Why does the lift measurement matter so much?

Because a Spanish retro-fitted lift is often the smallest obstacle on the whole journey, and it is the one nobody mentions until the van is outside. Three numbers at survey prevents it.

What decides the crew size?

The Spanish building, usually, rather than the London one. Four floors with a small lift needs more people than the flat you are leaving did.

Is groupage a bad idea on Spain?

Not bad, but it is handled more at both ends and it waits on a second load. On the longest runs that extra handling is worth weighing rather than ignoring.

Do I need an NIE first?

It is frequently asked for as part of the file, but what is required is for the Spanish authorities to say rather than us. We will tell you what is normally requested.

Does your crew drive the whole way?

Yes, and unloads at the far end. There is no handover to a destination agent on any of our four routes.

THE FAR END

London to Spain

Removals from London to Spain Spain

Spanish cities are cities of flats, and a great many of them are fourth-floor flats in blocks where the lift was fitted into a stairwell that had no room for one. The drive to Spain is long, but the drive is not what decides how the day at the far end goes. The lift dimension is.

A thousand miles of motorway, then a lift ninety centimetres wide. Only one of those is a problem.

Six questions about the far end

What we need to know about the new address

The floor number And whether the building counts a planta baja and an entresuelo below the first floor, because two Spanish "first floors" can be two flights apart.

The lift, measured Internal width, depth and door aperture. A retro-fitted lift in a Madrid block is the tightest we meet anywhere, and a sofa is usually the first thing it refuses.

The stairwell Whether it turns, how tight the turn is, and whether there is a central well a hoist could work through.

The street and the portal The width of the portal door, and whether the street is wide enough for a long vehicle to stand in it.

Loading restrictions Central Barcelona and Madrid enforce them. Where the van can stand, and for how long, decides whether the crew carries or shuttles.

Keys and codes On the Costas, an urbanisation gate code nobody has is the standard way to lose an afternoon.

The route

The crossing, then France, then the Pyrenees and on to the door. It is the second-longest run we do, and the packing standard is set by the length of it rather than by the destination.

Sole use or groupage

Sole use means the vehicle carries your goods only — loaded once, unloaded once, nothing shifted in between. Groupage shares the run and costs less but is handled more at both ends, which on a run this long is a real consideration rather than a technicality.

Who moves on this route

Households relocating for work to Madrid or Barcelona, almost always into an upper-floor flat in older stock.
People moving to the Costa Blanca, the Costa del Sol or inland Andalusia, frequently with a whole house rather than a flat, and frequently with better access than the cities.
Families with an existing Spanish property consolidating a London flat into it — a part-load into somewhere already furnished.
Spanish nationals returning after years in London, usually with a longer inventory than they expect.

Destination areas

Where the load is actually going

Madrid Old central blocks with a portal, a retro-fitted lift and a stair around it. The lift measurement is the number that decides the day.

Barcelona and Catalonia Eixample flats with high ceilings, long balconies and narrow stairwells. A balcony route is sometimes the answer where the stair is not.

Valencia and the Costa Blanca City flats and urbanisation properties in a mix. Access is usually good; finding the right door is the recurring difficulty.

Andalusia and the Costa del Sol The longest leg and frequently the hottest. Whitewashed old towns have stepped streets no vehicle enters, so the carry is measured at survey.

Inland and northern Spain Castilla, Aragón, Asturias, Galicia. Smaller towns, longer approaches, and usually a door the van can reach — the straightforward end of a long route.

Paperwork

Who holds which document

A household move to Spain needs a customs entry and, to be treated as a relocation rather than an import, evidence that you are genuinely moving. What follows is what is normally asked for, and none of it is legal, tax, customs or immigration advice.

Passport, and NIE where held YouIdentity for the owner of the goods. Names must match across the whole file.

Proof of the Spanish address YouEscritura, a lease, or an empadronamiento certificate. Asked for consistently.

Baja consular or equivalent YouEvidence of the change of residence, which is normally what decides how the goods are treated.

A valued inventory UsBuilt at the packing visit. Values are looked at on this route, so it is worth doing carefully.

Insurance declaration YouDeclared values, and a clear understanding of what applies over a run of this length.

Arriving in Spain

The crew that emptied the London flat is the crew on the Spanish landing. Nobody new appears at the hardest point of the journey, which on a fourth floor with a ninety-centimetre lift is exactly when experience counts.

What we need in advance is measurements. The lift as three numbers, not as a yes. The stair as a description of its turn. The street as a width. On the Costas we also need the gate arrangement and a person with a key, because the building is rarely the problem out there and the entrance frequently is.

Heat is planning, not small talk. Where the unload is somewhere genuinely hot we order the day around it, because a crew working through the worst of an Andalusian afternoon makes mistakes on stairs.

London to Spain

Questions about moving to Spain

Why does the lift measurement matter so much?: Because a Spanish retro-fitted lift is often the smallest obstacle on the whole journey, and it is the one nobody mentions until the van is outside. Three numbers at survey prevents it.
What decides the crew size?: The Spanish building, usually, rather than the London one. Four floors with a small lift needs more people than the flat you are leaving did.
Is groupage a bad idea on Spain?: Not bad, but it is handled more at both ends and it waits on a second load. On the longest runs that extra handling is worth weighing rather than ignoring.
Do I need an NIE first?: It is frequently asked for as part of the file, but what is required is for the Spanish authorities to say rather than us. We will tell you what is normally requested.
Does your crew drive the whole way?: Yes, and unloads at the far end. There is no handover to a destination agent on any of our four routes.

Send us one measurement

The clear diagonal across the tightest turn on your staircase, corner to corner, with the handrail in place. That single figure answers more questions about a London move than a room-by-room inventory does.

Get a price Ask about a staircase