Spain Revealed

Last chance to secure your place for this one.

Tomorrow, Oct 13, I'm running a free webinar on the full journey from first visa to citizenship in Spain.

We'll be covering what to think about before choosing a route, and the mistakes people often don't realize can set the clock back years.

Immigration lawyer Cristina Blasco from Ágreda Abogadas is joining me, who handles this process day in day out. Plus, there will be live Q&A.

Tuesday 13 October. 5pm CEST. Zoom. Free.

Register here (replay available for 5 days if you can't make it live):

go.spainrevealed.com/webinar

1 week ago | [YT] | 87

Spain Revealed

What if the visa that gets you to Spain no longer fits your life?

Let's say you move to Spain on the Digital Nomad Visa.

You're working remotely, earning an income from abroad, and everything's going well.

But a few years later, you decide to retire.

You might assume you can simply switch to the Non-Lucrative Visa and carry on living in Spain.

Well, not quite.

You can apply for the Digital Nomad Visa from inside Spain, but you can't do the same with the Non-Lucrative Visa.

That application has to go through the Spanish consulate in your home country.

So even if you've already been living in Spain for a couple of years, you'd need to head home and apply from there.

And there's another wrinkle worth understanding.

If you need to go home and apply fresh for a different visa, that can break your residency chain and potentially complicate your plans for long-term residency or citizenship.

Which is why it's worth thinking beyond the visa that gets you into Spain.

If you're hoping to stay permanently, you also want to understand how different residency routes fit together.

Next Tuesday, October 13, I'm hosting a free live webinar with immigration lawyer Cristina Blasco from Ágreda Abogadas:

From Visa to Citizenship in Spain: What to Get Right from Day One

We'll cover the path from your first visa to long-term/permanent residency and citizenship, what to think about before choosing a route, and the mistakes that can set you back years.

Plus, live Q&A.

📅 Tuesday, October 13 at 5pm CEST (11am ET/8am PT)
💻 Live on Zoom
💰 Free (replay available for 5 days as long as you're registered)

Secure yiour free spot here: go.spainrevealed.com/webinar

1 week ago | [YT] | 119

Spain Revealed

🇪🇸 3 Spanish phrases that'll help you sound more like a local (and less like a phrasebook).

Want to sound more natural when chatting with Spanish people? Here are 3 expressions you'll hear all the time in Spain:

👉 1. ¡Qué va! (keh VAH) — “No way!”

Use it to disagree or dismiss an idea.

Someone asks if you're tired when you're full of energy? *¡Qué va!*

👉 2. ¡Vaya rollo! (BAH-yah ROH-yoh) — “What a pain!”

Perfect for showing sympathy when someone tells you about something frustrating.

Your neighbor spent three hours dealing with Spanish bureaucracy? *¡Vaya rollo!*

👉 3. ¡Me piro! (meh PEE-roh) — “I'm off!”

A very casual way to say goodbye when you're leaving friends.

These are the kinds of expressions Spanish people use every day. Start slipping them into your conversations, and you'll sound a little more like a local and less like you've learned your Spanish from a phrasebook.

What other Spanish expressions would you add to this list?

If you’re learning Spanish for a move to Spain, I’ve put together a quick quiz to see how ready your Spanish is for real life here, where your biggest gaps are, and which resources work best for the way you learn.

👇 Take the quiz here:
go.spainrevealed.com/spanishquiz-yt

1 week ago (edited) | [YT] | 268

Spain Revealed

Does every year you live in Spain count toward citizenship?

Well, not if you're on a Student Visa.

Time on a Student Visa does not count toward Spanish long-term residency or citizenship.

It does count at 50% toward something called EU long-term residency.

But that's a different thing from Spanish long-term residency.

So if your goal is to put down roots here permanently, the Student Visa isn't necessarily an effective way to build toward that.

Want to be confident your plan gets you to permanent residency, without losing years along the way?

Join me and immigration lawyer Cristina Blasco of Ágreda Abogadas for a free webinar next week:

From Visa to Citizenship in Spain: What to Get Right from Day One

Tuesday, October 13 · 11am ET / 8am PT / 5pm CEST · Zoom

Can't make it live? Register anyway and I'll send you the replay.

Save your free seat here:
go.spainrevealed.com/webinar

1 week ago | [YT] | 62

Spain Revealed

Getting to Spain is the part everyone plans for.

What keeps you here long-term is a different question entirely.

Because getting to long-term or permanent residency and then citizenship takes longer than you might expect.

And there are decisions along the way that can set the clock back by years.

Next week I'm hosting a free live webinar to help you understand what that path actually looks like:

From Visa to Citizenship in Spain: What to Get Right from Day One

📅 Tuesday, October 13 at 5pm CEST
💻 Zoom
💰 Free

I'll be joined by immigration lawyer Cristina Blasco from Ágreda Abogadas.

We'll be covering the full route from first visa to permanent residency to citizenship, what to think about before choosing a route, and the mistakes people often don't realize can set the clock back years.

Plus live Q&A.

Register here (replay available for 5 days if you can't make it live):
go.spainrevealed.com/webinar

2 weeks ago (edited) | [YT] | 51

Spain Revealed

Moving to Spain with your partner?

One thing that comes up again and again when I talk to couples is that you can be making the exact same move… and still experience it very differently.

