By Jake Morrison (American expat, bought 2023)
People keep DMing me about buying in Spain outside the tourist areas. Here's what everyone asks:
Q: Why the hell did you buy in Zamora? Where even is that?
Northwest Spain, like 3 hours from Madrid. Population 60K. UNESCO heritage city with medieval walls. And yeah, nobody's heard of it. That's why I bought.
I was looking at Valencia (€350K for a 2-bed), Barcelona (lol don't even), Madrid suburbs (€280K+). Then I found Zamora. 3-bedroom HOUSE in the historic center for €140K. Like... what?
Q: What's actually wrong with it? There has to be something.
It's boring. There's no beach. Winters are cold. The "nightlife" is like... 3 bars. Young people leave for Madrid or Barcelona.
But here's the thing - I'm 52, working remote, and I don't care about clubs. I wanted cheap, safe, beautiful, and good food. Zamora checks all that.
Q: How did you even find the house?
Idealista (Spanish Zillow). Listed at €165K, been sitting 8 months. I offered €135K, they countered €150K, we settled €140K. All cash. Closed in 6 weeks.
The house: Built 1890s, renovated in 2000s. 180m² (about 1,940 sq ft). Three beds, two baths, small courtyard, THICK stone walls.
Needed: Paint, new kitchen appliances, some plumbing fixes. Spent €12K fixing it up.
Q: How's the Spanish property buying process?
Slow as fuck. You need:
- NIE number (foreigner ID) - took me 2 months to get
- Spanish bank account (easy)
- Lawyer (€1,200)
- Notary does the closing (€800)
- Transfer tax (€11,200 - that's 8% in Castilla y León)
Total closing costs: About €13K on top of the €140K.
Q: Can you get a mortgage as a foreigner?
Yeah but they wanted 40% down and rates were 4.5%. I paid cash. Way simpler.
Q: What about ongoing costs?
Property tax (IBI): €480/year
Utilities (electric, water, trash): €80-100/month
Building insurance: €220/year
Internet: €35/month
Total: Maybe €250/month?
Compare that to my old Seattle rent of $2,400/month.
Q: Do you speak Spanish?
Barely. Like... restaurant Spanish. Everyone here speaks ZERO English. Google Translate is my best friend.
The notary spoke some English. My lawyer spoke good English. But like, the plumber? The electrician? Pure Spanish. It's been... an experience.
Q: What do you actually do there? Isn't it boring?
I work remote (software). Morning coffee in Plaza Mayor. Work from home. Walk the Roman bridge at sunset. Dinner at the same 3 restaurants. Weekend trips to Salamanca (30 min) or Porto (2.5 hours).
Is it exciting? No.
Is it stressful? Also no.
Do I spend $4K/month like in Seattle? Fuck no.
Q: Would you buy there again?
100%.
But I'm not trying to flip it or Airbnb it or make money. I just wanted a cheap, beautiful place to live where my dollars stretch.
If you're 28 and want nightlife? Don't buy in Zamora.
If you're retired or remote and want cheap Europe? Zamora's perfect.
Q: What about healthcare?
Spain has public healthcare. As a resident, I'm covered. But I also have private insurance (€85/month with Sanitas) because the public system is slow for non-emergencies.
Broke my wrist in June. Private hospital. Saw doctor in 20 minutes. Surgery next day. Total out of pocket: €300.
Q: Biggest surprise?
How cheap food is. Dinner for two with wine: €30-40. A really nice dinner: €60. Groceries: €200-250/month for two people.
Also: Spaniards eat dinner at like 10pm. I'm still not used to it.
Q: Biggest regret?
Should've bought a year earlier. Prices in Zamora went up about 15% from 2022 to 2023. Still cheap, but I could've saved €20K.
Also wish I'd learned Spanish before moving. Would've made everything easier.
Q: Would you recommend Zamora specifically or just "cheap Spain"?
Depends what you want.
Zamora: Historic, safe, CHEAP, boring, old people, good food
Ávila: Similar but closer to Madrid, even cheaper
Cuenca: More tourists, prettier, bit more expensive
Teruel: Even cheaper, even more boring, but really beautiful
All these cities are under €2,000/m². All have good train/bus to Madrid. All are safe and have UNESCO sites.
If you want beach AND cheap, you're looking at Murcia region (not the coast, inland).
Q: Final advice?
Visit 2-3 times before buying. Rent for a month if you can. Make sure you can handle the pace (slow) and the isolation (real).
Don't buy in the village your Airbnb was in. Buy where Spanish people actually live.
