Finding an Apartment in Spain
Before Arrival
Because your apartment will be your largest living expense in Spain, it is important that you start researching apartments from home. Ideally, your apartment shouldn’t cost any more than 25-35% of your budget, but in some places this may be difficult and you might have to go as high as 40%. There are definitely ways to increase your income with side hustles while living in Spain, but I don’t recommend including them in your core budget items, because they aren’t guaranteed income. I recommend checking out Numbeo to find out the average for apartments in your city.
Average Apartment Cost
Let’s look at mine, in Vitoria-Gasteiz:
You’ll see that the average rent per month for a one-bedroom in the city center is about 600 euros, or 85.7% of your auxiliar budget. This won’t work for anyone except for a couple. If you’re both auxiliares, and making 1400 euros total, it would be 42.9% of your budget. This is doable, but still high, and I would only consider it if your utilities are included.
A one-bedroom outside of the city center is 450 euros on average, or 64.3% of your income. This is also too high for a single person on an auxiliar budget. As a couple, you can get it down to 32.1% This is a good percentage, and is what my partner and I pay.