Weather is variable, like one year will be different to another. There are some weather statistics on this website. Just look for the city you are interested in and at the bottom you can see the statistics month by month.
For example. The weather in A Coruña, A Coruña - 14 days
What they prove will happen i do not have a clue.
The rest of your post is not making much sense. Have you been to any of the multiple locations? Do not pick on something from a distance.
Why are you choosing coastal cities? There are inland lakes, rivers and reservoirs too. PS Braga is not near the sea.
Why do you have a large area in your hit list?
If you can work on line why are you worried about jobs and wages in areas?
You write about Pontevedra . There is not really a beach on that city it is not on the coast but a river and there is a cellulose factory which sticks a lot.

 

Have you been to any of the multiple locations? Do not pick on something from a distance.
Why are you choosing coastal cities? There are inland lakes, rivers and reservoirs too. PS Braga is not near the sea.
Why do you have a large area in your hit list?
If you can work on line why are you worried about jobs and wages in areas?
You write about Pontevedra . There is not really a beach on that city it is not on the coast but a river and there is a cellulose factory which sticks a lot.

I personally haven't been to Spain, Portugal, Italy or SW France yet, but plan to do scouting trips ASAP. I'll never move sight unseen to any place again.
I visited Greece last year (Athens) and this year (Thessaloniki) and I was like I wish I could find a city that has sandy beaches like Athens but has an easier language, is smaller, cleaner, less chaotic and dirty and far less scortching hot in summer, not much colder in winter and feels safer.

I've been told people in North Spain are cold and unfriendly but if they're just reserved but nice like Slovaks I could like them. As long as they're not as cold as Germans, Austrians, Scandinavians, Parisians. I've travelled mostly to Northwestern and Central Europe so I expect the worst of people anyway and people in Sofia aren't exactly nice or that friendly with strangers either.
BTW wide river or sea/ocean coast, it's both OK. Thankfully, many cities along those areas that aren't technically coastal like Pontevedra and Aviles have rivers and they're larger than any river of Sofia to boot - already a big improvement. In Sofia the rivers are like 6 feet wide - not pleasant to walk along, also no promenades exist here. It's just a boring inland mountainous land which is too hot in summer and too cold in winter.

As for jobs, I work online but I might change jobs soon so moving to a city where one can find a local job would be good for me. Spanish is the foreign language that I pick up the fastest, for some reason, that's why I posted here and not the PT, IT or FR forum. Spain is also the country with the most Latin Americans in Europe so even if I find out me and locals do not quite mesh well, I can at least make Latin American friends. Not sure if they move to the Northern areas though, but I saw some LatAm restaurantes en La Coruna.

For our potential move we're both culturally interested in Southern Europe, due to language reasons the majorly Romance and Slavic speaking areas specifically like Spain, Portugal, Southern France, Italy, Croatia and Slovenia. I'm mostly into Latin American, Indian, and East Asian food and cultures to be honest. I know less about Portugal, Spain or Italy than about Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, India or China, but they're all too far away from home and again - too hot, hard to find a job, etc. Many Latin Americans came from Galicia anyway so it might be interesting to see the mother country of some of their ancestors.

 

You can find official data here, but there are so many differences in you areas and can be misleading. Standard climate Values - State Meteorological Agency - AEMET - Spanish Government

I have a friend from Galicia here in Ireland and have visited various areas but you might be in for a shock if you are comparing with Bratislava. Pontevedra might be sunnier but gets 3 times more rainfall and is wetter than many places in the West of Ireland. The humidity can also mean damp homes and summers can also get very hot. I am used to it but wind might also be a factor for some people, especially if they have never lived along the West coast.

Saying that, cost of living might be the bigger challenge and many areas you mention don't pay well either if you need job.

 

Donosti ticks most of your boxes. However, it's not a cheap resort. Accomodation will be almost invariably an appartment.
It's close to France though, a mere 15 minute drive.
Property prices in France are low compared to many places & there is much more chance of finding a detached house with garage & even a garden.