Hire a lawyer. Don't trust the real estate agent to handle everything.
Bring cash or have it ready to transfer. Mortgages are a pain for foreigners.
And learn some fucking Spanish before you move.
Euro amounts in article (these are real 2023-2024 numbers):
- House purchase: €140K
- Renovations: €12K
- Lawyer: €1,200
- Notary: €800
- Transfer tax: €11,200
- Annual property tax: €480
- Private health insurance: €85/month
Zamora is real. It's cheap. It's boring. And it's exactly what some people need.
SPAIN Q&A - From Someone Who's Been Here Since 2015
7 Not Valencia. I know everyone says Valencia but that ship sailed like 3 years ago. My friend Tom bought there in 2022 for €280k and he's already underwater. Plus the area he's in (Ruzafa I think?) got super touristy and now he can't sleep on weekends. Prices went up 14-15% last year. You missed it.
8 "I'm in Ávila and it's fine. Not exciting but my rent covers my mortgage plus a bit extra. The medieval walls are pretty. There's like 3 restaurants but Madrid's an hour away when I need actual food. My place was €138k in 2019, 3-bed with tiny courtyard. Similar apartments now €2,900/sqm. I rent mine for €750/month, mortgage €520/month.
9 Can I live on €2,000/month in Spain? In Ávila? Easily. I spend about €1,650/month including everything. Dinner is €12 for a full menu del día. Same in Madrid is €25-30. Stop looking where everyone else is looking. Look at the €1,200-1,500/sqm cities with train access to major metros. Boring and steady is underrated.
People keep asking me about buying property in Spain so I'm just gonna answer everything here. I live in Ávila (about an hour from Madrid by bus), bought my place in 2019 for €138k. It's a 3-bed with this tiny courtyard where my neighbor's cat Gordito keeps breaking in and sleeping on my outdoor furniture.
Where should I actually buy in Spain?
Not Valencia. I know everyone says Valencia but that ship sailed like 3 years ago. My friend Tom bought there in 2022 for €280k and he's already underwater because the market's plateaued but his mortgage is at 4.5%. Plus the area he's in (Ruzafa I think?) got super touristy and now he can't sleep on weekends.
Prices in Valencia went up something like 14% last year? Maybe 15%. I read it somewhere. Point is - you missed it.
If you have a time machine, buy in Málaga 5 years ago. Otherwise forget the coast unless you're loaded.
Honestly? Look at the boring UNESCO cities. I'm in Ávila and it's fine. Not exciting but my rent covers my mortgage plus a bit extra. The medieval walls are pretty. There's like 3 restaurants but Madrid's an hour away when I need actual food.
My place was €2,380/sqm in 2019. Now similar apartments are going for €2,900/sqm according to the local agent (though I think he's optimistic). That's okay growth I guess? Not life-changing.
What about rental income?
I rent mine out for €750/month. That's after the property manager takes 10% which honestly feels high but whatever. My mortgage is €520/month so I net about €200 after the community fees and property tax.
The national average for yields is supposed to be like 5-6% but I don't trust those numbers. Mine works out to about 4.8% net which is... fine. Better than my money sitting in a Spanish bank at 0.5%.
Oh and Murcia supposedly has the best yields in Spain - I read 7.8% somewhere? 8%? Something high. But it's Murcia. I've never been but everyone says it's boring. Then again I live in Ávila so who am I to judge.
Can foreigners get mortgages?
Yeah technically. I got one but it was a pain. Took 4 months and they wanted 30% down. My Spanish is okay but I still needed a translator for half the documents which cost me an extra €400.
Most foreigners I know here paid cash though. Especially the Americans and Brits. The Germans always finance everything but they're weird about money.
If you need financing you're gonna have a harder time competing. I heard something like 80% of coastal purchases are all-cash now? Maybe it was 85%. Either way, if you're mortgaging a place in Barcelona you're basically not getting it.
What about this Golden Visa thing?
You need €500k minimum property investment. I looked into it but that's way above my budget. Plus I got residency through work anyway (I do IT consulting for a company in Madrid).
At €500k in Ávila you could buy like 4 apartments. In San Sebastián (which is crazy expensive now, I think €5,700/sqm? €5,900? Somewhere up there) you get a 1-bedroom.
I don't know why anyone would do Golden Visa for property when you can just get a regular work visa, but I guess if you're retired and rich it makes sense.
Will prices ever come down?
No.
