Everything You Need to Know About Madrid | Expats Everywhere

Get information on moving to, living in, and working in Madrid, Spain on this episode of Review/Preview. Josh and Kalie are thrilled to be talking about Madrid as this is where they started their expat journey way back in 2009. They have been back to visit since and give information from their personal experiences along with up-to-date information to aid you in life as an expat there. Be sure to like the video and don't forget to subscribe so you can vote for the next featured city.
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[@tome1549]

Great video guys, love the content! How did living in Madrid compare to the other places you have lived?

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

Tom E Hey, thanks for the question. It was a different time in our life. I (Josh) was living with 2 Spanish roommates and Kalie was living with a Spanish family outside of the city in a town called Ajalvir. We weren’t married so it was a different lifestyle. You know? Madrid wasn’t as safe as the other places we lived but it was far more interesting. We also had a great chance to travel by bus and train to a lot of different places. In South Korea, we always had to fly to leave the country. It was the same with Singapore but you could get cheap flights. Saudi, you could travel by car but it takes a while. Accommodations were pretty cheap but we were splitting housing costs. Groceries compared to other countries were particularly cheap although we didn’t buy an American products because we were making so little money. We also had to do a lot of the governmental admin things ourselves and it felt a bit more involved than any of the other places we lived.

[@gaetanomaximus8650]

I was there for 4 nights at the end of May. It rained a lot, which wasn't bad since the temperature shot up into the 90s (F) shortly thereafter. I stayed in the dead center of the city center and loved it - nice hotel, and everything I could possibly want was a short walk away. Very pretty, social, clean, and enjoyable city that I would LOVE to live in (assuming I can get air conditioning!!!)

[@DannyMac888]

Thanks guys. I am moving to teach english in 4 weeks time, and I´m feeling more relaxed after hearing your video :)

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

Hey! That's great to hear! Madrid is fantastic. Where will you be teaching? - Josh & Kalie

[@DannyMac888]

@@ExpatsEverywhere all over the city I think. Private tuition, business groups. Not 100% sure yet, but I have joined a company who do all that for me! Just deciding whether live somewhere cool like Malasaña or further out for cheaper ..

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

@@DannyMac888 Hmm, staying in cool parts of the city is pretty awesome. There are a lot of factors in that decision though. Cool parts tend to make you spend more too though and that's something to consider. My first apartment was in Tirso de Molina. - Josh

[@benharv]

I'm planning a job relocation to Madrid within the next few months. Would love to see a video about the different neighborhoods. Thanks for the great info!

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

Hey Ben, thanks for the compliment. We're not in Madrid right now so it'll be tough to get authentic shots of different neighborhoods. Josh & Kalie used to live there so if you tell us what you're looking for in a neighborhood, maybe we can give you some recommendations. Congrats on the job relocation. Madrid is a very fun city to live in.

[@hectorhyat2669]

What type of neighborhood are you looking for Ben?.

[@nickpms7057]

Good to know, great

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

Glad you think so!

[@GaryJocher]

Madrid is where my heart is and where I was born. I hope to be moving back soon. It's a beautiful city. Siesta is genius which most countries would benefit from.

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

Thanks for sharing, Gary. We have a Madrid interview coming out soon. We hope you subscribe to our community. - Josh & Kalie

[@socarandy]

Hi Guys I have been looking at your videos. What about covering moving to Barbados or Tobago.

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

Hey Soca Randy, thanks for watching and connecting. We don't have any expat contacts there and it doesn't seem to appeal to a broader audience so that's going to be difficult.

[@CadStr]

Great city to live on it.

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

It really is!

[@anfig33]

Great video! We are moving to Madrid 2021 - 2022. Any recommendations? We are moving with kids :)

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

Wooo! We love Madrid! What kind of recommendations are you looking for?

[@hectorhyat2669]

All depends on what you are really looking for and your budget

[@siliboi]

Great video! We're planning to make the move to Madrid soon! Do you guys happen to know if any of the public schools teach in English? Our kid is in primary school and doesn't speak a lick of Spanish and the international private schools we've checked out have crazy high tuition.

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

Great question. We're not sure about public schools having a lot of English. They'll have an English class but it won't typically be bilingual. There are a few there. You should check out bilingual schools that are charter schools like Gredos. www.gsdeducacion.com/ Their curriculum is in Spanish and English about 50/50 but they'll have plenty of teachers and kids there that speak English enough to allow them learn Spanish quickly and be learning it like drinking from a fire hose.