Everybody speaks Spanish of course, though Donosti is quite a Basque city, which adds to its charm. Basque, as you are probably aware, is not easy. But at least their Basque is the same as that taught in schools & language ventres (Batua) unlike the Basque where I live, Bizkaino.

 

4. Gibraltar - a mini UK on the sun meets Spain. Nice salaries but one of us would require a visa.

This really piqued my interest. Does one of you have a British passport? If so, do they also hold an EU passport?

 

No they're not!
I married one; very warm hearted.

 

me too And she has put up with me for 42 years!

 

With globalisation old clichés are all irrelevant anyway. Nearly 20% of the Spanish population are foreign born. Different in Slovakia and Eastern European countries but I think nobody is focused on this anymore, at least in Western Europe.

 

Our native languages are English and Bulgarian.

Well one, is presumably, an EU citizen (Bulgarian). So if a couple the non EU person could get a visa.

 

I would recommend none you have suggested and go for Valencia instead!

 

^Valencia looks amazing from photos and Street view but the summers are way too hot for me. Anything above +30 C feels scorching and even at +25 C it feels too hot for us if its sunny. Athens felt too hot in November for fall with +26. If Valencia is like that November is basically not fall there but summer and July and August must be hell. My perfect climate is +10 in winter and +25 (rarely +30) in summer. We'll prefer a very mild climate - no frost/snow and about +25, rarely more than that in summer. Sounds like an Oceanic climate but we'd also like about 1900-2000-ish sunshine hours yearly so from all of Europe just Northern Spain and French Basque country come close to this.

@Monivea, you're generally right but honestly the French French (never met Basque French people) can be a bit arrogant & snobbish about Eastern Europeans (and even some fellow Westerners). If anything, Slovaks and Czechs were far more accepting of both of us than all the French expats we met there and even some of the many Italians (except those from Southern Italy that were always so friendly!). Spanish expats there were nice, too, to be fair, but we haven't met anyone from Northern Spain yet.

The French on the other hand acted holier-than-thou and once they'd hear one of us was Bulgarian suddenly they started acting aloof and the room in the co-shared appartments with the FR person suddenly turned to promised to someone else just like that or they'll pretend call the landlord to ask if he's found someone and they "told" them the room is reserved, etc... Also, virtually all the French tourists/expats in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Bulgaria we've met and continue meeting here in Sofia act like they're above the locals. Spanish tourists seem way more grounded so to say but you never know until you go to their land to see how people are (I've always found German expats and tourists friendlier than Germans in Germany). That's a good case for a scouting trip to Spain (and Portugal) and thanks for the information to all!

@xabiaxica, not British, but Irish. EU passport holders still don't need visas for short tourist stays in Gibraltar but I assume working visas are required after Brexit, at least for one of us (have seen all kinds of information online, notably that Irish citizens have it easier than rest of EU re: relocating to British territories for jobs).

 

@xabiaxica, not British, but Irish. EU passport holders still don't need visas for short tourist stays in Gibraltar but I assume working visas are required after Brexit, at least for one of us (have seen all kinds of information online, notably that Irish citizens have it easier than rest of EU re: relocating to British territories for jobs).

ahh - that explains it!

Yes, With an Irish passport one doesn't need a visa to move to Gib, but all other EU passport holders do.

 

As always it makes sense to visit at different times of the year to really get a feeling and even then one year can be different to the next. Weather is very localised so can also be misleading, as an example Gijon actually gets between 1670-1700 sunshine hours when you look at official data which comes from Asturias Airport 30 mins outside the city.

I think you'll currently find that there will always be hostility towards Eastern Europeans due to the large amounts of Ukrainians arriving. Many wouldn't notice the language differences, so even my Polish colleague gets strange looks if heard speaking Polish, be it in Ireland or when he was visiting Spain. This is just the way it is at the moment and can be avoided by speaking Spanish.

Realistically you would probably have more job options in the UK, as an example a place like Eastbourne is showing nearly 1900 hours sunshine and less rainfall than Northern Spain. Channel Islands would also be an option but very expensive and restrictions. Saying all of that, most of us are looking for perfect but everything is about compromise.

