Glossary
Spanish life admin, in plain English
The words that come up when you rent, register, see a doctor and settle in Spain, explained the way the episodes use them. Each entry links to the episode guide it comes from.
Renting
- Additional guarantee
- Extra security a landlord and tenant can agree on top of the fianza. For habitual-residence contracts of up to five years, or seven when the landlord is a company, it is generally limited to two months’ rent.
- From Episode 3: Renting · checked 26 July 2026
- Fianza (rental deposit)
- The cash deposit the LAU requires for a standard residential lease, equal to one month’s rent. Where regional rules require it, the landlord is normally responsible for lodging it with the appropriate regional body, so ask for evidence.
- From Episode 3: Renting · checked 26 July 2026
- Habitual-residence contract
- A lease intended to be your permanent home, mainly governed by the LAU. The tenant can generally extend it annually until reaching five years with an individual landlord, or seven with a company.
- From Episode 3: Renting · checked 26 July 2026
- Housing Law 2023 (Ley 12/2023)
- The 2023 law that changed parts of the LAU. Among other things, it made property-management and contract-formalising costs the landlord’s responsibility for habitual-residence rentals.
- From Episode 3: Renting · checked 26 July 2026
- IRAV
- Spain’s official reference index for annual updates of housing rent, published by the National Statistics Institute (INE). Which calculation applies depends on your contract’s date and wording, so check the current figure with INE and don’t copy a percentage from an old article.
- From Episode 3: Renting · checked 26 July 2026
- LAU (Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos)
- Spain’s Urban Leases Act, Law 29/1994. It is the main law for long-term home rentals, covering the deposit, duration, extensions, repairs and the return of the deposit.
- From Episode 3: Renting · checked 26 July 2026
- Seasonal or temporary contract
- A lease with a genuine temporary reason, such as study, a work assignment or a defined stay. Its duration, protections and price can differ from a habitual-residence contract, and a contract labelled seasonal doesn’t become appropriate just because the heading says so.
- From Episode 3: Renting and Episode 7: Mistakes
Paperwork and residence
- Digital nomad visa
- A residence route for remote workers employed or contracted outside Spain. Its income requirement is higher than the non-lucrative visa’s because it is tied to Spain’s minimum wage. It requires comprehensive private health insurance.
- From Episode 8: Spain vs UK and US
- Golden visa
- Spain’s former property-investment residence route. It closed in 2025 (Ley Orgánica 1/2025) and is no longer an option.
- From Episode 8: Spain vs UK and US
- NIE (foreigner’s identification number)
- A foreigner’s identification number. It is not a visa, and not proof that you can reside in Spain indefinitely.
- From Episode 7: Mistakes · research dated 26 July 2026
- Non-lucrative visa
- A residence route for people living on passive income such as pensions, investments or savings. You can’t work on it. In 2026 the main applicant must show around €2,400 a month, plus comprehensive private health insurance.
- From Episode 8: Spain vs UK and US · Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores consular guidance
- Padrón and empadronamiento (municipal registration)
- The padrón is the municipal register of residents, and empadronamiento is registering on it at your address. It feeds into healthcare registration, so doing it early makes the rest easier. Before you sign a lease, check you can register at that address; a refusal deserves investigation.
- From Episode 7: Mistakes and Episode 3: Renting
- TIE (foreigner identity card)
- A physical foreigner identity card, issued in relevant circumstances. Related to the NIE, visa and padrón, but not interchangeable with them.
- From Episode 7: Mistakes · research dated 26 July 2026
Healthcare
- Centro de salud (health centre)
- Your local primary-care health centre, where most non-emergency care begins. Your family doctor there handles ordinary problems, manages ongoing conditions, prescribes and refers you to specialists.
- From Episode 4: Healthcare · checked 26 July 2026
- EHIC (European Health Insurance Card)
- For people in Spain temporarily who stay insured by another EU or EEA country or Switzerland: it gives access to medically necessary state-provided care during the stay. It isn’t travel insurance, and it isn’t meant to replace proper registration once Spain is your home.
- From Episode 4: Healthcare · checked 26 July 2026
- Farmacia de guardia (duty pharmacy)
- The pharmacy covering nights and holidays in your area. The local pharmacy door or the official directory shows the nearest one.
- From Episode 4: Healthcare · checked 26 July 2026
- GHIC (UK Global Health Insurance Card)
- The card the UK issues to many eligible residents, with broadly similar temporary-stay use to the EHIC under the relevant arrangements. Check eligibility and coverage with the NHS before you travel.
- From Episode 4: Healthcare · checked 26 July 2026
- INSS (National Social Security Institute)
- For many workers, the body that confirms healthcare entitlement before the regional health service issues your card. S1 forms are normally registered with it too.
- From Episode 4: Healthcare · checked 26 July 2026
- S1 form
- A form that can let someone living in Spain, such as certain state pensioners, posted workers and eligible dependants, register for healthcare here while another country pays. It is issued by the country responsible for your healthcare, not by Spain.
- From Episode 4: Healthcare · checked 26 July 2026
- SNS (Sistema Nacional de Salud)
- Spain’s National Health System. Nationally coordinated, but largely delivered by the autonomous communities, which is why cards, apps and registration steps differ by region.
- From Episode 4: Healthcare · checked 26 July 2026
- Tarjeta sanitaria (health card)
- The individual health card your regional health service issues once you are accepted. It identifies you in the regional system, supports appointments and links prescriptions to your record.
- From Episode 4: Healthcare · checked 26 July 2026
- Urgencias (emergency or urgent care)
- For genuine urgent needs, not a substitute for registering with primary care. For a serious or life-threatening emergency, call 112.
- From Episode 4: Healthcare · checked 26 July 2026
Money and everyday life
- Dynamic currency conversion
- When a card terminal or ATM offers to charge you in your home currency. The rate and markup can be worse than letting your own card network convert, so in most cases choose euros.
- From Episode 7: Mistakes · research dated 26 July 2026
- Legumbres (pulses)
- Lentils, chickpeas and beans. Filling, inexpensive meals with vegetables, rice, a little meat or good seasoning.
- From Episode 6: Groceries
- Low-emission zone
- An area where a municipality restricts vehicle access. Each city sets its own access and parking rules, and implementation changes over time, so check the official city website before driving in, especially in a rental or foreign-registered car.
- From Episode 7: Mistakes · research dated 26 July 2026
- Menú del día
- A weekday lunchtime menu. It often beats a tourist-zone dinner on value.
- From Episode 2: Budgets
- Mercado municipal (municipal market)
- A town’s public market. It may offer excellent quality without being cheaper than a supermarket; the value can be flavour, freshness or shelf life.
- From Episode 6: Groceries
- Valencian
- The Valencia region’s co-official language, alongside Spanish, which you’ll see on public signs, in schools and throughout local culture. New residents aren’t expected to arrive fluent, but recognising and respecting it matters.
- From Episode 1: Valencia
Educational content only — not legal, tax, or immigration advice. Visa, tax and healthcare rules change often and vary by individual circumstance; always verify current requirements with official government and provider sources before making decisions.