About me
I'm Milan. I started Expat Daily in Valencia: a free daily email that summarises the city's local news in plain English, now also running in Barcelona, Madrid, Málaga and Lisbon. I live in Valencia with my spouse and our two children.
We are a non-EU family, so we have been through the whole paper trail ourselves: visas, the padrón (at three different offices), TIE fingerprint appointments, residence renewals, enrolling the kids in school and in federated sport, buying a flat, and running a business as an autónomo. The guides on this site are written from that experience, plus the questions readers send us every week.
How these guides are written
- First-hand where we have done it. Boxes marked What happened to us are our own experience, with the month and year it happened. Where we have not done something ourselves, the guide says so and points to the official source.
- Official sources for the rules. Laws, fees and deadlines are checked against the BOE, the Seguridad Social, the Agencia Tributaria and the Ajuntament de València, and linked where possible.
- Open cases stay open. When something is still in progress for us, the guide says where it stands and gets updated when it moves.
- Not legal or tax advice. I am not a lawyer or a gestor. These guides are what one expat family learned, written up so yours has an easier time. For your own case, talk to a professional.
Read Valencia like you live here
Valencia Expat Daily is a free 5-minute daily email with the city's news, events and deadlines in plain English.
Guides I have written
- Empadronamiento in Valencia: Three padrón offices, one missed two-year renewal, and what I would do differently.
- NIE and TIE in Valencia: When new appointment slots appear, and the comisaría 45 km away that got our family seen.
- Permanent residency in Spain: The absence rules under the 2025 regulation, force majeure, and the tracking mistake that hid our trips.
- Becoming autónomo in Spain: The social security contribution that quietly adds up, VAT at small scale, and the three-addresses trap.
- Checking your own tax position: Six checks I now run twice a year, whoever files for me.
- Schools in Valencia: Enrolling mid-year: every document the school asked for, and the traps after you start.
- A sports licence for a foreign child: Getting two kids federated in club basketball, and the document package that finally worked.
- Buying property in Valencia: Including the tourist licence that survived our purchase, and a deed still waiting at the land registry.
- Disputing an electricity bill: An open case: who to complain to, the no-load test done right, and where it stands.
Get in touch
Spotted something out of date, or had a different experience at the same office? Email hello@valenciaexpatdaily.com. Corrections from readers make these guides better for the next person.