12 Years in Spain (An Honest Review)

What's life like in Spain once the honeymoon period is over? I share my experience.

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Editor – Clément Letourneur
Thumbnail designer – Lucas Kieffer

==== WHO ARE WE? ====
Hola, Spain lovers! We're James and Yoly. James is a New Zealander, and Yoly is from Spain. We both live in Madrid. Our channel gives you a local insight into life in Spain and helps you experience this country like a local when you come to live (or visit!).

If that sounds like your kind of thing, bienvenid@!I

*This description contains affiliate links which means we may earn a commission if you use them 🙏🏻

[spainrevealed]

Thanks for watching, guys! I hope my honest take was interesting to a few people! 🤣

[jga]

The Spanish government should actually pay you for everything you have done over the last 12 years. I bet hundreds of people, if not thousands, have moved to or at least visited Spain because of your videos. Thank you for showing so much about our country and for being so passionate about what you do. I do it on a smaller scale by having international friends come over and show them around Spain but seeing you do it consistently, with so much passion, and at scale is incredible. Congrats, thank you, and please keep doing it!🎉🎉

[marianacaffaro]

I'm Argentinian and my husband is English, we live in Galicia. There"s more nature than contruction here and the people are very friendly and welcoming.
Even if spanish is my native language, i miss the Argentinian lingo. We're self employed too, taxes are high.
Compared to the miserable and dangeeous life we had in Argentina, here is wonderful. We love our life here after 4 ys.

[marialexandra]

Hi! I'm from Venezuela and I have lived in Spain for 5 years, my situation is a bit different because I came young at 18 by myself. It was challenging not having any family support. When you move to another country you start a new life, and you'll be trying to get the basic things like a job, a flat, and food. Even though there are people that can help you a little, other people are gonna try to take advantage of you, for your age, ethnicity, or gender. Staying strong is important, yourself is what really matters. I didn't find a decent job until now, 4 years later, and I'm really grateful for it, I didn't have any studies either but I'm studying now because I have the opportunity. It is important to follow your dreams and fight for them too.

I am not the normal example, but... I can tell you, it is really hard but stay strong

[Helena.kjellvander]

Me and my husband moved here from Sweden with our 13-year-old daughter about 9 months ago, and your content on this channel was one of the things that actually pushed us forward. We had talked about it for years, and we finally did it. We still don't know much spanish, but as you've said: Spain has the most friendly, helpful and patient people I have ever met. Sure, there are hiccups, but we figured that some things (beurocracy) will just have to take its time. No rush! See the delay as an extra vacation day, enjoy your surroundings and have a coffee or a beer at the local pub.

[frankhyde]

Thank you as always. As a Canadian now in my twentieth year in Spain I connect with so many of your videos. The balance in daily life, the pleasures of food and the people, the history and the climate make this country one of the best to live especially at this moment in time. Living at a less frenetic pace is a wise choice. Spain enables a better quality of life. All the best to you and your family.

[englishwithmsjulia]

After this video, we love you even more!❤
Thank you for your honesty!
I visited Spain for the fourth time in July 2019 on a seven-month sabbatical and never returned to South Africa.
Too many things too mentioned happened between my arrival in 2019 and now, but the outcome has been that I have never felt this ´free´, liberated, and happy.
After selling up in South Africa, Patrick (hubby) finally joined me a year ago.
I now run my own business in Valladolid and honestly, I have found my Happy Space. We too, feel we live in the centre of Spain and transport access to the rest of Spain is first class. I have not owned a car or needed to drive a car since I arrived in 2019.
Patrick has certain medical attention needs and his experience with the public health system and public Professionals (specialists) has been nothing short of excellent in Valladolid.
We are both committed to taking a serious approach to the Spanish language and Patrick is enrolling with the Escuela de Idiomas for the next course. Due to the time conflict of their classes, I will continue with a private teacher.
We have both grown our own ´friends circle´ and it always surprises me to what length they are prepared to go to assist us in every way - whether it be to accompany Patrick to a physician or to a government office (due to Patrick´s low Spanish level).
This chapter of our lives is important and I personally feel that there won´t be another opportunity. Hence, we simply embrace each day and its blessings.
Thank you James, Yolly and Lucy, for bringing warmth and a little sparkle into our lives. We simply love your shares.😘😘😘

[anasfrh]

This was extremely honest and vulnerable. Thanks for sharing these very intimate and personal thoughts with all of us. I moved countries a lot and I can identify with a lot of what you described. This was a very transparent and non romanticized view of what moving and living somewhere long-term feels like, the challenges of integration, the ups and downs of life, the trade-offs.

[Boric]

Been here for 18 years. Had difficulties but never enough to quit. Also had children in Spain, best country for kids, your comments are spot on about half a family. Last decade (even the COVID days) was far better than the first years. I am not Spanish but I belong here, for all their faults they are the best people. And the other immigrants - I have built friendships with South Americans, I had no idea how wonderful some of those people are. Love them. Most days I am laughing. Spain should be the best country on earth, just need to ask why it isn't?