One of you may settle in quickly. The other may need more time.

One of you may be desperate to get out, meet people and build a social life. The other may be quite happy taking things slowly.

Even the roles you’ve had for years can shift once language, work and daily life change.

The more people I’ve helped move to Spain, the more I’ve realized that visas, tax and housing are only part of the picture.

That’s one reason Ariel Roberts is now part of the expert lineup inside the Move to Spain Masterclass.

Ariel is a transition and wellbeing coach who works with people moving abroad, and she’s made the move from the US to Spain herself.

When I asked her for her take on couples adjusting differently, she shared a line I really like:

“You don’t have to be in the same place to be on the same team.”

You don’t need to be equally excited, equally homesick or equally social at the same time.

Sometimes you’re simply two different people adjusting to the same move in different ways.

So, if you’re planning the move with your partner, be honest: where do you think the two of you will adjust differently? 👇

👉 Still figuring out whether a move to Spain is realistic for you at all? I put together a free 7-step self-assessment that gives you instant clarity on where you actually stand on visas, finances, housing, and more. Take it here:
go.spainrevealed.com/assessment-yt

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 238

Spain Revealed

A beer at 11:45am on a Monday?

In Spain, perfectly normal.

A gin and tonic before lunch? Now you’re raising eyebrows.

Learning Spain isn’t just about the language. It’s about getting your head around the rhythms and little unwritten rules of daily life.

And those rhythms shift with the seasons.

👉 Grab my free Seasonal Living in Spain Guide for insider tips to embrace life in Spain, season by season.

go.spainrevealed.com/festivals-yt

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 196

Spain Revealed

Is a healthier lifestyle part of what's drawing you to Spain?

It's something I keep hearing from Move to Spain Masterclass alumni once they've settled here, whether they were actively looking for it or not.

Walking comes up a lot.

People join hiking groups, spend more time outdoors, and often end up using the car far less (or not at all) because so much of daily life is within walking distance.

Food is another one. A few people have told me they find themselves shopping more locally and cooking with more fresh produce simply because it's so easy to get hold of.

When I interviewed Liz and Cecilia in Oviedo recently, they described the fruit and vegetables they were buying as "off the charts."

And for one alum in Bilbao, the change has been much bigger.

She'd spent her final two years in the US physically disabled and unable to work because of chronic health conditions.

When we spoke, she told me:

"Now I can do ten thousand steps a day. I've been working at least part time and there's no way I could have done that last year. It's almost a miracle."

Of course, moving to Spain isn't some magical prescription for better health.

But it can change the shape of your day. And for a lot of alumni, that's ended up mattering more than they expected.

So I'm curious… what part of daily life in Spain do you think would make the biggest difference to your health?

👉 Still figuring out whether a move to Spain is realistic for you at all? I put together a free 7-step self-assessment that gives you instant clarity on where you actually stand on visas, finances, housing, and more. Take it here:
go.spainrevealed.com/assessment-yt

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 79

Spain Revealed

The hardest culture shocks in Spain usually aren’t the obvious ones.

Not the “OMG, they eat lunch at 3pm?!” kind.

Or, as one couple pointed out, the apparently rougher Spanish toilet paper. 😂

I mean the stuff that can genuinely get under your skin.

I once got an email from someone who’d moved to Spain asking me to make sure I warned people about this.

Not to frighten them, but so they’d be prepared.

Things like customer service that can feel... less attentive than you’re used to.

Tradespeople who don’t always show up when you expect them to.

Real estate agents operating very differently from what you’re used to.

Or getting a Spanish driver’s license and wondering why, after decades behind the wheel, you suddenly feel like you’re 18 again.

These things can be maddening.

But after living here for 15 years, I started to notice that a lot of the things that frustrate us about Spain are connected to the same things we love about living here.

Spain isn’t always a culture of strict rules, rigid systems and hard edges.

Things can be more fluid and more dependent on people.

Sometimes that feels wonderfully human.

Other times, you’re standing in front of a bureaucrat wondering whether today is going to be your lucky day.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get frustrated.
Spaniards get frustrated about this stuff too.

But I do think it helps to recognize that you can’t neatly separate the bits of a culture you love from the bits that drive you completely bonkers.

They’re often two sides of the same coin.

👉Still figuring out whether a move to Spain is realistic for you at all? I put together a free 7-step self-assessment that gives you instant clarity on where you actually stand on visas, finances, housing, and more. Take it here:
go.spainrevealed.com/assessment-yt

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 223

Spain Revealed

One of the best ways to practice Spanish in Spain is also free...

Find yourself an intercambio.

If you’ve never come across the term before, the idea is pretty simple.

You find a Spaniard who wants to practice English, they help you with Spanish, and you take turns muddling through.

But the real value goes beyond just practicing your verb tenses and trying to remember whether it’s por or para.

You’ve got someone local to ask:

Did I say that right? How would you have handled that situation? Is this normal here?

And hearing them make mistakes in English is a useful reminder that yours probably sound a lot less catastrophic than they do in your head.

If you’re learning Spanish for a move to Spain, I’ve put together a quick quiz to see how ready your Spanish is for real life here, where your biggest gaps are, and which resources work best for the way you learn.

Take the quiz here:
go.spainrevealed.com/spanishquiz-yt

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 233