Franny asked 7 years ago I am moving from the UK on a senior pension and I am enamored with both Southern Spain and the Lisbon area of Portugal. I was with a friend last time I visited both places and stayed in small 2-star hotels along the Mediterranean cost and in a tiny flat in Lisbon via Airbnb. In Seville and Malaga I spend about 50 - 70 euro per nite and in Lisbon I spend €50 per night for a pretty tiny 30m2 apartment in the Alfama. Even though all 3 were small places I got the most out of the cities. Seville and Lisbon especially.
Now that I am fully retired I am looking to move permanently down "south".
In you experience, what is the life style cost between Spain vs Portugal? Is one less then the other?
Antonio Evans Staff answered 7 years ago I have had the pleasure of living for a while in Spain and currently I am in Lisbon so I have definitely looked at the budget costs of both. Blanca actually has been compiling the cost of living in Lisbon.
As of writing this piece here is the preliminary breakdown of the costs in Lisbon:
Apartment Rental(1 bedroom): €1,200
Uber (20 minutes): €8
Takeaway: €10
Lunch (Cheap): €6
Lunch (Mid priced): €12
Petrol : €1.52
Electric: €75
Cable: €50
Mobile: €25
Usually for a month if you are a normal person who lived in US or UK major cities and expect same type of lifestyle (coffee shop daily, nicer apartment, meals out 4 times week) I would budget of €4,000 per month.
Now if you compare this to Seville I would say almost the same with only a few things that would jump out price wise.
Fine Dining
The cost of going out to a fancy restaurant is €100 in Spain vs €50 in Lisbon. The reason for this is there are much higher-end choices in Spain then in Lisbon. So that brings pricing for items higher even at the mid-tier. A modern tapas bar in Seville, tapas starting at €5 vs comparable small plates places in Lisbon starting at €3.
Petrol/Gas
The cost of Petrol is about €.20 cheaper in Spain. Portugal is notorious for some of the worst gas and and electric prices in Europe. EDP is the main provider and they pretty much have a monopoly. Hence why they are the richest company in Portugal.
Private Healthcare
The cost is about €90 in Spain vs €70 in Portugal This may not be 100% right but when I was shopping for healthcare these are the prices I saw. It was cheaper in Portugal for similar services as Spain.
In the end, the prices are close but I think your dollar/euro/pound will go further in Portugal.
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