After five weeks back in the U.S., we’re finally back in Spain! And I’m so happy to be back. We’re already getting back into the swing of things with appointments, friends’ birthdays, Eurovision watch parties, and plenty of cafe con leche.
If you read my last blog post, I covered five experiences that are better in the U.S. than in Spain. And now I have to share things that are better in Spain than in the U.S.! (To be completely honest, I could come up with way more things about Spain, but for the sake of not making this article the length of a novel, I’ve capped it at five. 😉)
1. Going to the doctor
Here in Spain we have both public and private health insurance. After a year of getting settled in, I recently decided that it’s time to get every issue I’ve ever had checked out. For example, a couple months ago, I scheduled an appointment with a traumatologist that could hopefully help me diagnose the wrist pain I’d been having for four years.
While I believe the appointment, diagnosis, and treatment would be free under the public system, I haven’t quite figured out how to use it yet, so I’m using my private insurance for this. My appointment cost €4. The MRI cost €12. And TBD on how much my treatment is going to cost. But I just know that my mom told me she got an MRI in the U.S. last month and it was $1,200 — not €12.
Also, I got labs done last week. I showed up about half an hour early, and I was completely finished with everything before my original appointment time! And this isn’t the first time I’ve experienced something like this here.
Other things about going to the doctor that are just better here, and not price related. First, clinics are usually open until at least 8 p.m. I know that the typical working hours are different here, often going longer into the evening with a break in the afternoon, but it means that you’re more likely to be able to fit an appointment in during a time that’s convenient for you. In the U.S., most clinics close at 5 p.m. or earlier, which means people who work full-time M-F jobs need to take PTO for doctors’ appointments.
Second, it’s typically way easier to get in contact with the clinic or the doctor when you need to. You can usually email or text the clinic and get a response quickly. This also makes it easier when you need to reschedule an appointment or just ask a simple question.
Between availability for scheduling, low cost of care, and higher efficiency in clinics, going to the doctor in Spain is 1,000 times better than in the U.S.
2. Buying contact lenses
I’ve been wearing contact lenses since I was 12, so that’s 20 years of buying contact lenses. (Well probably about 15 years of buying them for myself.) I have astigmatism, which makes the type I need even more expensive. I would dread the yearly $325 payment I’d have to make to 1-800-Contacts. Four boxes of contact lenses (two per eye) would cost about $81.25 per box.
Last summer, when I realized I was almost out, I started investigating the online companies I could buy from here in Spain. LentesDeContacto365 offered the exact same brand and prescription I needed… for so much cheaper! Instead of $80 per box, it was only €31 per box — or about $34.
I didn’t have to have a recent prescription from a doctor either. I guess they just trust that you know what you need (unlike in the U.S., where you have to upload your certified prescription and if it’s more than a year old, they make you have an online exam before they’ll allow you to order).
If your contact lenses are too expensive and you’re planning a visit to Spain anytime soon, I highly recommend you order while you’re here. 😜
3. Traveling by train, plane, or bus
Spain has an absolutely amazing rail network with everything from short-distance, regional trains to high-speed, cross-country trains. Last week when we flew back to Spain, our flight landed in Madrid — where we then connected to the high-speed rail for the rest of the journey back to Alicante. That’s because that particular train ticket was only €7 per person for the 2.5-hour trip.
While trains exist in the U.S., they’re not generally a viable option unless you live on the east coast. (Though Carrie and I did take the train from Seattle to Vancouver a few years ago.) We dream of a world where there’s a high-speed rail between Kansas City and St. Louis so we don’t have to drive 4 hours each way just to visit Matt’s family.
Originally I was just going to write about trains in this section, but then I also thought about the culture of affordable and accessible plane and bus travel in Spain as well. I know I’ve shared the story before of how I got a €12 flight from Madrid to Brussels, while I think the absolute cheapest plane ticket I’ve ever gotten in the U.S. was at least $99 plus taxes and fees. (And that was only from KC to Chicago, so not even another country.)
And for buses… I’ve taken exactly one trip in the U.S. with a Megabus as my method of transportation — from Boston to New York City. As a broke college student visiting some of my London study abroad friends, it was about all I could afford at the time, and I’ve never had the reason or opportunity to do something like that again. Most people in the U.S. typically just either drive or fly to their destination. But I’ve taken so many bus trips within Spain – from Madrid to Granada, Madrid to Valladolid, etc. — and they’ve always been comfortable and affordable.
4. Going out to eat
We went out to eat a lot with friends in the U.S. during this most recent visit, but Matt and I made a pact not to order drinks while out. Why? Because adding alcohol was guaranteed to increase the price of an already-expensive outing to a level that we felt was not worth it.
The cost of a beer or glass of wine in Kansas City is around $7-8 at the cheapest, and I’m sure it’s even more in bigger cities across the country. In Spain, you’re looking at about €2-4, also depending on where you are.
Food-wise, appetizers and entrees are typically more expensive in the U.S. as well. When someone invites us out for lunch or dinner in Kansas City, we have to mentally decide beforehand whether we’re willing to spend a minimum of about $20 per person on that meal. In Alicante, you could go out for a whole evening of dinner and drinks for that cost.
Besides the menu prices themselves, the biggest reason it’s more expensive in the U.S. is because of tax and tip. In Spain, the tax is already included in the price you see on the menu. And because restaurant workers are already paid a fair wage, you don’t have to tip at all! So your meal doesn’t automatically become 20% more expensive. It makes dining out a lot more accessible, which is so great because there are a lot of amazing restaurants here.
5. Going to the movies
Fun fact: Matt and I had been together for more than five years before we ever saw a movie together. And when we finally did go, it was during our month in Sevilla while applying for Spain’s digital nomad visa. We saw the Barbie movie! We thought we’d booked the English viewing… but we didn’t. And that was okay. 😂 But it did teach us something important — going to the movies in Spain is also so much more accessible because of the price.
Neither of us are huge movie people, which is why we had never gone in the U.S. during our first five years together. Just like going to restaurants, the costs really add up — at the movie theater I grew up going to, a single movie ticket can cost from $6 to $17.99 (based on popularity of the movie I guess?), a small popcorn is $9.79, and a regular-sized fountain drink is $7.29 . A combo of large popcorn, large drink, and a candy is $24.87. Oh, and then don’t forget to add a few more dollars of taxes on top of everything!
Here in Spain, we’ve been to the movies several times together (and I’ve even gone a few times on my own) because it’s just something I’ve learned to enjoy again. A movie ticket costs a flat €8.70, or €6.70 on Wednesdays. I’m not able to find any prices for the snacks online, but typically Matt and I share a large popcorn and a large fountain drink for about €8. I want to go to the movies again soon, so I will update with more specific prices after that!
Either way, I’ll now happily go along to the movies even if our friends invite us to see something I wasn’t particularly interested in. It’s just a more fun experience overall when you don’t have to pay a small fortune for a night out.
So, there are just five of the things that are way better about living in Spain! As you can see, a lot of them are related to cost. While I understand that prices as a whole are lower in Spain — and wages are too — I love living in a country where more people can afford to enjoy life, and there’s no need to worry about going bankrupt because of a medical issue.
Did anything surprise you, or what would you add? Let me know in the comments!
-Cathy
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