Cost of Living in Spain: A Region-by-Region Budget Guide

The cost of living in Spain is decided by rent. In August 2026 asking rents averaged 15.1 euros per square metre nationally, 21.5 euros in and around Madrid and 7.8 euros in Extremadura. On the Costa del Sol a couple spends 1,782.53 euros a month on rent, groceries, power, water and phone. The full calculation is below, line by line.

Cost of living in Spain starts with the rent

Rent is the line that makes or breaks your Spanish budget. Everything else moves by a few euros between regions. Rent moves by hundreds. The property portal idealista tracks asking rents every month, and its August 2026 rental report is the most recent one.

Spanish listings quote rent per square metre per month, so that is the number to learn. The national average was 15.1 euros, up 5.8 percent on a year earlier. The Madrid region topped the list at 21.5 euros, followed by the Balearic Islands at 20.0 euros and Catalonia at 15.9 euros. Andalusia came in at 14.0 euros, with the Valencia region just below at 13.3.

At the cheap end sit Murcia at 9.6 euros and Extremadura at 7.8 euros. In Extremadura that is about half the national average. If your income does not depend on a local job, that gap is worth a look.

Province matters as much as region. Málaga province, home of the Costa del Sol, asked 18.7 euros, closer to the Balearic Islands than to the rest of Andalusia. Seville province sat at 12.2 euros and Jaén province at 7.0 euros, according to idealista’s Andalusia breakdown. For a province-by-province look at southern Spain, read our guide to the cost of living in Andalusia.

City centres push prices higher still. Madrid city asked 23.3 euros, Barcelona 20.2 euros and Palma 19.3 euros, while Málaga city came in at 16.5 euros and Valencia city at 16.3 euros. What a Spanish lease demands on top of the rent, from deposit to agency fee, is covered in renting an apartment in Spain.

Rent and purchase price by region, August 2026

checked on 23.09.2026, sources: idealista rental report August 2026 and idealista sales report August 2026

Buying instead: price per square metre

Buying follows the same map with bigger numbers. According to idealista’s sales report, a square metre cost 2,924 euros nationally in August 2026, up 12.5 percent in a year. The Balearic Islands led at 5,595 euros, ahead of the Madrid region at 5,059. Catalonia sat at 3,081 euros and Andalusia at 2,938 euros.

Inside Andalusia the gap is wide. Málaga province asked 4,293 euros, Seville province 2,073 euros. Elsewhere, Valencia and its surroundings reached 2,490 euros, Murcia 1,681 euros and Extremadura 1,049 euros. On paper a 90 square metre flat costs 94,410 euros in Extremadura and 503,550 euros in the Balearic Islands.

These are asking prices from listings, not completed sales. Purchase taxes and notary fees come on top and vary by region. Still, the square metre price is the quickest way to test whether buying beats renting where you want to live.

Groceries and the overall price level

Is Spain cheap? Against the EU average, yes, but less than you may think at the supermarket. Eurostat publishes price level indices for every member state with the EU average set to 100. For 2024, Spain scored 90.7 for overall consumption and 94.6 for food.

Eating out is where Spain pulls ahead. The index for restaurants and hotels stood at 83.9, the lowest of the three. A menú del día at lunchtime and a glass of wine at the bar are where your money stretches furthest. The weekly shop is only about five percent below the EU average.

For a real grocery figure, use Spain’s agriculture ministry and its household consumption panel. In 2025 each resident spent close to 1,875 euros on food and drink eaten at home. That works out at 156.25 euros per person per month, and it is the figure used in the budgets below.

Prices are still climbing. Spain’s statistics office INE reported annual inflation of 4.3 percent for August 2026, with food and non-alcoholic drinks up 2.3 percent and core inflation at 2.9 percent. Which products cost more in Spain and which cost less is broken down in real prices in Spain.

Utilities: electricity, water and internet

Electricity is the utility bill to watch. Eurostat’s household electricity statistics put the Spanish price at 0.2669 euros per kilowatt hour for the second half of 2025, all taxes and levies included. That applies to annual use between 2,500 and 4,999 kilowatt hours. The EU average in the same band was 0.2896 euros.

At 2,500 kilowatt hours a year you pay 667.25 euros, or 55.60 euros a month. A family using 4,000 kilowatt hours pays 1,067.60 euros a year, or 88.97 euros a month. Run the air conditioning all through July and August and you will overshoot both figures.

Water barely registers. INE’s water statistics show households used 128 litres per person per day in 2024, at 2.02 euros per cubic metre including wastewater. Over 30 days that is 3.84 cubic metres, or 7.76 euros per person per month. The Balearic Islands charged the most at 2.80 euros per cubic metre, La Rioja the least at 1.26 euros.

For phone, internet and devices, INE’s household budget survey records 1,079 euros per household per year under information and communication, which is 89.92 euros a month. It is an average, not a fibre tariff. Total household spending in 2025 was 35,101 euros, or 14,066 euros per person.

