UK → Spain
Removals to Spain.
The busiest British moving route in Europe and the one with the most worn-in procedures at the far end. The transport is long but routine. The paperwork is where moves actually stall.
The NIE comes before everything
Before dates, before volume, before a quote. Spain is stricter than France about who may import household goods under relief, and the gate is your NIE together with evidence of residence — usually the padrón registration or a residence card — plus the property documents.
We prepare the export side and work with a Spanish agent on the import entry. We cannot obtain your NIE for you. Start it before you start packing.
The route
The M20 and the Channel, then south through France on the western corridor — past Rouen, then the A10 through Bordeaux — to the Pyrenees, crossing at La Jonquera for the Mediterranean or Irún for the Atlantic north. Almost every popular Spanish destination hangs off one of those two.
Destinations
- Costa Blanca — Alicante, Torrevieja, Jávea, Dénia, Moraira. The densest British presence in Spain.
- Costa del Sol — Málaga, Marbella, Estepona, Fuengirola and the villages inland behind them.
- Murcia and the Mar Menor — newer resort developments, generally easy access.
- Barcelona and Catalonia — city apartments with restricted streets and small lifts.
- The green north — Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria. Cheaper, wetter, growing.
- The islands — Balearics and Canaries, each with a sea leg and their own scheduling.
Access at the Spanish end
The casco antiguo of almost any Andalucian town has streets a rigid lorry cannot enter, so the final leg becomes a small van and a longer carry. Hillside urbanizaciones present the same problem differently — a steep private drive with nowhere to turn a large vehicle around.
Neither is unusual and both are routine to plan around. Photographs of the approach and the door are the single most useful thing you can send us.
What we need to quote
Destination town, permanent move or second property, approximate volume, access at both ends, and how firm the dates are. The hub page covers groupage against dedicated transport; Portugal shares most of this route as far as the Spanish border.
Removals to Spain — questions
What actually delays a Spanish move?
The NIE, almost every time. Spain will not release household goods under relief without your foreigner identification number and evidence of residence. Obtaining it is your side of the job, and loads wait on that paperwork far more often than on any vehicle.
Which border crossing?
Destination decides it. La Jonquera on the Mediterranean side feeds the AP-7 down the east coast — Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante, Málaga. Irún on the Atlantic side serves the Basque country, Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia.
How do the islands work?
A sea leg after the mainland run, so the Balearics and Canaries are scheduled rather than continuous. The Canaries also sit outside the EU customs union, which changes the paperwork again. Tell us the island at enquiry rather than afterwards.
Will a lorry reach the property?
Two recurring problems. Old-town streets in Andalucía that a rigid vehicle cannot physically enter, and hillside urbanizaciones with steep private drives and no turning room. Both are solved with a smaller van and a longer carry, and both are far cheaper arranged in advance.
Should everything come?
Worth an evening of thought. Spanish kitchens are often fitted to different dimensions, so a British fridge-freezer may not fit the gap, and heavy winter furnishings frequently get shipped and never used. We will move whatever you want moved — it is just worth deciding what earns the space.
Moving to Spain?
Both addresses, the floor at each end, and roughly what is going. That is enough for us to survey it and put a figure in writing.