Kent → Spain
Kent to Spain, the critical path
Every Spanish move has the same sequence, and transport sits at the end of it. Understand the order and the whole thing becomes manageable; ignore it and you end up with a loaded vehicle and an unfinished file.
The sequence, in order
- NIE. The foreigner identification number. Everything else depends on it and nothing about it involves us. Start it the day you decide to go.
- The property. A deed or a signed lease in your name — the address the rest of the file points at.
- Padrón. Town-hall registration in the municipality you are moving to. Generally impossible until you are there, which is why the order matters.
- Consulate certificate. Change of residence, issued by the Spanish consulate covering your Kent address, before the goods travel.
- Inventory. Itemised, valued, in Spanish, signed. Built while the packing happens rather than reconstructed afterwards.
- The load. Which we schedule. The only item on this list that runs to a timetable.
The route, and where it forks
Out through the Kent crossing and down the western side of France to Bordeaux — a long, dull, reliable run. Bordeaux is where it splits.
Irún for the Basque country, Burgos, Madrid and everything central and southern. La Jonquera, across the eastern Pyrenees, for Catalonia and then down the coast through Valencia to Alicante and Murcia. Andalucía is furthest either way, and the quote says so rather than blurring it.
Shared or dedicated
Spain is the one route where a shared load is genuinely practical for most households — the traffic is heavy enough that vehicles go regularly. You pay for your share and accept that your delivery fits around others.
For a full house with a fixed date, take the dedicated vehicle. The saving on a shared load is real; so is the cost of a delivery window you cannot control.
Storing while the file finishes
The commonest shape of a Kent-to-Spain move: the house completes, the paperwork does not, and the household needs somewhere to be. Goods sit inventoried in store here and export when the Spanish end is actually ready.
Delivering in Spain
Coastal urbanisations are generally straightforward — space to park, often a lift. Old city centres are not: streets laid out long before lorries, bollards, and access restricted by time of day. A transfer to a smaller vehicle for the final stretch is normal and costed.
The Balearics add a ferry leg from Barcelona or Valencia, which is a scheduled booking rather than a detail. Portugal shares most of this drive before turning west.
Worth knowing
Kent to Spain, asked properly
What is the critical path on a Spanish move?
The NIE, then the property, then the padrón, then the change-of-residence certificate, then the load. Transport is the last item and the only one anybody can schedule reliably, which is why the vehicle is almost never the reason a Spanish move is late.
Can we start packing before the NIE arrives?
Packing yes, exporting no. Plenty of households pack, load and store while the Spanish end catches up. What cannot happen is a vehicle leaving without the documentation that lets the goods enter.
Irún or La Jonquera?
Irún for Madrid, Burgos and everything central and southern. La Jonquera for Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante and the Mediterranean coast. Both are ordinary crossings for a removals vehicle; the fork happens at Bordeaux and is decided by your destination rather than by preference.
Is a shared load realistic for Spain?
More realistic than for anywhere else we go. Britain sends enough households to Spain that consolidated vehicles run regularly, so a part-load is not waiting months for company. With a movable date it is usually the right call.
What does the inventory have to look like?
Itemised, valued, in Spanish, signed by you. Spanish customs are less tolerant of vagueness than some, and a reconciliation query at the far end is a delay nobody is paid to sit through.
We are keeping our Kent house. Does that matter?
Yes. Duty relief on used household effects requires that you are transferring residence. Furnishing a Spanish apartment while staying UK-resident is a standard import on declared value, and it is declared as such.
Can the load wait here?
That is the normal answer on this route. Goods sit inventoried in store in Kent and leave when the Spanish paperwork is genuinely finished rather than nearly finished.
Start the NIE now. Book the transport later.
Transport is the one part of a Spanish move that can be scheduled. Everything ahead of it on the critical path takes as long as it takes.