There are often discussions within the Spainguru community regarding which of the two Iberian destinations is best.
Portugal has been working hard to simplify the immigration process and recently approved its Digital Nomad Visa and (at least until 2023) a better taxation than its neighbor, which has increased its appeal to expats looking for a welcoming southern European destination.
Furthermore, although Spain still remains king in absolute expat population when compared to Portugal, it has still to pass its Digital Nomad Visa (hopefully) during the beginning of 2023.
In this article we will analyze Internations Expat Insider 2022 survey about 52 possible expat destinations, among 12.000 expats of 177 nationalities and based in 181 countries. The top 2 nationalities of the respondents were USA and UK. Although the survey included 50+ destinations, we will focus on the positions obtained by Spain and Portugal in the survey to compare.
We will also go through a city by city cost of living analysis using Numbeo.com and a rentals pricing analysis by provinces, obtained on Idealista, the main real estate classifieds portal in both countries.
Internations Expat Insider 2022
The survey was about five main categories:
- Quality of life
- Ease to settle in
- Working abroad
- Expat essentials
- Personal finance
Quality of life
In Quality of Life, Spain ranks 1, and Portugal ranks 4. Spain wins! Both countries have great rankings.
Ease to settle in
In Ease to settle in, Spain ranks 10, and Portugal ranks 7, Portugal wins! Both countries have great rankings.
Working abroad
In Working abroad, Spain ranks 37, and Portugal ranks 35. Portugal wins! Both countries have pretty low grades in the Working abroad category.
Expat essentials
In Expat essentials, Spain ranks 14 and Portugal ranks 19. Spain wins! Both countries have average rankings.
Personal finance
In Personal Finance, Spain ranks 11, and Portugal ranks 10. Portugal wins! Both countries have great rankings.
Overall ranking in the Survey
Portugal ranked 4th and Spain ranked 5th of 52 countries as top expats destinations in this survey.
Portugal in one sentence: “Expats are particularly happy with the high quality of life, the ease of settling in, and their personal finances.“
Spain in one sentence: “Expats are extremely happy with the quality of life and find it easy to get settled in. “
However, I wanted to analyze further all the rankings for all the categories and I assigned special weights to the most important ones in my opinion, and I also added taxation at the end.
Even with a more favorable taxation, Spain stands out in this analysis with a total score of 33 versus 29 of Portugal. This analysis was done by Spainguru and is not part of the Internations Survey.
Non lucrative and Digital Nomad Visas status
What is the status of the non lucrative and digital nomad visas in both countries?
- Spain:
- Non Lucrative Visas (NLV): active ✓ (Join our Spanish NLV group here)
- DNV: Not active – Coming in January 2023 (Join our Spanish Digital Nomad Visa group here)
- Portugal:
- Non Lucrative Visa D7: active ✓
- DNV: October 30th 2022 active ✓
City by city cost of life analysis
This analysis was made by Spainguru, source Numbeo.com
Cities in this table are ordered from most expensive to less expensive, but the cost of living index INCLUDING the rent index.It is interesting to notice how the Lisbon real estate market has a strong influence in its position, since the cost of living without the rent is still quite low, but rent prices are experiencing a strong increase in the last years.
Barcelona stands out as the most expensive city in the Iberian peninsula, then we can see a group of 3 cities (Madrid, Lisbon and Bilbao) as the second most expensive one, followed closely by Palma and Cascais. Then, we can group, ranging from 36 to 35 fourcities: Valencia, Murcia, Porto and Málaga.
Rent prices by square meter by country’s provinces
Below you can see the heat map from Portugal and Spain, showing by province, the rental prices. The prices range from 5€/m2/month to 16-17€/m2/month. Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona and Basque country are the top most expensive rental areas in the Iberian Península (Source: Idealista.com and Idealista.pt).
Portugal
Spain
The Spainguru conclusions
In full disclosure, it is very hard not to be biased (being Spainguru) in our opinion about both countries, but one thing it’s clear: it will depend on you and your life situation which of the two countries suits you best. Both countries are certainly amazing for expats!
We do advise attempting to get as much information as you can in the most precise manner because there are some quite stark disparities across the various areas, even within one city. Therefore, it is crucial that you obtain all the facts and then personally visit the area before making a decision to move in, if you have the chance to do so.
Not only there are many websites that offer important data about both countries and their cities, but there are large communities of expats who are willing to share their experiences. One of those communities is certainly Spainguru’s Facebook group with nearly 20.000 members that you can join today and can ask all the questions you would like, even anonymously.
Once you have narrowed down your search, we highly recommend that you consult experts in the different fields you will need to make your move as smooth and easy as possible. At Spainguru we can recommend immigration experts, tax experts, relocation agencies, health insurances and much more. Make sure to check the list below in order to find your recommended experts.
Please notice that this article is not financial nor legal advice, and it’s based on internet research and personal experience.
