London to Spain
Relocating from London to Madrid or Barcelona
Many of our moves from London to Spain are job relocations: an employer is paying, a start date is fixed, and you need a flat before your furniture can go anywhere. We fit around that. We pack in London, hold goods in storage while you find a home, then clear them into Spain once your NIE and padrón registration are in place.
How does a work relocation to Spain fit together?
The sequence matters more than the drive. Most people relocating from London to Madrid or Barcelona for a job spend their first stretch in serviced accommodation while they look for a rental, and Spanish landlords tend to want an NIE, a payslip or an employer's letter before they sign. Your belongings cannot be cleared through customs until you can show a Spanish address, so the move naturally splits in two. First we pack the London flat, sort what is going to Spain from what you are leaving in storage, and lodge the UK export paperwork. Then, once you have keys and a lease, we deliver. Employers and relocation agents usually like this, because nothing is paid for twice and nobody pays a lorry to wait. The table below shows who handles what at each stage.
| Stage | You | Employer | London Mover |
|---|---|---|---|
| The offer is signed | Tell HR or the relocation agent you want us quoted | Confirms the allowance and what it covers | Survey by video or in person, written quote in the format HR asks for |
| Before you fly | Book temporary housing; choose what goes into store | Approves the quote and the insurance level | Pack, build the inventory, split shipping goods from London storage |
| Leaving London | Hand over keys and meter readings | Nothing further | Lodge the UK export declaration; hold goods until the Spanish address is fixed |
| Once you have a flat | Register on the padrón; send us the lease and NIE | Sometimes sponsors the residence paperwork | Submit the relief claim, book building access, deliver and unpack |
What is empadronamiento, and why does the removal depend on it?
Empadronamiento is registration on the padrón, the municipal register of who lives at which address, held by the ayuntamiento (town hall). It is separate from your NIE and from your residence card, and it is the document Spanish offices ask for again and again: to enrol children in school, to get a health card, sometimes to open a bank account. For the removal, a padrón certificate is one of the clearest ways to prove you have moved your normal residence to Spain, which is what transfer-of-residence relief turns on. Without that proof, customs can ask for duty and VAT on the load. In Madrid and Barcelona you register with the lease or a utility bill and your passport, usually by appointment. Book it as soon as you sign; we will time the delivery to the certificate.
What does the building expect on delivery day?
A typical rental in Madrid's Chamberí or Barcelona's Eixample is a flat in a classic block with a porter's lodge, a narrow lift and a shared entrance governed by the comunidad de propietarios. Expect house rules on moving hours, a request to pad the lift and sometimes a deposit against damage to common areas. Wide items such as sofas and bed bases may need to come up through a balcony with an external lift. Both cities also run low-emission zones with rules for foreign-registered lorries, which we check when the route is fixed. The new-build blocks on the edges of both cities are easier: bigger lifts, underground parking and a management office that schedules moves.
And if you are heading for the Costas instead?
Moves from London to the Costa del Sol, the Costa Blanca or the coast near Valencia look nothing like a city relocation. The household is usually bigger, the buyer has often sold a London house, and the delivery is to a villa or a townhouse on an urbanisation, sometimes up a road too steep or tight for a full-size truck. There, we shuttle with a smaller vehicle. The paperwork follows the same logic as above: NIE, padrón and proof of residence unlock the relief. If the purchase is not yet complete, we keep everything in London until it is.
FAQ
Moving to Spain from London: common questions
Can my employer pay you directly?
Yes. Plenty of our London to Spain moves are paid by the employer or arranged through a relocation management company. We can invoice the company, quote against the allowance it has set, and split the job so that items the policy covers are kept apart from anything you are paying for yourself. If the relocation firm has its own survey format or insurance requirement, send it over and we will work to it. You still deal with one coordinator at our end.
Do I need my NIE before you can deliver to Spain?
You will need it for the customs step, so in practice yes. The NIE is the identification number every foreign resident uses in Spain, and it appears on the relief claim alongside your passport and evidence of your Spanish address. If it is still being processed, we can collect in London and keep your goods in storage until it arrives. That is far easier than a load waiting at a customs office while documents are chased.
Our building in Barcelona has a portero. Does that matter?
It helps. The porter, or the administrator of the comunidad de propietarios, knows the house rules: which hours moves are allowed, whether the lift must be protected and whether the entrance can be blocked while we work. Some buildings ask for advance notice in writing. Give us their contact and we will agree the day with them directly in Spanish. Separately, the city council handles reserving kerb space for the vehicle, which we arrange or guide you through.
We are retiring to the Costa Blanca, not relocating for work. Is that a different service?
The service is the same; the conversation is different. A retirement move usually involves a whole house rather than a rented city flat, and the delivery is often to a villa on an urbanisation up a steep road. Your residence route will be a visa based on your own means rather than a work permit. The customs relief works the same way. Tell us the town and we will plan the access accordingly.
Do you deliver to the Spanish islands?
Our road service covers mainland Spain. The Balearics need a sea crossing that we would arrange case by case, so ask before you plan around it. The Canary Islands are a different matter: they sit outside the EU VAT area and have their own import rules, so they cannot be treated like a mainland delivery. If you are moving to either, raise it at the quote stage and we will tell you plainly whether we can do it.
Get started
Starting a new job in Spain?
Tell us your London address, the city you are moving to and whether your employer is paying. We will send a written quote that HR or your relocation agent can approve.