{"id":108658,"date":"2026-09-16T12:49:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T10:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/?p=108658"},"modified":"2026-09-16T12:38:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T10:38:19","slug":"things-to-know-before-living-in-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/lifestyle\/things-to-know-before-living-in-spain\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Living in Spain: 20 things you need to know before packing your bags"},"content":{"rendered":"<table class=\"table table-striped table-color-200\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>In Spain, the main meal is lunch, and dinner is rarely eaten before 9:00 PM.<\/li>\n<li>The National Health System (SNS) ranks among the top 20 worldwide according to The Lancet, accessible via Social Security contributions or private insurance.<\/li>\n<li>Key administrative procedures such as the padr\u00f3n, NIE, and taxation on worldwide income after 183 days require a mandatory prior appointment and sometimes official certified translations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Spain is a country with unique customs that often surprise many foreigners who move here to live.<\/p>\n<p>At Fotocasa, we explain <strong>20 things you need to know before moving to Spain<\/strong>. From how Spaniards manage their daily schedules to how to handle the main paperwork required to relocate to Spain.<\/p>\n<p>Did you know that paella is rarely eaten for dinner in Spain?<\/p>\n<h2>What are the 20 things you should know before moving to Spain?<\/h2>\n<p>To integrate successfully into Spain, it is essential to embrace both daily habits and the administrative framework that governs access to rentals and formal residency. Below, we break down point by point the most relevant realities to help you plan your move.<\/p>\n<h3>1. Paella is never for dinner: lunch is the main meal<\/h3>\n<p>In Spain, <strong>the main meal of the day is midday lunch.<\/strong> Although many tourists (whom locals refer to as \u00abguiris\u00bb) eat paella for dinner, paella is typically a dish reserved for lunchtime. In many restaurants, tradition calls for eating it on Thursdays, although it is also very common to enjoy it on weekends or at family gatherings.<\/p>\n<section class=\"mini-posts\"><div class=\"row align-items-center\"><div class=\"col-4 col-md-3 pt-2 pb-2\"><div class=\"mini-posts__image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/lifestyle\/guide-local-customs-store-hours-spain\/?lang=en\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Settling-into-Spain-Guide-to-Local-Customs-Store-Hours-355x230.png\" alt=\"Integrating into your new Spanish neighborhood: local customs and shopping hours (The definitive guide)\" title=\"-\"><\/a><\/div><\/div><div class=\"col-8 col-md-9 pt-2 pb-2\"><h3 class=\"mini-posts__title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/lifestyle\/guide-local-customs-store-hours-spain\/?lang=en\">Integrating into your new Spanish neighborhood: local customs and shopping hours (The definitive guide)<\/a><\/h3><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n<h3>2. Spain has 2 official time zones: mainland (GMT+1) and the Canary Islands (GMT+0)<\/h3>\n<p>Spain has two distinct official time zones within its borders. <strong>The Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands operate on GMT+1, while the Canary Islands follow GMT+0.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This mainland time discrepancy dates back to the Second World War and largely explains why daylight extends so late into the evening. In addition, Spain <strong>changes the clocks twice a year.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>3. The siesta myth: what the working day really looks like in Spain<\/h3>\n<p>If you tell a Spanish office worker that they take a siesta, you will likely get a raised eyebrow. Despite the persistent myth, <strong>not everyone takes a siesta in Spain.<\/strong> In fact, according to a 2017 SimpleL\u00f3gica survey, nearly 60% of Spaniards state that they never nap.<\/p>\n<p>While it is true that <strong>some shops close in the middle of the day<\/strong>, in office environments it is standard practice to take a lunch break of just one hour.<\/p>\n<h3>4. Mealtimes are later: lunch at 2:00 PM and dinner at 9:00 PM or later<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Mealtimes in Spain take place significantly later than the European average.<\/strong> Midday lunch is usually served between 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM, while dinner rarely starts before 9:00 PM.<\/p>\n<p>Restaurants tailor their opening hours to this routine, so <strong>if you head out to eat at 6:00 PM, you will most likely find the kitchen closed.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fotocasa is the expert real estate portal if you are looking for your home in Spain and want to resolve your doubts about housing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":282,"featured_media":108664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"yes","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13668],"tags":[16934,16940,16881,14821,13686,13687,13688,13550,15099,15054,15083,13547,16941,16942,16935],"class_list":["post-108658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-curiosiaddes","tag-expat-guide-spain","tag-expats","tag-foreign","tag-houses-in-spain","tag-housing-doubts-in-spain","tag-lifestyle","tag-live-in-spain","tag-living-in-spain","tag-moving-to-spain","tag-mudarse-a-espana","tag-real-estate-market","tag-spain-lifestyle","tag-spanish-culture","tag-tramites-vivienda"],"modified_by":"Patricia Andr\u00e9s","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/282"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fotocasa.es\/fotocasa-life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}