British buyers have been part of the Costa del Sol for as long as most locals can remember, and that has not changed since Brexit. What has changed is the paperwork. You are no longer an EU citizen moving within a single market: you are a UK national relocating to a non-EU country from Spain's perspective, and that reshapes the entry rules, the visa routes and the order in which you should tackle things. None of it is complicated once you know the sequence, so here is the honest version, without the polished brochure language.
What Brexit actually changed for UK buyers
The headline fact first: as a UK national, you can currently spend up to 90 days in every 180-day period in Spain (and the wider Schengen area) without a visa, exactly like any other non-EU visitor. That is the rule that governs holidays, house-hunting trips and long winter stays that fall short of half the year. It comes directly from the UK government's own travel guidance for Spain, and because entry rules can shift, that is the page to check before you book anything, not a blog post, however carefully researched (see gov.uk's travel advice for Spain).
If you want to stay longer than 90 days in any rolling 180-day window, whether that is for retirement, remote work or simply because you have fallen for the place, you need a visa before you go. There is one detail worth knowing early, because it surprises a lot of people: buying a house in Spain does not, on its own, grant you the right to live there. Spain scrapped its investor "golden visa" route in April 2025, which had previously let non-EU buyers obtain residency through a large property purchase. That door is now closed, so a visa application has to stand on its own merits, income, savings or work status, not on the deed to a house.
Which visa route is realistic for you
For most UK nationals planning a full-time move who are not working for a Spanish employer, the non-lucrative visa (NLV) is the standard route. It is aimed at people who can support themselves without working in Spain, typically retirees or those living off savings, investments or a pension. Requirements have tightened recently: Spanish consulates increasingly ask not just for proof of sufficient passive income or assets, but also evidence that you have genuinely stopped working, such as a resignation letter or an equivalent official document. If remote work for a non-Spanish employer or your own overseas business is part of your plan, ask the consulate specifically whether that fits the NLV conditions or whether a different visa category applies to your situation, since the rules are detailed and consulates apply them strictly.
Whichever route applies to you, treat the visa stage as a project with a timeline of its own, separate from the property search. Appointments at Spanish consulates in the UK can book up weeks in advance, and documents such as police checks, medical certificates and proof of funds usually need to be recent and properly legalised. Start this process well before you plan to move, not after you have already found a house.
Your first practical step: the NIE number
Once your visa situation is sorted, or if you are simply buying a holiday home and staying within the 90-day rule, the next document you cannot avoid is the NIE, Spain's foreigner identification number. Nothing meaningful happens without it: no property purchase, no Spanish bank account, no utility contract in your name, no tax filing. You can apply for it from the UK through the Spanish consulate, or in Spain itself at a police station with a foreigners' office, and either route generally takes a few weeks once your paperwork is in order. If you are buying, get this moving as early as possible so it never becomes the reason a purchase stalls. I cover the full process, including which documents to prepare, on the dedicated NIE number page, and the wider legal sequence, from reservation contract to notary, in the legal buying process guide.
What it actually costs
Numbers travel better than adjectives, so here are the real ones. Buying costs in Spain typically add 12 to 14 percent on top of the purchase price, covering transfer tax or VAT, notary fees, land registry fees and your lawyer. Property prices along the coast vary hugely by town, from around €1,400 per square metre in Torremolinos to roughly €6,000 per square metre in prime Marbella, so the same budget stretches very differently depending on where you look. The full breakdown, including a realistic timeline from first viewing to keys in hand, sits in the complete guide to buying property in Spain.
Living costs are the other half of the sum, and here independent data is more useful than a rough guess. Eurostat's comparative price levels put Spain's overall cost of living roughly a quarter below the Netherlands and Belgium, with the gap widest in restaurants, personal services and hospitality, and narrower at the supermarket till. Britons moving from higher-cost parts of the UK typically notice a similar pattern: eating out, personal care and many everyday services cost markedly less, while imported goods and anything tied to a UK brand can cost about the same or more. On the ground, a couple without a mortgage or rent to pay often manages comfortably on somewhere between €1,500 and €2,200 a month, though your own number depends heavily on lifestyle and location, Marbella and Torremolinos are simply not the same market.
Healthcare, in general terms
Healthcare is one area where post-Brexit rules genuinely differ from those for EU citizens, so keep this general and verify your own situation before you commit to a date. If you already draw the UK State Pension, reciprocal arrangements between the UK and Spain can still give you access to Spanish public healthcare in a way that mirrors the old EU system, broadly known as the S1 route. If you are not yet at that stage, you will typically need private health insurance to qualify for a visa in the first place, and access to Spain's public system usually follows once you are a registered, contributing resident. Because these rules sit outside Spanish property law and depend on your personal circumstances, check the current position on gov.uk or with a specialist adviser rather than relying on general guidance, including mine.
The order that actually works
I sit with British buyers on this exact question every month, and the ones who move smoothly nearly always follow the same sequence. The ones who improvise usually spend a year fixing something that a bit of planning would have avoided.
- Visit off-season first. A November week in the town you like tells you far more than an August one. Rent for a short spell before you commit to anything.
- Start your NIE and, if needed, your visa application early. These have their own timelines that run independently of your house search, so get them moving in parallel, not after you have already found a property.
- Rent before you buy. A year of rent costs money; a rushed purchase in the wrong street costs a great deal more. Use that time to learn which neighbourhoods hold their value and which developments have a reputation worth avoiding.
- Register locally once you are settled. This means the padrón (empadronamiento) at the town hall, and, depending on your visa route, the corresponding residency registration. Sort your healthcare cover before you give up any UK entitlements, not after.
- Get your tax position checked before you leave the UK. One conversation with an adviser who understands both the UK and Spanish systems, covering pensions, savings and the eventual sale of any UK property, prevents expensive surprises later. Spend more than 183 days a year in Spain and you typically become tax resident there on worldwide income, so this is not a detail to leave until afterwards.
- Then build the boring parts of a life. Bank account, car, phone contract, a gestor, a local doctor. Unglamorous, but this is the actual difference between visiting and living somewhere.
Where British buyers settle on the Costa del Sol
Certain towns keep coming up in conversation for a reason. Mijas and La Cala de Mijas offer an established British community, golf courses and a relaxed, villagey pace within easy reach of Málaga airport. Estepona has reinvented its old town over the past decade and now draws buyers who want charm without Marbella's price tag. Nerja, further east, keeps a slower rhythm and a loyal following among people who want proximity to the sea without the buzz of the bigger resorts. Each has a different personality and a different price point, and the right one depends far more on how you actually want to spend your days than on any ranking.
My take
None of the above is meant to talk you out of moving, quite the opposite. I see this decision play out from both sides: buyers who treat it as a project with a proper sequence, and buyers who treat it as an extended holiday that quietly turns into a residence. The first group tends to land well. The second group tends to call me a year in, once the paperwork has caught up with them. My role is not to sell you the dream, you already have that. It is to make sure the NIE, the visa timeline, the lawyer and the tax check happen in the right order, so the move itself is the easy part.
If you are weighing up your own timing and budget, I am happy to talk it through, no obligation attached.
Migration and cost figures referenced above are drawn from CBS StatLine, Eurostat comparative price levels and the sources linked in the text. Visa, healthcare and tax rules change and can vary by individual circumstance; always confirm the current position with gov.uk, the Spanish consulate or a qualified adviser before making a decision.