Community fees, gas and the municipal rubbish charge also land on a Spanish tenant. How those items split between landlord and tenant is explained in average apartment utility costs in Spain. For the budgets below, electricity, water and communication are enough.

Spain against the EU average

checked on 23.09.2026, sources: Eurostat price level indices and Eurostat household electricity prices, band 2,500 to 4,999 kWh

Wages: minimum wage and average salary

If you plan to work for a Spanish employer, look at pay before you look at flats. The minimum wage (Salario Mínimo Interprofesional, or SMI) is 1,221 euros a month under Royal Decree 126/2026, effective 1 January 2026. It is paid in 14 instalments, which makes 17,094 euros a year or 40.70 euros a day.

The average gross salary in 2024 was 29,540.26 euros, according to INE’s wage structure survey. Spread over twelve months that is 2,461.69 euros gross. The median of 24,497.17 euros is the better guide, because half of all employees earn less.

Regional pay follows rent, but only loosely. The Madrid region averaged 34,410.01 euros, Catalonia 31,730.05 euros and the Balearic Islands 29,075.06 euros. The Valencia region reached 26,816.98 and the Murcia region 26,349.36 euros. Andalusia came in at 26,089.70 euros and Extremadura at 24,979.44 euros.

Madrid pays 38 percent more than Extremadura but charges 2.8 times the rent. For remote workers and retirees with income from abroad, that maths runs the other way. You earn at home and spend at Spanish prices. How the SMI is calculated and who it covers is explained in minimum wage in Spain.

Minimum wage and gross annual salary by region

checked on 23.09.2026, sources: BOE, Real Decreto 126/2026 and INE, Encuesta Anual de Estructura Salarial 2024

Three sample budgets on the Costa del Sol

Now the building blocks go together. Every number below comes from the sources above except floor area, which is an assumption: 50 square metres for one person, 70 for a couple and 90 for a family of four. Rent uses the Málaga province average of 18.7 euros, the Costa del Sol level. Car, insurance, clothing, leisure and healthcare are left out on purpose.

Remote worker on 50 square metres

50 square metres at 18.7 euros is 935.00 euros of rent. Add 156.25 euros for groceries, 55.60 euros for electricity at 2,500 kilowatt hours a year, 7.76 euros for water and 89.92 euros for phone and internet. The total is 1,244.53 euros a month.

Retired couple on 70 square metres

A 70 square metre flat costs 1,309.00 euros, and groceries for two come to 312.50 euros. Electricity stays at 55.60 euros, water doubles to 15.51 euros and communication stays at 89.92 euros per household. That makes 1,782.53 euros a month.

Move the same couple to the Valencia region at 13.3 euros and rent drops to 931.00 euros, taking the total down to 1,404.53 euros. Groceries, power and water hardly change between regions. The flat decides.

Family of four on 90 square metres

A family pays 1,683.00 euros for 90 square metres and 625.00 euros for four people’s groceries. Electricity at 4,000 kilowatt hours adds 88.97 euros, water for four adds 31.03 euros and communication 89.92 euros. The total is 2,517.92 euros a month.

The grocery figure is an average across all residents. Toddlers eat less and teenagers often eat more. Treat it as a floor, not a ceiling.

Sample monthly budgets, Málaga province rent level

Calculation: ExpatAndalucia, as of 23.09.2026. Inputs: idealista (rent August 2026), Spanish agriculture ministry (groceries 2025), Eurostat (electricity second half of 2025), INE (water 2024, communication 2025)

Where the numbers break

These budgets are a floor. Rent figures are asking prices for new leases, which is exactly what you pay on arrival. Málaga city itself asked 16.5 euros, below the province average of 18.7 euros. Where you look along the coast matters as much as the region.

The bigger gap is everything the budgets leave out. INE’s household survey shows an average household spent 4,020 euros on transport in 2025 and 3,282 euros on restaurants and accommodation. Add your own versions of those lines before you trust any total.

Then there is currency. Every figure on this page is in euros, and we do not convert them, because a converted amount is wrong the day after publication. If your pension or salary arrives in pounds or dollars, each transfer costs a fee plus a margin on the exchange rate. On rent of 1,309.00 euros a month, those costs add up over a year.

Frequently asked questions

The fastest way to test your own numbers is our budget calculator. You set floor area, region and household size, then add the items our budgets leave out. You see whether your income carries the plan before you sign a lease.

Verdict

Rent carries the budget. The national average is 15.1 euros per square metre, and between Extremadura at 7.8 euros and greater Madrid at 21.5 euros lies a factor of 2.8. A couple on the Costa del Sol needs 1,782.53 euros a month for housing, food, energy and phone, and the same couple in the Valencia region needs 1,404.53 euros.

Judging a town by the price of a supermarket trolley costs you more than any other mistake. Food in Spain sits at 94.6 in Eurostat’s EU price index, so the weekly shop saves you little. The difference is rent. Pick Málaga province over the Valencia region and the same 70 square metres cost you 378.00 euros more every month.