[@siliboi]

@@ExpatsEverywhere Awesome! Thanks for this! :)

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

@@siliboi You're very welcome. BTW-It's Josh & Kalie here. We've lived in Madrid and still have contacts in education there. Let us know if you need anything else. Email us at [e-mail] We'll try our best. - Josh & Kalie

[@mamtajotkar1053]

I have the exact same question.

[@mamtajotkar1053]

Is the level of English good in these bilingual schools?

[@0524432]

where should i live if i want to live right in the middle of the best park/restaurant area and how should i find a top 5% furnished apartment? thanks

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

Near Retiro Park (Retiro neighorhood), Atocha, Salamanca neighborhoods. Easy searches would be on www.idealista.com - Josh & Kalie

[@robinbailey55]

Hahah so young here my friend!

[@lb8141]

Moving to Madrid within the next 6 weeks so this helps.

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

Nice! Thanks for sharing. Let us know if you need any more info regarding your move. Wishing you the best. Madrid is a cool place. - Josh & Kalie

[@susanaborchert7257]

We want to move to Spain had Ray come about that. Our choices is Madrid Barcelona Valencia.

[@elzorro8787]

Madrid lifestyle is unbeatable. The biggest problem is work. Wages are ridiculously low and if you don't know someone important it's hard to get a decent job.

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

True story!

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

@Bob el Silencioso You don't think that jobs are low paid in Madrid for English speaking expats? Those coming from US, Canada, UK, Australia?

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

@Bob el Silencioso Right but by comparison and to El Zorro’s point, it’s less. For example, median income in Washington DC $80k but Madrid the upper end of the general salary range is €3,500 per month. Good thing about Madrid is the cost of living is much less than DC too.

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

@Bob el Silencioso we don’t disagree but comparing wages, which we are, they’re low. We definitely agree that cost of living is much higher in DC or London or Sydney but wages are low by comparison in Madrid. Then the argument shifts to where it needs to go and that’s savings rate, and that becomes a very personal thing in terms of how someone can budget and stick to it and then reinvest those savings. Thanks for the dialogue. Have a great weekend! 👍

[@elzorro8787]

Absolutely 100% true. Wages in Madrid in general are a disgrace. They are great if you're a star football player other wise the majority of jobs are terribly paid. I live in Melbourne , Australia where funnily enough the cost of living is more or less the same as in Madrid. Yet the wages absolutely blow Madrid's to smithereens. Every young Spaniard I meet is crazy to stay in Melbourne , precisely because of the faaaaarq superior standard of living financially speaking.

[@chakshudenod1411]

Hi , I've been accepted at the Real Madrid University for my master's. Since they don't offer on campus housing so please advice on the cheapest renting places with safety and proximity to the campus. Thanks in advance.

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

Idealista and uniplaces would be two websites to look at. Madrid is pretty safe overall especially around campus. We would avoid Lavapies.

[@chakshudenod1411]

@@ExpatsEverywhere THANKS, i shall look into them. Happy Travels.

[@MCoelloF]

Rentals are much cheaper in the surrounding cities close to Madrid (half and hour driving or metro or bus). Places like: Alcorcón, Móstoles, Leganés, Fuenlabrada, etc Price range for small flat should be within 500-700 euros. FYI

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

Oh, absolutely, and that stands pretty true of whatever capital city in Europe you'd like to look at. The thing is to live in the capital cities vs the outskirts, you have to pay more.

[@jn4978]

Lol i don’t want to work or study there. What if I just wanna visit for like a month or two?

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

Wait until the pandemic ends 😁

[@zouaouifedi678]

what about part-time jobs for student in madrid. thank you for ur effort ❤

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

You're welcome. Your probably looking at internships and service industry work.

[@chinglee100]

Is there a large American community in Madrid??

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

Great questions. To be honest, when we lived there, we would say no and that it's fragmented. There are a decent amount of Americans there, but to say their in community with each other is different. You know? If you'd like us to elaborate on that, we can. Honestly, if you're thinking about moving there, we would recommend giving it a go, especially after covid passes. - Josh & Kalie

[@chinglee100]

@@ExpatsEverywhere thanks for the response and so what your saying is they aren’t really connected as a community right there all just doing their own thing. And I saw another comment here where you say Madrid didn’t feel that safe is the city dangerous? Have an opportunity to maybe work there so just wanna know a bit more about the city thanks

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

@@chinglee100 The community is a bit fragmented. There's a huge foreign community of Madrid. You won't find any problem finding English speakers, which could be problematic if you're wanting to learn and speak Castilian Spanish often (which you should IMO). I would not call Madrid dangerous, but I wouldn't call it safe either. The biggest thing is pickpockets, but we've personally know several people that were robbed and not pick pocketed. Does that make clearer sense? If you're asking us if we wouldn't go back there with our daughter to live because of safety issues, the answer would be, no. We would go back. - Josh & Kalie

[@alexonthepalmtree]

Do you like Madrid or Barcelona more?

