Rising living costs have been causing quite a stir in Spain in recent months. Property prices in particular, especially rising rental costs, underpinned the wave of anti-tourism protests last year, and many locals (and foreigners alike) complain that salaries have been failing to keep up with the rising cost of living for years.
For many, being able to rent an apartment without having to share now seems like a distant dream, let alone living alone or owning your own property.
Similarly, being in a financial position to make monthly savings and put some money aside also seems like something increasingly unrealistic.
However, some parts of Spain are better for this than others.
New rankings have revealed the cities where it’s easiest to save up in Spain, in terms of how much of your monthly salary you have left at the end of the month when you subtract living expenses.
READ ALSO: How much money do I need in savings for a good retirement in Spain?
Consumer protection company Roams carried out the study by comparing data from 50 provincial capitals on 30 products and services including Wi-Fi, mobile phone, electricity, gas, car and home insurance costs, as well as property prices, rents, community charges, shopping, bills, council tax, and public transport costs, among others.
For the salary assumptions used in the study, they are based on average Spanish salaries for the city or area. Of course, depending on where you come from, these salaries may seem higher or lower than you're used to. If you were to live in Spain but work for a foreign company on a foreign wage, your savings potential would differ.
Note that for the property-based metrics, it was based on a case study of a 90 m2 property home for a couple and one child.
Top 10 Spanish cities for savings
Looking at the rankings, in the following table you can compare the average expenses per household with the average salary of two people.
Many of these are smaller, less touristy cities in inland Spain where you could save a significant portion of your salary. +
However, there are cities such as Guadalajara (just an hour's drive from Madrid) where salaries are surprisingly high, and Castellón in the Valencia region, which is on the coast.
Most are also regularly included in the rankings for cheapest cities in Spain for property prices (both rent and purchase) so the cheaper housing costs have likely factored into the overall savings rating too.
According to rankings, the average expenditure of salary in percentage terms in the following Spanish cities would be:
City – Total expenses – Average salary of a couple — % of salary spent on expenses
Palencia - €15,386.81 – €42,320.00 — 36.36 percent
Guadalajara - €16,815.78 — €46,090.00 — 36.48 percent
Castellón - €16,229.95 – €43,012.00 — 37.73 percent
Lugo - €15,726.15 – €41,576.00 — 37.83 percent
Lleida - €16,529,58 – €43,130.00 — 38.33 percent
Burgos - €17,646.38 – €46,004.00 — 38.36 percent
Valladolid - €17,983.69 – €46,814.00 — 38.42 percent
León - €16,477.84 –- €42,778.00 — 38.52 percent
Ciudad Real - €15, 150.99 – €38,876.00 — 38.97 percent
Teruel - €16,382.74 – €41,554.00 — 39.43 percent
READ ALSO: Palencia - What is the quality of life like in Spain’s cheapest city?
The surprise places to save in Spain
As mentioned earlier, many of the cities that were in the top 10 do so on the back of low living costs and being in lesser known, often inland areas. They're also smaller cities or large towns.
However, if we go beyond the top 10 and look a little further down the list, we see there are a few mid-table surprises, including cities in northern Spain that are generally considered a little pricier but where high salaries make it possible to save more money. There's also Murcia, a popular tourist spot in southeastern Spain but which offers a lower cost of living to residents than those on the Costa Blanca or on the Costa del Sol.
City – Total expenses – Average salary of a couple — % of salary spent on expenses
Zaragoza - €18,554.78 – 46,692.00 — 39.72 percent
Vitoria - €22,297.44 – 55,992.00 — 39.82 percent
Murcia - €16,080.89 – 38,938.00 — 41.30 percent
Pamplona - €21,936.79 – 51,792.00 — 42.41 percent
Bilbao - €25,155.49 – 55,224.00 — 45.55 percent
READ ALSO: Why the Basque Country is the best place for work in Spain
The worst places to save in Spain
In terms of the Spanish cities where living expenses would eat up the most of your salary, the list is made up largely of the usual suspects — in other words, Spain’s major cities and island destinations.
In these cities, rent and property prices are so high (and rising quickly) along with other living costs, notably leisure and travel, and although salaries are often better than elsewhere in the country they do little to recoup the difference when faced with such steep cost of living overall.
However, in places like Mallorca in the Balearics or Málaga and Cádiz in Andalusia wages are comparatively low and expenses are high, making it even more difficult to save up.
City – Total expenses – Average salary of a couple — % of salary spent on expenses
Mallorca - €29,526.78 — €43,530.000 — 67.83 percent
San Sebastián - €35,857,19 — €55,968.00 — 64.07 percent
Málaga - €24.515,97 — €38.886,00 — 63.05 percent
Cádiz - €23.206,60 — €37.976,00 — 61.11 percent
Barcelona - €31.643,70 — €53.472,00 — 58.18 percent
Madrid - €33.464,74 — €58.894,00 — 56.82 percent
Granada - €19,527.89 — €37,316.00 — 52.33 percent
Seville - €20.740,45 — €39.702,00 — 52.24 percent
Alicante - €19.921,14 — €38,224.00 — 52.12 percent
Gran Canaria - €20.466,10 — €39.778,00 — 51.45 percent
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