🇪🇸 Spain vs 🇹🇷 Turkey
Side by side on the data that actually changes your life: prices, taxes, climate, air, safety. Every number has a source and a date.
Climate (capital)
Open-Meteo historical weather
Jan 7° · Jul 28° · Madrid
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Sunny days (capital)
Open-Meteo, days with over 4.5h of sunshine
317 days / yr
—
Air quality (capital)
WAQI, capital station
AQI 93 · Moderate
AQI 55 · Moderate
Prices vs EU average
Eurostat price level index, EU27 = 100
−8% (2025)
—
Big Mac price
The Economist Big Mac index (euro-area countries share one euro-area price)
$7.05
$5.90
Living costs · single, excl. rent (capital)
Reloka cost research, excludes rent
$800–$1,150 / mo
—
Living costs · family of four, excl. rent (capital)
Reloka cost research, excludes rent
$2,750–$3,650 / mo
—
Employment taxes (not your rate)
OECD tax wedge, single average worker
~41% of what a job costs goes to tax (2025)
~40% of what a job costs goes to tax (2025)
Special tax regimes
Official tax authorities, verified June 2026
Beckham regime
None curated
Inflation
World Bank
2.7% / yr (2025)
34.9% / yr (2025)
Unemployment
World Bank, ILO-modelled estimate
10.4% (2025)
8.5% (2025)
Internet (median fixed)
Ookla Speedtest Global Index
~200 Mbps
—
English proficiency
EF English Proficiency Index
moderate
—
Messenger apps
OONI network measurements, last 6 months
No known issues
No known issues
Safety advisory
U.S. State Department travel advisory
Level 2 · Exercise Increased Caution
Level 2 · Exercise Increased Caution
Population
World Bank total population
49.4M (2025)
85.9M (2025)
Population density
World Bank, people per km²
97 / km² (2023)
111 / km² (2023)
Foreign-born residents
World Bank migrant stock
18.5% of population (2024)
8.1% of population (2024)
Life expectancy
WHO
83 yrs
75 yrs
Currency
ISO 4217
EUR
TRY
Timezone (capital)
Open-Meteo
UTC+2
UTC+3
Legal
Legal
Short-term gains
28.0%
40%
Long-term gains
28.0%
40%
Long-term holding period
—
—
Staking income
47%
35%
Mining income
47%
—
General rates, not personal tax advice.
Climate, inflation and life expectancy verified 12 July 2026. Prices, taxes and air quality verified 7 July 2026. Sources shown per row.
Bottom line: which should you choose?
Pick 🇹🇷 Turkey if you want
lower day-to-day costs and lighter employment taxes.
Based only on the sourced metrics above. Visa eligibility and paperwork depend on your passport — build a free plan for the full picture.
Frequently asked questions
Is Spain or Turkey cheaper?
Turkey is the cheaper of the two on our comparable cost measure (Big Mac $5.90 vs $7.05). Your real cost depends on the city and lifestyle — see the full table above, then generate a free plan for a budget matched to your exact move.
Special tax regimes, verified
Regimes change often and many sites still advertise closed ones. We link the official source for each.
🇪🇸 Spain
24% flat tax on Spanish employment income up to ~€600k · 6 years
Verified June 2026 · Agencia Tributaria
Numbers are half the story
Your visa route, paperwork and deadlines depend on where you hold a passport. Get a free checklist personalized to your exact move.