could apply for Spanish citizenship. Much more detail here.

In 2021 I went sailing for 2 weeks (from Cadiz to Tenerife) on a Tall Ship: Atyla, where I fell in love with sailing and Spain.

I decided that when I returned to Europe I’d prefer to move to Spain rather than France due to the language, inclusive people, culture, nature, food.

So why the Basque Country? What led you here?

In 2022 I returned to Atyla to sail for 4 months as crew, where we sailed along all of Spain’s coasts, and I used this as window shopping for where I wanted to live. We started in the south, made our way west and then north of Spain, and at each spot I could see myself falling more for each city. We finally made it to the Basque Country. We anchored in Plentzia and when I stepped on shore I knew this was going to be my home. It had the coast, beautiful greenery, beautiful beaches, great pintxos, festivals and awesome people. I went back to Canada, got my papers in order, sold my car, found a job in Spain and moved to the Basque Country a year later.

What´s it like living in the Basque Country? It’s not a region full of foreigners. I would think that adapting would be a challenge especially if new to Spain?

Exactly that. I was looking for a place to become part of the community. Even though my family is from Barcelona, it was too English-speaking for me. The Basque Country feels very special in that it really keeps its roots and hasn’t been changed by so much tourism. That being said, most of my friends here are foreigners, as the Basque cuadrillas (friend groups since childhood) are hard to integrate. But my new friends are very much Basque in spirit, we go to all the local festivals together, speak Spanish together etc. Most of my friends are from Latin America, some from other European countries, and one American married to a Basque man.

I have made friends through meet up groups, bumblebff, sports and also just by bumping into a foreign accent in a cafe. The transition has gone better than I could have ever hoped. I have created a much more solid life here in the past few months here in Spain than I had done in two years in France. I have many solid, dependable friendships, I’ve figured out the healthcare system and tax system, I’ve got a beautiful apartment with a patio, I have hobbies, sports and even a dog.

What do you do for work Vienna?

I work as a hydraulic engineer, where after a year of searching and interviews I was able to find a job here with a Spanish company, doing very similar work to what I was doing in Canada.

When not working, what do you like to do? How do you spend your free time? Do you have any favourite spots in the region?

I am fortunate to live near the ocean, and I volunteer as a sailor on a local tall ship, the only tall ship in the north of Spain, called Atyla.

I also go to Pilates with my neighbours, but my favourite sport is paragliding. I started shortly after moving here with Escuala Vasca de Parapente and it’s amazing learning to paraglide on the cliffs here above Azkorri and Sopelana beaches. I flew in a tandem flight there in the past and it’s the image I was dreaming of for so long while I was working on moving here.

I also found beautiful hiking trails in Plentzia that I always take my friends to when they visit and I like the lookout at playa de Barrika.

I’m a big fan of the Puente Colgante, quite an iconic structure for Bilbao. It’s what connects Getxo to Portugalete and is located just beside Atyla.

What advice would you give anyone coming to the Basque Country? Are there any preferred towns/cities for foreigners in the region?

Find out if you’re in social security group number 1 before you move and then make sure you set up your taxes well to benefit you for the next 10 years.

I’m not really sure as I didn’t try out many neighbourhoods first, but I absolutely love Getxo. You get the benefits of everything a city (Bilbao) has to offer, but with the coast and less busy. Getxo has language schools, hospitals, supermarkets etc everything you’ll need, and not too small that you can still make friends.

I also love the idea of Plentzia, but it has a little less amenities and is a bit further from Bilbao, so it might be better for when I want a slower pace. But for now Getxo is a perfect fit.

Just wondering: are there any resources (Facebook groups, forums, etc) for foreigners living in the Basque Country?

Besides the general ones I’ve mentioned: meetup and bumble bff. I’ve found Girls Gone International (GGI) Bilbao to be filled with many motivated, friendly immigrant women and I’ve been to a few of their events, but they’re usually English events and I’m trying to focus more on Spanish.

What kind of Accommodation did you find Vienna? I’ve heard that finding rental properties in the Basque Country can be complicated.

Yes, thankfully my friends Mikel and Nerea offered me their spare room while I apartment searched for a lot longer than I expected. I tried looking online while I was still in Canada, but nothing helped. It was only 3 weeks in the end but it felt like forever as I applied and was denied from 10 apartments. I thought I was a good profile: a Spaniard with a job and no kids or pets, and I had savings. But what really matters is the nominas. They needed 3 nominas (pay cheques) to be able to get insurance that protects against squatters, and as I just moved I didn’t have this yet. I offered to show Canadian pay cheques or pay in advance but nothing helped. I put my name everywhere, on idealista and every ad I could find. Eventually I decided I would hire a real estate agent to help me, I called 3 realtors and no one took me as a client as they said: we can’t take clients if there are no properties available.

I had only been looking at furnished apartments as I had just finished selling all my furniture in Canada and didn’t want to own so much, or have to quickly learn the local stores and find transportation to bring in furniture.

Finally one called me, no photos, but I decided I was desperate and would check it out anyway. It was beautiful and had a garden and patio! It wasn’t furnished, but they were happy with just my job contract and didn’t need 3 nóminas. It’s perfect! Everything is in walking distance, I lucked out!

Public transport. How do you get around? Do you rely on public transport and is it dependable?

I love the metro here!! Every station is wheelchair accessible (suitcase accessible ha) and it’s very clean and has good views and seats and is quite cheap (55 cents a ride more or less). The hours are a little tight sometimes as they generally open at 6am and close at 11pm, which doesn’t always allow me to take it to the airport or bus station at early hours, or stay for a late dinner with friends.

I also have the city ebike membership (Bizkaibici) which I love now that they’ve put a station by the beach and most metro stations near me. It’s 25€ for the year and then about 15 cents per half hour, very convenient, except that it doesn’t operate between midnight to 5am, which again isn’t the most helpful.

I ended up buying my own bike in the end as I wanted to go on longer trips, and it’s pretty bike-friendly here.

Taxis are expensive but cheaper than Ubers, I use the app BizkaiTaxi.

Trains and buses to other cities and even nature areas are definitely available and a car is not required for some local exploring.

I also on occasion use friend’s cars or rent a car if I’m doing a farther trip (or to ikea or Costco). But be careful there are radars everywhere! Both my sister and I have gotten 100€ speeding tickets for going only 112km in a 100km zone.

So what’s the long term plan Vienna? Will you still be in the Basque Country (or Spain) 10 years from now? What are you hopes and dreams?

As of now my plan is to stay. In such a short time I have everything I’ve ever asked for: a beautiful apartment, an engineering job, good friends, lovely boyfriend, adorable dog, Spanish lessons, sports and more. I’ve figured out the medical system, tax system, padrón, social security, banks and have everything set up to stay here as long as I’d like. Every day I fall more in love with Bizkaia and discover new special places. I hope to keep doing that and improve my Spanish and eventually even learn some Basque.

Thanks for your time, I really hope it opens up Northern Spain to some people, because I know I didn’t really know it existed until I happened to sail here.