What formalities to complete to spend your retirement in Spain?

After so many years of service, you are finally retired! And as one out of three French retirees does, you decide to spend your senior life abroad. Better, you choose Spain as a retirement paradise. Consequently, a series of questions could already be triggered in your head: "what are the formalities to be completed within the framework of my retirement in Spain? " Or: "how to invest in real estate in order to acquire my own housing to spend my retirement life in Spain? "

You don't have to keep stressing yourself! Because by focusing on the following lines, you will find the information you need on these subjects. Our experts have collected them and are offering them to you free of charge - for information only.

Spend your retirement on the Iberian Peninsula: important to know!

As a French national, you do not need a visa to enter and travel in Spain. Better yet, choosing the Iberian Peninsula as your new country of residence makes you - in fact - an official Spanish resident. Spending your retirement as such in fact implies living there permanently. To do this, you must rent or buy a house (or an apartment) to make it your official home.

Being a Spanish resident and spending your retirement on the Costa Brava - for example - is certainly a great privilege. However, this does not exempt you from certain customary formalities required by the Spanish administrative and legal authorities.

Priority formalities

Obtaining the CRCMU, the NIE and the Tarjeta de Residencia constitutes the first formalities to be carried out in order to avoid any unpleasant surprises on Spanish soil.

Get your CRCMU

The "Certificado de Registro de Ciudadanos Miembros de la Unión" is the first prerequisite document for your expatriation in Spain as a senior.

Get your NIE

The Foreigner Identification Number is a document allowing you to initiate the majority of your procedures as a Spanish resident. The acquisition of said document is possible on presentation, for example, of a project to purchase a property in Spain.

Get your Tarjeta de Residencia

This document constitutes your residence permit. It gathers all the information concerning you - including your NIE Its acquisition covers all the members of your family who decide to join you. However, obtaining it may be subject to at least two conditions: that of being affiliated with health insurance and / or that of having sufficient financial means to cover all your possible expenses.

But what are the procedures for obtaining the above documents? Our dedicated team gives you more details in this article: " Expatriation to Spain: all the procedures and formalities explained from A to Z ".

What formality to take out a retired health insurance in Spain?              

The special feature of the French social security system is that this system allows you, as an affiliate, to be able to transfer your rights to health insurance in your new country of residence. To do this, you must complete and send a form known as S1 to the Spanish public service in charge of social security.

To take full advantage of this transfer, you can join the Caisse des Français à l'Etranger (CFE). This would entitle you to full care in the event of hospitalization or illness.

Better, in addition to your health insurance, you can also join a mutual partner of the CFE in order to enjoy even more benefits. Just as you can join a local complementary mutual in case you depend on a Spanish social security scheme.

What formality to open your retired bank account in Spain?

One of the formalities to be completed as a retiree living in Spain is to open a bank account in the country. This account is necessary if only to receive (from France) your retirement pensions domiciled in Spain. The opening a bank account is not too demanding, except for a small verification which will say if you are prohibited from banking or not. You just have to prove the following:

● Your identity, through a valid document;       

● Your resident status, justified by your NIE;       

● Your professional status, verifiable by your pension statement;       

● Your address in Spain or, failing that, your "certificado de empadronamiento" (justifying your registration in the municipal register).       

What formalities to renew your driving license as a retiree in Spain?

If you hold a French driving license and have been living in Spain for at least two years, you must renew this driving license. However, today you must prepare to obtain, in accordance with the Spanish regulations in force, a European model driving license.

This model driving license is issued by the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT), from your place of residence. The steps to follow to obtain it include:

● Fill out a form and request a "restricted information record" (RIR) from the French authorities;       

● Duly complete a driver's license change request form (downloadable from www.dgt.es);       

● Pass a medical check-up in a "Centro de Reconocimiento de conductores";       

● Go to the DGT (by appointment) with: your NIE, your original driving license, a medical certificate, identity photographs, etc.       

Retirement Spain: formality for the acquisition of real estate

Your quality of life as a retiree in Spain largely depends on the quality of your living environment. And quality living environments, they exist everywhere in Spain. If you decide to spend your retirement life on the Costa Brava, for example, you will certainly be stressed by the embarrassment of choices regarding your future dream accommodation - as long as the attractiveness and charm of this region are omnipresent.

But would you still have reason to keep stressing yourself if you learn that we can put our expertise and our strong experience of the Spanish real estate market in general and that of the Costa Brava in particular at your service? In other words, we can assist you in all your formalities for buying property in Spain - particularly on the Costa Brava.

So why don't we start today?