 

I'm going to roll out my usual comment on these types of posts, and that is that if you are needing to work, think very carefully about planning to move to Spain.

Spain has a notorious history of having one of the highest unemployment rates in western Europe, but the real problem is that for immigrants without fluent Spanish getting any work with a reasonable level of pay is going to be very tough.

Having said that, if you can keep your existing online work, that would be the best option probably (apart from the associated Social Security and tax issues). I would not add the job opportunity factor to the list because it is much safer to assume that you will struggle in all of those places, although the more economically active area would probably be San Sebastian.

Also to consider is that the working hours in Spain (if you get a full time job in a Spanish company) would make the number of hours of sunshine potentially irrelevant!

 

Yes, you're right. I know about the job situation, probably will apply for an Irish, British or Gibraltar company that's 100% remote. Or maybe even a French one (my current job is more hybrid - 1 week at the office, one week at home so flying to Sofia every week wouldn't be wise).

A great thing about Spain is its time zone. It gets dark later than in most places, even in the wintertime. Especially in Galicia. Same, to a lesser extent as you go east is true for Asturias, Cantabria, Basque country, even in to the French part.

Bratislava's time zone was depressing, it's not that far away west from Sofia to warrant a whole hour difference to be honest. Break of dawn at 4 o'clock in the morning in summer and sun setting at just 8 pm was crazy! Ditto for winter - a sunset at 3:57 pm is crazy when even Sofia's worst sunset time of 4:53 pm this last winter started triggering my seasonal affective disorder in me.

If one lives in Slovakia on the EET schedule (staring work at 8 instead of 9 and finishing at 5 instead of 6 pm) it must be miles better, especially during winter. For this reason alone we're not even considering Serbia, it's even closer to Bulgaria, yet a whole hour difference and crazy early sunsets year-round. Spain and extreme Western France seem like the best countries in Europe for people prefering more light after work hours even in winter.

 

A great thing about Spain is its time zone. It gets dark later than in most places, even in the wintertime. Especially in Galicia. Same, to a lesser extent as you go east is true for Asturias, Cantabria, Basque country, even in to the French part.

The Spanish government are considering an end to the changes of summer/winter time. What they will choose and when is not yet agreed upon, but it is law and looks to be changing in 2026.

https://archive.ph/y9fYF

 

The four autonomous communities that you are considering (Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias, Galicia) are my four favorite autonomous communities in Spain! I would also urge you to consider the North of Portugal which is also very beautiful. I realize that every person on this board has their own biases and I will admit I live in Oviedo, Asturias and my wife of 42 years is of Asturian and Valencian decent. As a result, I will admit to biases. On the other hand, I have been to every autonomous community in Spain and have spent considerable time in the five biggest cities in Spain.

Unlike you, I love the mountains more than the ocean. However, the great thing about the four regions you are considering is that you can have both within an hour. Based upon your posts, I would recommend you focus on the following cities:
-San Sebastian
-Santander
-Gijon
-Vigo
-Oporto

All of these are medium-sized cities that fit your criteria.

With respect to people in northern Spain being unfriendly that is totally contrary to my experience.

 

Although Donostia-San Sebastián isn't cheap to rent and is now under the top 3 most expensive cities to rent. Availability is another issue.

 

I think actually before settling on a city, it's best to focus first on boosting my desirability for Spanish economy. What I know is I have a degree that way too many Spaniards and young expats have - Communication.
According to many lists of occupations that Spain needs more people in those are agriculture, IT/programmers/engineering, and healthcare.

I'm interested in healthcare and in fact my longest stint is at my current company working with French healthcare files.
I'm ready to retrain for a psychologist, physiotherapist, dietitian, osteopath or something along those lines. A hands-on profession would be best for me as I'm fed up with working in operations.

Which one of these is sought after in Spain in you opinion? According to my work experience French people visit psychologists, physiotherapist and osteopaths the most. In fact they seem to be addicted to osteopaths. They're not visiting dietitians that often, less so than before. Is Spain equally as big on osteopaths? I'm perhaps more interested in physiotherapy (called kinesthireapie in France and Bulgaria) or psychology as both are more evidence-based.

