Moving
Shipping Your Life to Spain: What to Bring and What to Sell
After fifteen years of helping American families land in Spain, my honest advice on shipping is this: bring far less than you think. Most of what fills a US house is cheaper to replace here than to ship, and Spanish apartments are smaller. The things worth moving are the ones you cannot replace and the few you truly love. Sell, donate, or give away the rest.
The question to ask about every item
Before we talk containers and quotes, use this simple test on each thing you own. Ask: is it irreplaceable, does it fit a smaller Spanish home, and would it cost more to ship than to rebuy? If it fails on cost and replaceability, it should probably stay.
I have watched families spend thousands shipping furniture that would not fit their new layout, then sell it here at a loss. I have also watched families leave behind a grandmother's table because a mover scared them, and regret it for years. The test cuts through both mistakes.
What is usually worth bringing
- Irreplaceable and sentimental items. Photos, heirlooms, a few pieces of furniture with real meaning.
- High quality clothing and shoes, especially if you are hard to fit.
- Specialty items you cannot easily find in Spain: certain hobby gear, professional tools, favorite kitchen equipment.
- Small electronics that are dual voltage. Laptops, phones, tablets usually just need a plug adapter.
What is usually worth selling or leaving
- Large furniture, unless it is special. Spanish stores are affordable and the pieces fit local rooms better.
- US voltage appliances. Spain runs on 230V and different plugs. Your US washer, dryer, fridge, and most kitchen appliances will not work well or at all. Sell them.
- Televisions and lamps with hardwired US voltage. Cheap to replace here.
- Cars. Importing a US car to Spain is a paperwork and cost headache that rarely pays off. Sell it and reassess whether you even need one, many of my city clients happily go car free.
- Bulk anything. The Costco pantry, the garage overflow, the "might need it" boxes.
Your three real shipping options
Here is how the choices actually break down, in dollars and plain terms.
| Option | Roughly | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Suitcases and boxes only | A few hundred to low thousands | Minimalists, renters starting fresh |
| Shared container (part load) | Mid thousands | A room or two of belongings |
| Full 20 or 40 foot container | High thousands and up | A whole household, families |
Sea freight is the standard for households and takes several weeks door to door. Air freight is far faster and far more expensive, so I reserve it for a small set of urgent items. Most families I work with do a hybrid: fly with the essentials, ship a modest container of what passed the test, and buy the rest here.
Choosing a moving company you can trust
This is where I get protective of my clients, because the international moving business has good firms and some sloppy ones.
- Get at least three quotes from international movers, and make sure they are comparing the same volume and service level.
- Insist on a video survey. A good mover will walk your home over video and give a firm volume estimate, not a vague guess.
- Ask exactly what "door to door" includes. Customs handling, local delivery, and stairs or elevator access at the Spanish end all matter. Get it in writing.
- Understand customs. When you move to Spain as a new resident, your used household goods can often move under relief rules if documented correctly, but you need an accurate inventory and the right residency paperwork. Sloppy documentation causes delays and charges.
- Check reviews from other Americans, not just star ratings. Ask in expat groups for names people actually had good experiences with.
I do not take commissions from movers, so when clients ask me to sanity check a quote, I can be blunt about which numbers look fair.
The paperwork that makes shipping smooth
Customs relief for your belongings is tied to your residency status, so your visa and registration steps and your shipment are connected. If your residency paperwork is not lined up, your container can sit and accrue fees. This is exactly why I like to coordinate the two timelines together. Our NIE, TIE and empadronamiento service covers the registration side, and the full move sequence lives in our guide to moving to Spain from the USA.
One more honest note on money: shipping is only part of the cost. Furnishing a Spanish apartment from scratch is real money too, so weigh the full picture. Our cost of living guide can help you gauge what replacing things here actually runs.
My honest bottom line
The happiest movers I know arrived light. They shipped the irreplaceable, sold the rest, and treated the new apartment as a fresh start rather than a copy of the old house. It is cheaper, less stressful, and it forces the good kind of decluttering that a big move invites.
If you are staring at a full house and do not know where to start, I have done this with families many times. Message us on WhatsApp with a rough idea of your home and timeline, and I will help you decide what to bring, what to sell, and how to line up the shipping with your residency paperwork so nothing gets stuck.