I recently caught up with a friend who bailed out of Brooklyn in August 2020. He retired in 2019 after a couple of moderately successful startups (by NY standards, not by NVIDIA/OpenAI standards). He, his wife, and two kids (now 6th and 8th grade) moved to a beautiful historical downtown of a small city in Spain (population 220,000) that is 30 minutes from the beach (admittedly cold/wet for most of the year; he’s not fighting it out with expat Brits on the Mediterranean coast).
He pays $1400/month for a five-bedroom apartment that is 180 square meters (1940 square feet) and children attend public school (as in Maskachusetts, and unlike in Florida, they teach to only one level. There is no gifted education and the teachers’ attitude to a kid who says everything is easy is “That’s great; you won’t have to work hard”. Nobody obsessively preps to gain admission to university). I asked about the cost of living, specifically health insurance:
Expats are required to get private health insurance, but that doesn’t mean what Americans think it means. In New York, my family’s insurance cost me about $25,000 in 2019. Here, it’s currently about $3,500. Point of comparison: a couple of years ago, I had a heart attack. The public hospital treated me (even though as an expat, I’m not part of the national healthcare system) and billed me afterwards. My private insurance informed me that because I’d gone to a public hospital, I had zero coverage. The total bill for ER admission, an ambulance ride, angioplasty with two stents, and three days in the coronary ICU came to about $3,000.
Mid-range cars are similar, but replace all the above-average-size ones (pickups and full-size SUV’s) with below-average-size ones (compact cars like the Audi A1 or Skoda Fabia). Since those cars retail between €20k – €30k, I’m guessing that brings the average price down. Not sure what a Tacoma or Suburban costs these days.
Groceries are way cheaper than the US — or at least than NYC. I don’t really know what food costs outside New York. I bought apples yesterday for about $1/pound; I think in New York it’s a lot more. A sandwich and a beer come to about €5; a prix-fixe lunch menu (very common here) runs €12 – €20; wine is €2 – €3 a glass; but an entree at dinner could go as high as €30, depending what you choose. Of course, you can pay more if you try; there are fine-dining restaurants that cost far more.
There is nothing that he misses about Brooklyn and his friends who are still there say that the quality of life in many Brooklyn neighborhoods and also in Manhattan has deteriorated dramatically. The heart attack is cautionary. He’s younger than I am and his lifestyle must be vastly superior and more relaxed.
Maybe Spain isn’t the best destination for Jews, unless they want to hang out in a working class town. As in the U.S., anti-Israel sentiment is correlated with education and left-wing politics (“Spanish public opinion regarding the recognition of the State of Palestine”, May 2024):
Related:
This post finds me staying in a 3rd floor walkup in central Cordoba.
Eggs are $1.85EU a dozen here. Gas is around $1.55EU a liter.
The pizza on offer leans to the Neapolitan style. What’s called pepperoni isn’t. Ok, but not NY/New Haven good.
There seems to be a frutaria, carniceria, salchicheria, pescaderia, panaderia or pasteleria every other block. Sometimes 3 on one block.
Not to mention the 3 or 4 ‘supermercados’ within walking distance.
Spaniards seem unacquainted with the concept of ‘food desert’.
Restaurants generally close at 5, re-open at 8.
In Mexico, ground beef is called ‘carne molida’, here it’s called Hamburger Meat.
Tme Mezquita-Catedral is something not to be missed.
Just need that $1 mil stonk position for dual citizenship to get the $1400 apartment. Actually remember when it was $1400 in silicon valley, 20 years ago, thinking how lucky lions would be to have that much money & not have to commute. Meanwhile, Trump announced the 6th generation fighter which will come to Spain’s rescue so they don’t have to fund their own military.
You don’t need any wealth to live in Spain, just a remote job that pays at least $3000/month. https://www.nimextranjeria.com/spains-digital-nomad-visa-income-requirements/
It takes five years of residency (at least 183 days/year) to get permanent residence. After 10 years you can apply for citizenship. Maybe if a Biden-Harris-style administration takes over in Spain the citizenship process will be streamlined to 10 days.
What about Canada? You don’t need to learn or speak Spanish, life expectancy in BC/Ontario is only 0.6 years less than Spain’s, you get to be close to the US, and most importantly, unlike Europeans, who take a lot of pride in their culture, as an American you can belittle Canadians every chance you get.
My friend said that he wanted a country that wasn’t too hot; he didn’t say that he wanted to spend most of the year freezing!
Spain is a great place to live if you are retired. The healthcare system is excellent (in some areas, such as transplants, it is among the best in the world). The universities are, at best, mediocre, with the exception of medical schools, which benefit from extremely competitive and selective admissions.
High-speed trains are everywhere, and crime is very low (Spain records fewer murders per year than Philadelphia). Taxes are significantly higher than in New York City, as is the case across much of Europe.
In my opinion, Spain is actually a friendly place for Jews (there are very few Jews in Spain). The local, mostly leftist, anti-Semites (sorry, anti-Zionists) tend to be of the “look, Mom, I’m an idiot” variety. I was in Paris last week, and a good friend—whose mother survived Auschwitz—told me that in France, there are legitimate reasons for Jews to be fearful. That is certainly not the case in Spain.
Spanish women are caliente!
You can go on the pilgrimage trail and lodging is $15 a day. I imagine a mendicant could beg if necessary.