I'm going to move to Spain. Need long term rental/furnished w/garage..(for bike/s) Where is all the good offroading? Do I need to have a street legal ride?

On my days off I plan on riding/traveling. I currently ride a KTM 530 xcw for single Track, Enduro, and in Colorado, Utah, this is an excellent bike and it handles everything. Should I ship it or buy one when I get there? Is the XCW available in EU?

Also plan on buying a good ADV tourer. Are they more expensive there?

I have a shipper here in Denver that can do it cheap.

What kind of licence do I need to ride in the EU especially if crossing borders?

slow down... Spain is a country, you can't just move to 'Spain' and ask for accommodation. Where in Spain ?

You need an address and social security (NIE, at least) to buy a bike from a dealer, and get it all registered and insured, etc.

Obviously, you need it to be street legal if you want to ride it on the street.

Spanish police at the roadside aren't that particular with foreigners (in my experience, I lived in Spain 2 years). But if you get into a serious accident you might find out otherwise.

Off-roading is popular in Spain, trails everywhere. I recommend learning Spanish (unless you already speak it), as you'll get a lot more help from the locals that way. Even basic. They tend to trailer their non-road-legal enduro bikes to the trails.

Within the EU there aren't really borders as such, as in there aren't really border checks. There's generally free movement (UK excepted).

are good ADV tourers more expensive in Spain ? what is good, what tourer and what is expensive to you ? The Internet can tell you, 'segundo mano' is Spanish for second hand.

cheers

I've lived/studied in Mexico and traveled in Spain/France/Germany/Norway a few years ago. My Spanish is passable.

Looking at long term rental Malaga, Valencia.

I do understand I need Bank acct, NIE, Insurance.

Hi. What is your citizenship? I gather that you're American so you must start the process at your nearest Spanish consulate. There are many possible ways to inmigrate into Spain, you just have to choose the one applicable to you. If you are national from an EU country then you can come but things are not very easy these days, even for EU nationals to come and live in Spain.

In order to open a bank acct you will need a NIE. Alternatively you can open a non-resident account but not many banks do it these days. In order to have the NIE you must have either an employment offer or be a person of independent means what must be demonstrated with bank statements and have a full comprehensive life insurance. Otherwise you won't have your NIE issued to you. NIE is needed for many things other than just the bank account. Even for contract internet for instance, very few operators offer it for foreigners with just a passport altough there are a few smaller ones in the Mediterranean who offer it.

Years ago it was very easy to have a NIE and live in Spain. Nowadays, since the beggining of the crisis, it's much harder.

It's fairly easy to find long term rentals in Malaga, Valencia and anywhere in between. I live in Alicante myself. Due to the crisis you can rent very good houses with sea views dead cheap these days. You can rent as a non-resident foreign.

PM me if you need any help.

DougieB, Plooking, what is a NIE? :confused1:

kmatejovsky, I agree with Plooking, start at the Spanish Consulate.

I am a Spanish national, living in Buenos Aires. to Spain. What I heard from a moto/auto dealer in Spain about 2 years ago, is that a simple tourist is not allowed to buy a vehicle in Spain.

I 'll be in Spain, in La Coruña, next september. Hope you are all moved in by then!

NIE, Número de Identificación de Extranjero.

A non-resident can't buy a car in Spain, of course not. Or, better said, yes, he can but he can't register it in its own name so back to square one. In order to register the car one must have a NIE and a "certificado de empadronamiento", a municipal inscription. A non-resident must export the car and register it on his country of residence.

Gracias Plooking, qué interesante!

Thing's are changing in Spain. To the extent of ex pat's moving in to Portugal. Due to the fact that Spain is taxing over sea's income to retired people. There was a program on the BBC about it a little while back. Less and less people are going to Spain on their holiday's. Which was the main or one of the main currency earns for that country. Now they are taxing pension's. Portugal are not doing this. In fact they are giving tax concession's to new people. Worth looking in to. Spain and Portugal are more or less the same in what ever you are looking for. I know people who live in Portugal from the UK. It took them next to a year to get all the paper work done for them to stay. And they where from with in the EU . Not saying you will need a bag full of money, but you will need a few bob on your pocket.
John933

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To buy petrol in Europe. Pull up at station. Wait. Get out a 20 Euro note, then ask someone to fill up the bike. Give person money. Ride away. Simple.

My situation is this:

I work as a consultant, through a broker in England. All my work is in Middle East and Africa.

I'm living in Denver, Colorado and at this time have nothing keeping me here. Also, the commute sucks. I'm working 35-40 days in the field with 40 days off between projects. It would be nice not to have to travel 25-30 hours to get home.

Just looking at options. Spain seems like the best choice for recreation, etc.

Ok, Maybe this is a better option, Portugal.

Most important thing, your nationality.

From what you said and your intentions, you will be considered tax resident in Spain.

As for living in Spain or Portugal, well... I'm Portuguese and live in Spain. But then again it depends on personal preferences.

Spain sounds a great choice for your circumstances.

I have a Spanish-registered KTM 690 Enduro in Spain in the Altiplano de Granada. In rural areas, especially in the mountains there's tracks everywhere. The problem with really rural areas, however, is that there's not the infrastructure that you might be used to such as shops, motorbike dealers and so forth.

Property rentals throughout Spain can be really cheap and there's no good reason to buy unless you plan to own the property for the really long term.

You can open a bank account before getting an NIE, but in order to buy a bike you'll certainly need an NIE and then the empadronamiento in order to prove your address for the registration. You do not need to be resident in Spain for either of the above, and taxation would only raise its ugly head if you are in Spain for 183 or more days per annum. If you are based in Andalucia then Morocco is just a ferry ride away (Almería or Málaga) which would be a great way to cut down the number of days in Spain.

Your US licence should be OK.

You can check out the current KTM range at KTM Spain

It's possible to import bikes but with extreme hassle and cost.

Some secondhand sites: segundamano.es and sercanto.es

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Tim, please allow me a few corrections:

1) Bank acct: for non-residents, these days only a few banks offer it. International ones mostly like Deutsche Bank for instance.

2) NIE: you can ask for a NIE without becoming a resident, yes. But for that you must show that you really have a legit need for it without becoming resident. In most cases it's easier and more appropriate to ask just for a NIF, a fiscal number.

3) Fiscal residency: there are aspects other than only the 183 days rule. Most important is having in Spain its personal base of affairs. This is something which the fiscal administration may decide by itself and in order to contradict them is a pain on this particular item. If you have a house in Spain and come back between assignments as the original poster said, there's no way around this rule.

4) Driving license: for EU nationals you must change it for a Spanish one during the first two years after obtaining your residency or alternatively follow a process to have your original license registered in the Spanish database and a credit of points which in the end is harder than changing it outright. The change of the license is a straight-forward procedure and the time it takes depends more on the time taken by the country which issues the driving license to confirm its validity rather than anything else. For nationals from a country other than an EU country it depends on a country-by-country basis. As a general rule the license must be changed after six months residence. For nationals of EU countries, not changing the license in the two years after obtaining residency subjects them to a 500€ fine. For all others it is a criminal offense for the original license is deemed invalid and therefore is the same as driving without a license.

5) Importing cars or motorcycles: It's not an hassle to import a car or bike. The whole process can be done in 3-4 days. It's expensive, yes, although cheaper than in Portugal. But not difficult.