Fulham → Spain
Removals from Fulham to Spain
More British households move to Spain than anywhere else in Europe, and the route is well worn enough that the problems are known ones. Which is useful, because knowing where a move goes wrong is most of avoiding it.
Spain attracts a wider mix of movers than the other three countries on this site. There is the retirement move, which is the one everybody pictures — a house near the coast, a household packed up completely, nothing left behind in London. There is the working move to Madrid or Barcelona, usually a flat and usually to a date. And there is the growing category of people who took remote work seriously and now live in Valencia or Málaga while their employer remains in the UK.
Each of those wants something different. The retirement move needs patience with paperwork and a willingness to answer questions about furniture you have owned for thirty years. The working move needs a firm delivery window. The remote worker usually has less furniture and more electronics, and cares a great deal about what happens to the desk setup.
Getting a Fulham load to Spain
The vehicle leaves SW6 the same way it leaves for anywhere — round the M25 to the M20, down to Folkestone, onto the shuttle. France is the long middle of this journey rather than the destination.
From Coquelles the road runs down the western side of France on the A16 and A28, through Rouen, Le Mans and Tours to Bordeaux. That is the point where the route forks. West and south over the border at Irún puts you into the Basque Country and onto the road for Burgos, Madrid and everything central and southern. The alternative is to stay in France and cross the eastern Pyrenees at La Jonquera, dropping into Catalonia for Barcelona and running down the Mediterranean coast for Valencia, Alicante and Murcia.
Andalusia and the Costa del Sol are the furthest, whichever fork you take. A delivery to Marbella or Nerja is a genuinely long drive and it is priced and planned as one, with the driver hours built in properly rather than pretended away.
The Spanish paperwork, in order
Spain is more particular than France about documentation, and the order matters because some of it cannot be obtained until you have arrived.
- NIE. Your Spanish foreigner identification number. Everything else hangs off it and it is the first thing to start.
- Proof of the Spanish address. A purchase deed (escritura) or a rental contract in your name.
- Padrón municipal. Registration with the town hall of the municipality you are moving to. Evidence that you are actually living there rather than visiting.
- Change-of-residence certificate. From the Spanish consulate covering your UK address, confirming you are transferring residence from the UK to Spain.
- The inventory. Itemised and valued, in Spanish, signed by you. This is the document customs actually reconciles against the vehicle.
We prepare the inventory and the export declaration, and raise the transit paperwork before the load moves. The NIE, the padrón and the consular certificate are yours to obtain, and they are the reason a Spanish move should be started earlier than people expect. Nobody has ever regretted applying for an NIE too soon.
Duty relief, and when it does not apply
Used household effects that you owned and used before the move can enter Spain without duty, provided you are genuinely transferring residence and the goods are for your own use. That is the relief the paperwork above exists to demonstrate.
It does not apply to a second home. If you are keeping your Fulham base and furnishing an apartment on the Costa Blanca, the goods are a normal import and are assessed on their declared value. Nor does it cover anything bought new for the move — a sofa ordered the week before loading is new stock, not a used personal effect, and describing it otherwise is not a risk worth taking.
Delivery in Spain
Coastal urbanisations are generally straightforward: wide approach roads, space to park, often a lift. The complications sit elsewhere.
Old town centres — the casco antiguo of almost any Spanish city — have streets built long before lorries, some with bollards, some with time-restricted access. A transfer to a smaller vehicle for the final stretch is normal and we cost it in rather than surprising you with it. Rural inland properties have the reverse problem: a long unmade track that is fine in a car and marginal in anything heavier.
For the Balearics, the road move ends at Barcelona or Valencia and the goods cross by ferry. That adds a scheduled step to the journey and it needs booking as part of the plan.
Before it leaves Fulham
Spanish-bound loads sit on a vehicle for a long time and often finish in a warm climate. Upholstery is sealed rather than blanket-wrapped. Anything with a polished or veneered surface gets protected against movement rather than just against knocks. Books and paper go into smaller boxes than people want them to, because a full book box is heavier than it looks and the person carrying it up to a fourth-floor Valencian flat will thank you.
If the SW6 property has to be empty before Spain is ready, we can hold the load in sealed containerised storage here and export it when you say. Compare the route with Portugal if you are still deciding, or go back to the overview of European moves.
Straight answers
Fulham to Spain, asked properly
Where in Spain do you deliver?
Mainland Spain throughout — Madrid and the centre, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Murcia, Andalusia and the Costa del Sol, plus the northern coast around Bilbao and San Sebastián. The Balearics go by ferry from Barcelona or Valencia on the final leg. The Canaries are a shipping route rather than a road move and are handled differently.
What is the road route from SW6 to Spain?
M25 to M20, tunnel at Folkestone, then the A16 and A28 down the western side of France to Bordeaux. From there the A63 crosses at Irún into the Basque Country for Madrid and the centre, or the vehicle carries on over the eastern Pyrenees at La Jonquera for Barcelona and the Mediterranean coast. Andalusia is the long haul south through Madrid or down the coast.
What is the padrón and do we need one?
The padrón municipal is your registration with the local town hall, and it is one of the documents Spanish customs will look for as evidence you are actually taking up residence. Along with your NIE number and proof of the Spanish address, it supports the duty relief on used household effects. You generally cannot get it before you arrive, which is why the sequence matters.
What is a baja consular?
If you have been registered as resident in Spain previously it is the deregistration certificate. For most people moving from the UK the relevant document is instead a certificate from the Spanish consulate confirming the change of residence, sometimes called a certificado de cambio de residencia. Which applies to you depends on your history — we will tell you which one your case needs.
Do we need the inventory in Spanish?
Yes, and it needs to be genuinely itemised and valued. Spanish customs are less tolerant of vague inventories than some. It also usually needs signing by you and, depending on the consulate, stamping. We prepare it; you check it, because you are the one attesting that it is accurate.
Can you deliver to an apartment in an old town centre?
Often with a transfer. The historic centres of Seville, Granada, Valencia and plenty of coastal towns have streets a large removals vehicle physically cannot enter, and some have access restrictions by time of day. The answer is a smaller vehicle for the last stretch, which we plan for rather than improvise.
Is a shared load sensible for Spain?
Very often, yes. Spain is the busiest British route in Europe, so consolidated vehicles run that way regularly and you are not waiting indefinitely for one to fill. If you have a flat's worth of furniture and a flexible arrival date, it is usually the right call.
What about a second home on the Costa?
Then duty relief on used personal effects does not apply, because you are not transferring your residence. The goods are a standard import assessed on declared value. It is a perfectly normal thing to do — it just needs declaring honestly rather than described as a relocation.
Can you take garden furniture, bikes and sports equipment?
Yes, and Spain-bound loads are full of it. Bikes travel better boxed or at least with the pedals off and the bars turned. Anything with a fuel tank — a mower, a strimmer, a generator — must be drained completely and declared, and some carriers will refuse it outright.
Spain-bound? Start the NIE and talk to us in parallel.
The paperwork and the packing run on separate clocks. Get both going and a Spanish move is calm; leave the documents late and it is not.