For people moving to Madrid
The international leg is somebody else's job. This is about what happens when the boxes reach Madrid — which is where most of the surprises are.
From €30
I do not do international removals. Getting a container or a part-load from the UK to Spain is the job of an international mover with customs paperwork, and if that is what you need, hire one. Anyone telling you otherwise is selling you something.
What I do is the last part, which international quotes tend to price vaguely or not at all: getting your things from wherever they land in Madrid into the flat, up the stairs, and assembled.
Not advice about your life, just what I see. Books, clothes, kitchen things and anything with sentimental value: ship them. Flat-pack furniture that is already a few years old: it often does not survive a second disassembly, and IKEA is here too. White goods: Spanish flats frequently come with them, and a fridge takes up a lot of expensive volume in a container.
Also worth knowing: UK three-pin plugs do not fit Spanish sockets, and the country runs on 230 V like the UK — so appliances work with an adapter, but you will be living with adapters.
VAT not included. Confirm the fixed price on WhatsApp once you know the delivery date.
Two practical things. First: find out whether the international mover delivers to the door or to a depot — those are very different days, and the quote does not always say. Second: know your floor and whether there is a lift before anyone gives you a price, because that is the number that changes everything.
And when the boxes are empty, they have to go somewhere. You cannot pile cardboard next to the bins — Madrid raised the fine for exactly that to €2,000 in its 2022 cleaning bylaw. See junk removal.
No. International moves need a mover with customs paperwork and a route — hire one for that leg. I handle the Madrid end: getting your things from the depot or the lorry into the flat, up the stairs and assembled.
From €120 for a van load delivered to your flat, plus €5 per floor if there is no lift and from €65 if furniture needs assembling. I confirm the fixed price once you have the delivery date.
Ship what has value to you and what travels well. Flat-pack furniture more than a few years old often does not survive a second disassembly, and white goods take up expensive volume when Spanish flats frequently include them.
Spain runs on 230 V like the UK, so appliances work — but the plugs are different, so you will be living with adapters. For anything hard-wired, get a Spanish electrician to look at it.
Not pile them by the bins: Madrid's 2022 cleaning bylaw raised the fine for leaving cardboard next to containers to €2,000. Flatten them and take them to a recycling point, or I collect them for €20–40.