I mean maybe in like a global financial crisis but otherwise no. I've been watching the market since 2015 and it only goes up. Sometimes slower, sometimes faster, but always up.
Ten years ago my building in Ávila sold units for €95k. Now they're €140k-150k. That's not even the crazy markets - that's boring Ávila.
Barcelona and Madrid are up like... I dunno, 150%? 180%? Something insane. My friend Marta bought in Madrid in 2014 for €220k and just sold for €490k. She's moving to Salamanca.
Tell me about the smaller cities nobody knows about
Okay so Ávila is one (obviously I'm biased). But also:
Zamora - even cheaper than Ávila, like €1,100-1,200/sqm. It's near Portugal which is cool. Medieval city, very quiet. My cousin looked at places there but decided it was TOO quiet.
Teruel - this is the really weird one. It's in Aragón and nobody's heard of it. I saw places for under €1,000/sqm which is crazy. But the population is like 35k people so... I don't know if there's rental demand. Would probably be a lifestyle purchase only.
Cáceres - Extremadura region, another UNESCO site. Haven't been but my friend Jorge (not the Valencia one, different Jorge) says it's nice. Similar prices to Ávila I think.
The thing about all these places is you're 1-2 hours from a major city (Madrid, Valencia, Porto, Barcelona) so you're not totally isolated. But yeah, they're not trendy and you're not gonna have brunch spots with avocado toast.
Should I buy for investment or lifestyle?
Depends what you want. If you want pure investment returns you should probably just buy ETFs or something. Spanish property gives you like 4-7% depending on location, minus taxes, minus headaches.
I bought in Ávila because:
1. I could afford it (€138k cash)
2. It's close to Madrid where I have clients
3. The numbers worked (€750 rent, €520 mortgage)
4. I actually like living here sometimes
My friends in Valencia bought for lifestyle and they're always posting Instagram stories about the beach and paella. They're paying way more per square meter and getting worse yields but they're happy so whatever.
What's the biggest mistake foreigners make?
Buying in August after a 2-week vacation. I see this constantly. Someone visits Málaga in summer, falls in love, buys a place for €400k, then realizes they hate it in November when it rains and all the tourists are gone.
Also not accounting for Spanish bureaucracy. Getting your NIE takes forever. Opening a bank account takes forever. Everything takes forever.
And community fees! Everyone forgets about community fees. Mine are €65/month which isn't terrible but I know people in Madrid paying €200-300/month for buildings with pools and gyms they never use.
Oh and property tax. And income tax on rental income if you're non-resident (it's like 24% or 19% if you're EU, I forget).
Can I actually live on €2,000/month in Spain?
In Ávila? Easily. I spend about €1,650/month including rent, food, utilities, everything.
In Madrid or Barcelona? No way. You need at least €2,500, probably €3,000 for anything comfortable.
The cost of living difference is massive. Dinner in Ávila is €12 for a full menu del día. Same dinner in Madrid is €25-30. My utilities here are €80/month. My friend in Barcelona pays €180.
Valencia vs Málaga vs somewhere else?
I keep saying this but Valencia is expensive now. If you've got €350k+ and want beach + city, fine. But you're not getting a deal.
Málaga is nice but the expats there are kind of annoying. Very "digital nomad" vibes. Everyone's starting a podcast or a dropshipping business. Not my scene.
If I were buying TODAY with like €150-200k, I'd look at:
- Ávila (yeah I'm biased but it works)
- Cáceres
- Salamanca (university city, good rental demand)
- Maybe Burgos?
Or honestly I'd buy in Portugal. Better weather, similar prices, less bureaucracy. But that's a whole other conversation.
One piece of actual advice
Stop looking where everyone else is looking. The Balearics are for rich people. Costa del Sol is for rich people. Barcelona is for rich people who bought 10 years ago.
Look at the €1,200-1,500/sqm cities with train/bus access to major metros. You'll actually be able to afford something nice instead of a 40sqm studio with a "terrace" that's actually just a balcony where you can fit one chair.
I've been here 10 years. I've seen prices double in the sexy cities while the boring cities stayed affordable and steady. Boring and steady is underrated.
Also learn Spanish. Seriously. My life got SO much easier after I could actually talk to my property manager and the gestor and the lady at the town hall. Don't be that person who lives in Spain for 5 years and still can't order coffee properly.
That's all I got. Feel free to ignore my advice and buy a overpriced place in Valencia like everyone else.
(Data from Trading Economics 2025, Tinsa reports, Idealista, and my own experience since 2015. Numbers might be slightly off because I'm going from memory.)