Biology was one of the subjects I excelled back in school and working in the administrative part of complementary health insurance I'm wondering if maybe I should retrain?

Portugal is amazing, I'm also considering it, as well as Italy (France less so because I just find French is less easy for me to pick up, I have a B1 French level and despite that it seems I've got better affinity for understanding and speaking Spanish and Italian). I just think it'd take me longer to get to B2 in PT than ES or even IT and that level is required for working in healthcare.

 

We are told every country in and industry in Europe has shortages but there is always a reason, either poor pay, people have no desire to work in that field or it's an area that's very specific and requires special skills/qualifications.

To be honest, you should maybe concentrate on one thing first. Find out what career you want and everything else comes naturally. Jumping from France to Spain, from Spain to Portugal and Italy only makes things more complicated with no results. This is of course only my opinion.

 

Oh, I agree with you. I'll look more at retraining for now, will leave the languages last for the time after we've visited all areas. Cheers!

 

I can't edit my previous post but don't want to post a new thread about just that so I'm going to ask here.
Would we save time by using a bus between Gijon and A Coruna? And what about between A Coruna and Vigo; Vigo and Porto; Porto and Braga? We don't want to drive and have and individualistic experience. We find that mixing with local commuters on buses/trains helps us get a feel of what they're really like. And we both hate driving. Good public transport is a non-negotiable for us, hence why we're only checking out the cities & not interested in remote areas.

Our preliminary plan is flying from Sofia to Madrid -> train to Gijon -> A Coruna -> Porto (or maybe better Vigo and then Porto?) -> a quick day trip to Braga -> Porto -> (Vigo) or if we've been there directly to Santiago de Compostela -> Madrid.

We decided against Lisbon for this trip as it's further away. We'll fly in/out of Madrid, hence the return to Spain. We don't have flights to Porto from Sofia currently afaik and the trains and even buses from Porto to Madrid take really many hours.

It also seems that the Porto to Vigo/Santiago/A Coruna section is also better done by a bus, it seems faster by almost an hour vs the train. Which portions would you say are better done with a train and which by bus? So far we're just sure that using trains is the best option between any Spanish city and Madrid. but not always so between the cities themselves. Google states travel time b/w Gijon and A Coruna on the train is too long compared to a bus.

BTW we decided leaving San Sebastian and Santander for a separate scouting trip, one that would include also a town or two in the French Basque country. That part of Europe is really vast do cram it all at once. Spain alone requires at least 4 such trips.

 

As you said, train from Madrid to Gijón. The rest by bus

https://www.alsa.es/

all cities you are considering were a part of the Kingdom of Asturias. As a result, they were settled by Germanic people Known as Suevi. Therefore, culturally similar.

 

Yes, and the best thing about Northern Spain and Spain in general is it offers a great variety of landscapes - beaches (usually with proper sand!), hills, plains, mountains, river deltas. And it's the Southern European country that's safest in terms of earthquake hazard. As someone remembering the strong ones in 2012 in Bulgaria (Pernik, but felt strongly in Sofia) and Italy avoiding that risk is a must. We're mostly chosing between Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy and in all of them we're now focusing on the least earthquake-prone areas. In general most of Spain is looking good.

BTW, interestingly bagpipes play an important part in both Bulgarian and Galician & Asturian traditional music. Even the word is shared - it's gaida in Bulgarian and gaita in Spanish, Asturian, Galician and Portuguese vs duda or other words in other Slavic languages. As we joke between us Bulgarian is a Slavic language with mostly Romance-like grammar but also many Romance word borrowings. Actually Spanish is one of the easiest foreign language to pick up for Bulgarians, much easier than English, French, Polish, Slovenian, Czech, Ukrainian, not to mention German.

 

BTW, interestingly bagpipes play an important part in both Bulgarian and Galician & Asturian traditional music. Even the word is shared - it's gaida in Bulgarian and gaita in Spanish, Asturian, Galician and Portuguese vs duda or other words in other Slavic languages. As we joke between us Bulgarian is a Slavic language with mostly Romance-like grammar but also many Romance word borrowings. Actually Spanish is one of the easiest foreign language to pick up for Bulgarians, much easier than English, French, Polish, Slovenian, Czech, Ukrainian, not to mention German.

