Saoirse

Moderator
Top Poster Of Month
General comparisons Turkey/Spain
Been asked by a few to put something together on this but please bear in mind-these are GENERAL comparisons ( so let's not have any knobhead trawling the net to find minor differences)

Also general views and opinions are solely based on my own experiences//knowledge and are of course entirely subjective.


ACCESS

I would suggest that flight access from U.K./Ireland is considerably cheaper and definitely more frequent. We have cheap flights all year round

CAR HIRE

Mixed bag this one. I was normally paying around £20 a day in Turkey year round. My experience in Spain is off season you only pay a fraction of that but peak times its telephone figures


ELECTRICITY

Definitely cheaper in Turkey not just normal useage but in Spain there's an outrageous standing charge( around €18 ) even if you use no electric at all !!

WATER

Again a mixed bag but overall Turkeys definitely cheaper. In some specific very dry areas of Spain ( Murcia desert areas etc) your water bill could top €80 a month on average useage. Other areas like our own it's a lot less but still higher than Turkey

COUNCIL TAX

Difficult one this as Spain is not only a virtual federal system with most power inc many tax issues operated outside of Madrid but also the regions can vary wildly in the tax rates they apply. In our own region I would say our council tax type levies are similar to Turkey

TRANSPORT/INFRASTRUCTURE

In the region we are in this is a major plus for Spain with one of Europes best road networks as well as affordable train travel the length of the country. There are many toll motorways-the one we use goes for around 900 km and as it's a pay road running parallel to an ordinary road its regularly very clear. We find the transport system in general very superior to the basic roads we had in Fethiye area and certainly in our new place we have way more places to see/visit

MEDICAL CARE

Like Turkey Spain too has an excellent modern health system. Basically if you are visiting ( British/Irish) you are covered with your S1card. If you move here and are a pensioner or partner of a pensioner your full healthcare is free. If you are not a pensioner you must use either priv health or after 1 year you can join the state system by contribution. Priv healthcare for us will be around €110 a month for both

RESIDENCY

For EU citizens residency is guaranteed. There are some formalities which are technically required but forget the strict Turkish set up- nothing like that and basically if EU national you cannot be asked to leave

I will do some more later
 
Last edited:

enoch

Member
General comparisons Turkey/Spain
Some things have not changed so much from all them years ago we paid 80/90 water .electric 80/90 euros.
 

Saoirse

Moderator
Top Poster Of Month
General comparisons Turkey/Spain
Often looked at these for various countries and never find them anywhere near to what I find on the ground
 

Saoirse

Moderator
Top Poster Of Month
General comparisons Turkey/Spain
GROCERIES

I would suggest general groceries are the same/slightly lower than Turkey. As well as Spanish equivalents of Turkeys Sok/BIM cheapo stores Spain definitely has a wider range of supermarkets including ones familiar to both Turkey and UK.

Handy to us we have Carrefour, Aldi, Lidl, Iceland etc

EATING/DRINKING OUT

I reckon taking quality as well as price into account Spain is considerably ahead. It is both subjective and difficult to measure as obviously there will be both urban/ rural differences as well as extablishment type but overall I would consider Spain better in quality and value.

Alcohol is considerably cheaper, much more varied and more widely available . Beer/ wine is drastically cheaper in pubs and supermarkets


CARS/PETROL

Petrol is cheaper than Turkey but new car prices whilst cheaper than Turkey are higher than UK. Because of this just like Turkey used car prices are high. For new car purchase local make SEAT is quite competitive.

CLOTHING /FASHION

Spanish people do like to be trendy and just like Turkey the more urban the more fashion. Women's fashion stores are everywhere and I am told generally more expensive than both UK/ Ireland and Turkey. Day to day clothes , market buys etc would be similar to Turkey
 
Last edited:

mollag

Kipper restorer
General comparisons Turkey/Spain
Quality will be an interesting comparison, wine in Turkey and vegetables in the UK for example.
 

