Gillingham → Spain
The longest of our regular runs and the one with the most paperwork attached. Load in Medway, down through France, across the border, and deliver to the door — apartment lifts and shuttle vans included.
Most Spanish moves that go wrong go wrong on documentation, not on driving. So this page starts where the job starts. Moving your household to Spain means an import declaration, and the Spanish authorities want specifics: a numbered inventory with descriptions and values, your NIE, proof of your Spanish address — padrón, deeds or a rental contract — and evidence that you are moving your life rather than your stock.
The NIE is the one to start early. Everything else is filed against it, and we have seen more Spanish loads wait on an NIE application than on anything else. We prepare the declaration and the inventory from the survey; you supply the personal documents, and we will keep asking until they are all in.
A Spanish customs inventory has to describe contents, not containers. "Carton 14 — kitchen" is the kind of line that gets a load looked at. "Carton 14 — saucepans, crockery, cutlery, utensils" is the kind that does not. We write it properly at survey, which is also why we would rather see the house than take a list over the phone.
M2 at junction 3 or 4, across to the M20, then Eurotunnel at Folkestone or the Dover ferry. From Calais it is the long French leg — the A26 and A6 south, or down the Atlantic side on the A10 if you are heading for the western border. Vehicles cross into Spain at Irun for Madrid, Galicia and the west, or at Le Perthus for Catalonia and the whole eastern coastline.
After the border it is the AP-7 down the Mediterranean coast, or the A-1 and A-4 for Madrid and Andalucía. Long days, driver hours that have to be respected, and an overnight built into the plan rather than hoped around.
Alicante · Jávea · Moraira · Torrevieja · Denia
The busiest destination on our Spanish book by a distance. Mostly apartments and villas, mostly part-furnished, which means smaller loads and more of them. Urbanisation access is generally fine; the older villages inland are not.
Málaga · Marbella · Estepona · Fuengirola · Nerja
Apartment blocks with underground parking that a Luton will not enter, so shuttles are routine. Book the lift with the community administrator before the day — some buildings restrict moving hours entirely.
Valencia · Gandía · Castellón · Peñíscola
A growing share of work moves rather than retirements. City deliveries need a time window agreed in advance; the old quarters have streets no removal vehicle was designed for.
Granada · Almería · the pueblos blancos · Murcia province
The villages people move to once the coast stops appealing. Steep, narrow, occasionally stepped. We look at these on satellite first and plan a small-van shuttle as a matter of course.
Bilbao · Santander · Galicia · Mallorca
Less common but perfectly doable. The Balearics add a sea crossing from the mainland, which changes the schedule and the paperwork slightly.
Retirements, still, though fewer than a decade ago and with more paperwork attached since the visa rules changed. Alongside them: people buying a place to spend winters in, families relocating for work to Valencia and Barcelona, and — increasingly — people coming the other way, selling in Spain and moving back to Kent. That return leg is a real part of our Spanish work and it has its own paperwork on the UK side.
Get the NIE. Confirm whether your building restricts moving hours, because Spanish communities often do. Send us photographs of the delivery access — the street, the entrance, the lift if there is one. And decide early what is not going: Spanish properties are smaller on average than Kent ones, and the cheapest thing you can ship is nothing.
Comparing destinations? The European removals hub sets the four routes side by side, and Portugal shares most of the same drive.
By road. We load at your ME7 or ME8 address, run out via the M2 and M20 to the Channel, then drive down through France and cross into Spain at Irun in the west or Le Perthus in the east depending on your destination. Delivery is to the property, with furniture positioned and packaging removed.
A detailed inventory, a customs declaration, your NIE number, padrón or proof of your Spanish address, and evidence of transferring your residence. Spain also expects the inventory to be specific — "box of kitchen items" will not do where "box: saucepans, crockery, utensils" will.
For the customs process, yes — it is the number everything is filed against. Apply for it early, because it is the document that most often holds a Spanish move up. We will tell you what else is needed alongside it.
For most apartment moves, yes. Spanish properties are frequently sold part-furnished, so the load is often a fraction of a UK house. Sharing a vehicle with other moves on the same route costs less; the trade is that the van leaves when the route is full.
Not directly, usually — the height restriction stops a Luton at the ramp. We park where we legally can, shuttle in with a smaller vehicle or trolleys, and use the building lift. It takes longer and we account for it in the quote rather than on the day.
They travel fine. Bear in mind Spanish plug sockets and that some appliances are cheaper to replace than to ship — we will give you an honest view at survey on whether a fifteen-year-old washing machine is worth the space it takes.
Yes, once the gas bottle is out and the barbecue is clean. Gas bottles themselves cannot travel under any circumstances.
Yes. Spanish conveyancing runs to its own timetable and it is common for the UK end to be ready first. Containerised storage here bridges the gap, and the load goes out when your notary date is confirmed.
Tell us the Medway address, the Spanish one, and whether you have your NIE yet. We will take it from there.