Yes, the Celts arrived in Asturias from Eastern Europe in the seventh century BCE. They but up fierce resistance to the Roman invasion. The Roman’s never fully controlled NW Spain because of the Celts. Even today, the Asturian mythological characters (based on Eastern European mythology) are often cited in normal conversation.

 

Now I see why some Galician girls I saw look somewhat like they could pass as Slovak, apparently some Danubian Suebi moved to Northern Spain, while some probably stayed.

 

You're not going to find friendliness on any of the Spanish places you've quoted, I would not recommend them

 

What is your basis for saying this? Based upon my 43 years of experience of coming to NW Spain and living here for 6 years, I do not share your opinion. What part of Spain do you live in?

 

A funny thing is on the personal level Italians can be more xenophobic than Spaniards. They can act snobby (partucularly those from the Middle and North). And yet I can name many actors and actresses born in Eastern Europe or Latin America that have roles on Italan TV shows - Anna Safronchik (Ukraine), Barbara Clara (Venezuela), Denitza Diakovska, Eljana Popova (both from Bulgaria)...

I can only name one Latina actress I've seen getting gigs in Spain - Ana de Armas and even she left Spain for America.

There are far more Bulgarians and Latin Americans in Spain than in Italy but you never see them on TV, in movies etc. So the upward mobility in Italy seems better for people in the arts from Latin America and Eastern Europe. Probably it's better in general.

Can anyone explain why Spain seems less open to immigrants from Eastern Europe and even Latin Americans that speak Spanish in jobs other than those no local would like to do like changing diapers, cleaning etc.? A Bulgarian cleaning lady in Italy even went on to become a football panelist on a local TV in Italy. I haven't seen the same upward mobility for Latin Americans and Eastern Europeans anywhere else in Europe, probably only Slovakia comes close. The Italian job market is even worse than the Spanish one and yet...

 

Hristo Stoichkov did pretty good for himself in Spain!

 

True but not everyone's a talented sportsperson. Talented sports people are not dime a dozen, like aspiring actors/actresses. Those and other dime a dozen foreigners need jobs they won't detest, too, however. Also, Spanish football is a tad less centralized compared to their media/film industry, which is mostly in Madrid. Ofc there's FC Barcelona but I wouldn't even have heard of A Coruna were it not for Deportivo. Anyway, Madrid's too far to commute from any coastal city, while both major cultural/movie/TV centers of Italy Rome and Milan are close to cities or towns on the coast you can commute from. That said, Spain's more varied in terms of climates and has later sunsets, both are big pluses in our book compared to Italy.

From our personal interactions Spanish people are also far more welcoming in person than Northern Italians and less judgmental towards E. Europeans. Still, the rudest person of all Southern European nations we've met was a girl from Madrid (hence why we'd rather not live there and it's in the middle of nowhere, far away from the sea anyway). We've heard mostly bad things about Madrileños & our experience sadly matches that. Probably the people in the North of Spain aren't so bad, at least not as aggressive? That girl was actively aggressive, while Northern Italians' rudeness is more of the snobby/snotty kind, never really aggressive. Think French stereotypes.

However, the Spanish market seems less welcoming in terms of jobs. Even the traditionally liberal fields of the creative industry like film and movies seem less inclined to hire foreigners, aside from in low-paid stage worker type of jobs. Historically, the film industry in Italy has been more open to foreign actors due to the post-war Cinecittà collaboration with American studios when it started attracting talent from the USA, France, Switzerland, Scandinavia, and, since the 1990s from Eastern Europe and Latin America. Spain was a dictatorship far longer, becoming more culturally insular, and their film/TV business followed suit.

Still, we hope to visit all three countries ES, PT and IT ASAP. Just trying to be realistic - our options for finding any kind of work locally in Spain & Portugal seem even more limited than in Italy, more so because we're trying to pursue media/art professionally on the side or even full-time.