Saoirse

Moderator
Top Poster Of Month
General comparisons Turkey/Spain
I have never drank wine but am most certainly assured that great quality wines abound and are extremely competitively priced. Fruit and veg is excellent-as you may have seen on news this week some 80% of certain UK veg comes from Spain. The quality of produce is very high as Spanish are definitely foodies and very competitive about their local /regional dishes
 

Hilsjw

Member
General comparisons Turkey/Spain
In Spanish supermarkets wine and spirits are so much cheaper than in the U.K. Just shows how we are ripped off. Remember when we were told that duty on alcohol would level out across the E.U. Never happend/never will ! Duty free shops in the airports are a rip off too. I think wine in Turkey is quite pricey !
 

ted j

Member
General comparisons Turkey/Spain
We could if we wanted, get a bottle of wine for as little as £3 (not that we do)
Granted it wouldn't be the best quality, but drinkable and we could get a fairly decent one for around £7-8 (if you call Turkish wine, try the sh1te they sell in Malta )
There is so much snobbery about wine (and beer) drinking, hey, I drink what I like, if I don't like the taste, I don't drink it .......one of the consumer programmes a few years back did a blindfold test with some wine groupies....A cheap Aldi wine came out tops, the one they all thought was the most expensive came out second to last of 6
One thing I have found n Turkey's favour over Spain, is I can get (because I know where to go) a DECENT fillet instead of bloody veal which , even in the poshest restaurants in Spain, a few years back was all that was served, either that or rock hard crap

We got a few weeks ago, a complete fillet , 2.55 kilos, which the butcher de fatted and sliced for us .......We got 12 fillets out of it , cost ...£2,80 per fillet (exactly what a fillet from Aldi cost 3 years ago...AND they were good fillets)
 

Saoirse

Moderator
Top Poster Of Month
General comparisons Turkey/Spain
You are correct Ted. That's why I keep saying I could not pick one country over the other. Cheap booze etc is hardly a reason to opt for one place to live rather than another!

Funnily enough we have found the range and quality of meat in Spain considerably better than Turkey-especially steak. I genuinely never had a good sirloin or fillet steak in any restaurant in Turkey-yet in one wee village we stayed in this region last year there were 3 restaurants which had amazing sirloins-yum!!!
 

Saoirse

Moderator
Top Poster Of Month
General comparisons Turkey/Spain
In Spanish supermarkets wine and spirits are so much cheaper than in the U.K. Just shows how we are ripped off. Remember when we were told that duty on alcohol would level out across the E.U. Never happend/never will ! Duty free shops in the airports are a rip off too. I think wine in Turkey is quite pricey !

Here's an interesting quirk of rip offs betwixt UK/Spain


Tescomobile Sim Only

Within U.K. - Calls 25p, Texts 10p, Data 100mb 10p-

However using exactly the same Sim-

Within Spain and calling back to U.K. Calls 4p, Texts 1p Data 100mb 4p
 

Akasya

Postless Pointer
General comparisons Turkey/Spain
You are correct Ted. That's why I keep saying I could not pick one country over the other. Cheap booze etc is hardly a reason to opt for one place to live rather than another!

You just go and wash your mouth out with a glass of Estrella Dorada

how shameful

Steve
 

Saoirse

Moderator
Top Poster Of Month
General comparisons Turkey/Spain
Lol

But you know what I mean. Turkey is a drop dead gorgeous fascinating country with possibly the worlds friendliest people- are you really gonna leave there just because booze is better somewhere else

Will never slag my former getaway country and am already booked to return
 

Avid

Member
General comparisons Turkey/Spain
Where in Spain do u have the abode
By the way I'm Bryan a friend of madturkishcow!
 

Saoirse

Moderator
Top Poster Of Month
General comparisons Turkey/Spain
Awww Madturkishcow was a character!!!

Our place is in the Marina Alta area of the Valencia region, Orba Valley
 

eliza

Member
General comparisons Turkey/Spain
Awww Madturkishcow was a character!!!

Our place is in the Marina Alta area of the Valencia region, Orba Valley
Is property in Spain still more expensive than in Turkey, I suppose again it depends on where .... my three bed penthouse would be worth around 40,000 GBP now ... and it is very nice in a sort of good mixed Brit and Turkish area, not on a complex. Huge wrap-around roof terrace on three sides of the block is the main attraction, but it is nice otherwise too ... I know you have given me info on this before but would you mind repeating as I find it hard to relocate stuff on this forum ....
Thanks
 

Latest Posts

Top Bottom