Italy vs Spain: which is easier to move to?
A straight side-by-side on the eight things that decide it — work routes, study, family, residency, citizenship, cost, healthcare and jobs.
| 🇮🇹 Italy | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
|---|---|---|
| Region | Southern Europe | Western Europe |
| Population | 58.9 million | 48.8 million |
| Foreign-born | about 9% of residents | about 18% of residents |
| Language(s) | Italian | Spanish (plus Catalan, Galician, Basque regionally) |
| Currency | Euro (EUR) | Euro (EUR) |
| Work Visas | Non-EU work visas are rationed through the decreto flussi, an annual quota that opens on published click-days and fills almost instantly. Outside the quota, only specific categories — the EU Blue Card, intra-company transfers, researchers, and the digital nomad visa — remain open. Full guide | Employer-sponsored work permits are constrained by a shortage occupation list, so most foreigners enter through self-employment, the digital nomad visa, or the highly qualified professional route created by the 2023 Startup Act. Full guide |
| Student Visas | Study visas sit outside the work quota, tuition at public universities is low and means-tested, and graduates may convert to a work permit within the quota reserved for them. Student time counts toward citizenship, though at reduced weight for some purposes. Full guide | Spain issues student residence permits readily, allows part-time work, and lets graduates convert to a work or self-employment permit from inside the country. Study time counts toward permanent residence at half value but toward citizenship in full. Full guide |
| Family & Spouse Visas | Family reunification is a right for legal residents who meet income and housing tests, and it sits outside the quota. Family members of EU and Italian citizens are treated under the far lighter European regime. Full guide | Legal residents may reunite a spouse, children, and dependent parents after one year of residence, and the rules for family members of EU citizens — including Spaniards — are far lighter than for third-country sponsors. Full guide |
| Permanent Residency | After five years of legal residence you may apply for the EU long-term residence permit, which is indefinite and requires an A2 Italian exam. The route in for people with income and no employer is the elective residency visa, which grants residence on condition that you do not work. Full guide | Long-term residence comes after five years of continuous legal residence and is a strong status: indefinite, with full work rights. Separately, Spain's arraigo routes regularise people already living in Spain after two or three years, including those without prior status. Full guide |
| Citizenship | Ten years of legal residence for non-EU nationals, four for EU citizens, two or three for spouses of Italians, plus a B1 Italian exam. Citizenship by descent still exists but was sharply restricted in March 2025. Full guide | Ten years for most nationalities, but only two for citizens of Latin America, Portugal, Andorra, the Philippines, and Equatorial Guinea, and one year for those married to a Spaniard. Two exams are required, and Spain formally requires renouncing your previous nationality — with large exceptions. Full guide |
| Cost of Living | Italy divides sharply. Milan is expensive, Rome and Florence are moderately so, and much of the south is among the cheapest living in western Europe — which is precisely where the seven percent pensioner tax regime applies. Full guide | Spain is one of the best value-for-money countries in western Europe, provided you do not need to earn a Spanish salary. Madrid and Barcelona have become expensive to rent in; the rest of the country has not. Full guide |
| Healthcare | The national health service covers residents comprehensively for a small or no annual contribution, and outcomes are among the best in the world. The system is administered regionally and quality varies noticeably between the north and parts of the south. Full guide | Spain's public health system is genuinely excellent and free at the point of use for those contributing to social security or covered as residents. Non-working residents on visas such as the non-lucrative visa must hold full private insurance instead. Full guide |
| Finding a Job | Italy has low salaries, high youth unemployment, and a labour market that runs on personal networks and Italian fluency. For most foreigners the realistic options are transferring in with a multinational, teaching, or bringing remote income. Full guide | Spain has high unemployment and low salaries by western European standards, and the labour market test blocks most ordinary sponsorship. The people who work successfully here either bring remote income, work in technology or tourism, or teach English. Full guide |
Neither country is "better". They are better for different people:
the deciding factors are usually your occupation, your age, your language, and how
long you are willing to wait. General information only. Not legal advice. No lawyer-client or consultant-client relationship is created.