[niguel]

It was a relief that this ended on a sort of positive note. As someone who is now a 71 (feeling say 40 years old) year old Brit living in Malaga since retirement I was fascinated by the under tones of what you were saying. I have learned that all the old clichés are true eg life isn’t perfect, count your blessings, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side etc. I’ve also learned that working hard on being happy in one’s self is key. This isn’t easy of course, but without it there is a tendency to look over the fence or be envious of friends whom you think have it made. They don’t of course. My core is my family and whilst they all live in England they are constantly with me in my mind. FaceTime keeps us in touch and actually provides quality time together. Life’s a balance. I’m fortunate to have a brilliant wife of 53 years. Has this always run smoothly, of course not. But this raises another cliché, it’s all about compromise. Listening to you I would urge more counting of blessings. Sorry if this sounds condescending. It’s genuinely not meant to. Compared to the majority you have an enviable life. And like most of us you do need to genuinely believe this. Finally, it would be great to hear Loli’s story. Best wishes to you and your family. Everything I’ve see of you leads me to believe that if the world was full of people like you, what a great place it would be. Ps. Don’t ruin your life worrying about climate change. Be responsible of course, but realise that most predictions over decades have been wrong. The answers lie in scientists, technology and entrepreneurs. Not self serving politicians and activists. Enjoy life my friend. You only get one and I can tell you that I was actually your age 10 minutes ago, or so it seems. Pps. I haven’t spell checked or grammar checked this. Life’s too short!

[kylashort]

This video affected me more than I expected. I've been here for about 12 years too and the two points you made about friends and language were spot on for me. It's a complicated life being with a Spanish partner and living far from life-time friends and especially aging parents. Thank you so much for this video!

[scright]

I am coming up to my 4th anniversary in Spain having chosen to live outside of the city in El Escorial it has been an interesting experience. Aside from frustrations with the Spanish government and the processes my first couple of years were covid impacted and I feel like that was a hard/strange start to living in Spain with the decreased social aspect. Unlike some I put myself in the category of having a bad language brain, it has taken me until now to get confident speaking in broken Spanish and that is through using a tutor twice a week for almost a year now - I made the mistake of assuming with a Spanish partner I would just pick up the language here and there but we revert into English too easily. Overall though, I love it in Spain - the lifestyle and the people, and I hope to get my Spanish passport in the next 12 months after marriage.

Fun note, I moved to Spain as a vegan and I am now vegetarian as of last summer to much celebration of my fiance's family. The cheese temptation was too strong - and I realised some Spaniards treat veganism as a curable disease... "Es porque no has probado este tipo de jamón..."

[AntonioSanchez-mjhq]

Great video! As a Spaniard living in Japan married to a Japanese who I met in the US, it’s really instructive to learn about your perceptions. Somehow it’d be a reverse situation if we decide to move to Spain at some point. Thanks a lot for sharing your feelings!

[elekvault]

James, about Galicia, just a friendly reminder my mom is still offering her apartment in Costa da Morte, if you need a temporal place to maybe check what is life like up north. No strings attached. Por lo demás, gran vídeo, y todas las dudas y problemas de hacer vida en el extranjero son comprensibles, y la autocrítica es necesaria, pero no seas muy duro contigo mismo: España es afortunada de tenerte aquí, porque gente como tú contribuye a hacer mejor las cosas. Te sigo desde los inicios de Devour (cuando sólo era Devour Madrid), y sólo puedo agradecerte tu trabajo durante todos estos años. Un abrazo.

[goeledeckers]

I’m from Belgium and have been living in Galicia for 10 years now. I came here when I was 24. I finished two degrees here (aside from the 2 I already had) and am now working as a self-employed private teacher. I honestly feel more Spanish (or Galician) than Belgian and when someone asks me what my native language is, I must admit I don’t know wether to say Dutch or Spanish (or English). Thanks for your reflections in this video; it is nice to hear these ideas from someone with a similar experience to mine.

[TheZenguitarguy]

I met my wife in Cancun. She came to the states after we married and we lived there 8 years and we are now living in Spain and I completely resonate with that reliance vulnerability issue when you are outside your culture and language. Thank you for your great videos, We love Galicia/Vigo and would love to have a coffee or a meal with you and your family.

[criscanseco]

Been leaving in the Netherlands 30 years now, im from Bcn.
Totally agree with you on relationships, language, personal development...
We dont realise how much impact it has on so many levels.
Thank you for your openness, it is all very easy to recognise once you've been there.
I can only hope also the new bees will get the flavour of your message.

[mizginavale]

Hi James, thank you so much for the video, which happens to coincide with my 2-year Spainversary (as I call it). After living here for 2 years, I have realized that moving to a different country is a mishmash of things that are deeply rewarding and also come with a few challenges. It is disingenuous to think that everything is just smooth sailing when you get here. Especially when you lived somewhere else for 4 decades. Things are not the same as before. There are so many layers to all of this and you have to accommodate your internal emotions to match your new reality. This is more of a process rather than an immediate shift. You are deciding what parts of yourself you want to keep and which need to shift to accommodate the culture you live in. As much as I would like to say this has been fine, it takes some effort to adjust and to stay brave around these changes. Especially when you are on your own. In fact, many of the things you've discussed, I have also experienced. And my concern about climate change is equally concerning, especially living in Valencia. So, I am grateful for your video diary and to watch how you own version of adjusting to Spain has also been one with various peaks and valleys.

[virgismar]

I always find amazing how Spaniards tend to forget those beautiful things about Spain. We truly take some things for granted.

[nzanthony]

Thanks so much for this video. It 100% mirrors my experience here in Madrid. I have had the same struggles due to not committing fully to learning Spanish. We spent a few years back in NZ before moving here 7 years ago and what you said about relying on each other is bang on. I have recently tried to take on more tasks like sourcing and buying new tyres for the car, or sorting health appointments out myself without handing the phone over to my wife. Even these small acts have given me more confidence to do more.
What you said about being a burden in social settings hit the mark too. I end up being so much quieter than I am naturally and can come across unfriendly or uninterested as a result. Languages apps and the listening the the kids chat with mum is really not cutting it. Your advice about getting a teacher is a good one.
I rewatched the video with my eldest and told her that this is exactly how dad feels. I will probably share it with my wife next but know she will say, "claro, you need to speak Spanish and make more effort with friends. I have told you this a million times and it take one YT video for you to listen!!!" Anyways... muchos gracias amigo.