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

Great question. We get that a lot. We lived in Madrid and not Barcelona so it's a little hard to compare what living is like but we think Barcelona is better to visit for sure. The people seem to be warmer. If you don't speak any Spanish or Catalan then you'll find the level of English is better in Barcelona. There's more variety of things to do in Barcelona too. On the other hand, Madrid seems to be a better city to live in because of the central location in the country allows easy travel everywhere, and you're not going to be treated like a tourist everywhere like you would in Barcelona. This is just our opinion. - Josh & Kalie

[@alexandreniedermayer2639]

People are not at all warmer in Barcelona believe me man 😢 catalans are very close minded. Madrileños are way more open in my opinion

[@xurxo6160]

@@alexandreniedermayer2639 they are indeed!!

[@sofiaarenas1353]

speaking Mexican??? that's not a thing, maybe they meant that they had a Mexican accent, but they were still speaking Spanish!!

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

Oh no, people indeed say that. It's accent and vocabulary. It's like when people say...He speaks American. Of course American isn't its own language but it's American English is what they're referring to. So in this way, A madrileños might say that someone speaks Mexican.

[@hipochuntamo]

I dont see a lot of Latino comments here but I believe what they meant is.. Spanish or spain spanish (Castellano) that is one of the languages they speak in Spain is for a lot of Latino countries our mother tongue but we have derive and move away from it in crazy ways.. people from mexico speak spanish that comes from Castellano but they have made it their own as people from Center and south America. so when somebody says i speak Mexican or any other coutry it means that not only the accent but the rules and articulation is different. an example of this will be American English vs British English.

[@robert111k]

@@ExpatsEverywhere, nobody in Madrid would say that. Maybe in New York. Mexicans don't migrate to Spain. Maybe they would speak of "latinos" instead. There are lots of Venezuelans, Equadorians, Colombians, Peruvians, Argentinians and Dominicans in Madrid, but not Mexicans.

[@aquaexcursions]

Mexican = Spanglish

[@lovewinseveryday]

Thinking of moving from Denmark but Im from and Colombia and Im worried about the idea that we speak "Mexican". Gosh! Having second thoughts!

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

Yeah, it's not nice but we don't believe it's overwhelming. We've know Mexican and Ecuadorian expats that have really enjoyed their life there and never really complained about it. You know? - Josh & Kalie

[@robert111k]

Por eso no te preocupes. Nadie en España dice que el español de los latinamericanos sea "mejicano", entre otras cosas porque apenas si hay mejicanos en España. Les pilla más cerca EE. UU., así que por aquí no aparecen muchos. Estos chicos vienen con su prejuicio yanqui de que todo lo que hay al sur de su frontera es Méjico pero en España es un país del que apenas si se conoce nada, mayormente porque, como te digo, mejicanos no debe de haber más allá de cincuenta o sesenta mil. O sea, casi nada.

[@anacasanova7350]

A los españoles nos gusta ver las películas traducidas al español, en general, igual que nos gusta , queremos los libros traducidos al español y también ver subtítulos de las Óperas, italianas y francesas y sobre todo en alemán . O Musicales en inglés. Otra cosa es ir al cine a aprender idiomas. Madrid existe, no este nombre, desde hace cientos de años , antes del s.XVI con nombre musulmán , Magrit , s.IX. y anterior fue Visigoda .

[@MyChannel-fu8xs]

Please leave 😔

[@gloriapires8889]

No spain! No … no …. and … no !!!

[@xurxo6160]

Tómese la pastilla, señora 😜

[@randallhahn9245]

These poor guys have no clue...

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

Which guys?

[@randallhahn9245]

@@ExpatsEverywhere The couple making the video...

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

The couple that lived in Madrid for two years?

[@queenb9668]

3:27 making little side remarks such as "oh well look at you **little** ESL teacher" to someone , is seen as trying to belittle someone and throw passive aggressive shade at them due to the fact that they may know more knowledge than you . Stop it . Don't do that .

[@ExpatsEverywhere]

😂 No, no, that's Kalie knowing her craft as an international school ESL teacher giving her tips. It was all good.