Turning a scouting trip into evidence you can compare

Key rules

• Same tests: Run the same tests, in the same order, in every place, or the comparison is not fair.
• Night noise: Check noise at night from the street and from a window of any flat you view.
• Holiday-let data: Registries miss unlicensed flats, so confirm tourist density with a street visit.
• Weights: Weight each category's score to match your own priorities before you compare.

Use the same tests everywhere

Compare places only on what you measured the same way in each. A lovely afternoon in one town and a rainy morning in another tells you nothing. Pick your categories before you travel, run the same tests in every place, and write results in one fixed template.

Categories to record in every place

• Cost: rent, groceries, utilities and a typical menú del día (the set weekday lunch).
• Housing: condition, heating, damp, noise and sun.
• Climate: what it is like in the season you will actually live there.
• Healthcare: the centro de salud, the hospital, the pharmacy, and whether anyone speaks English.
• Transport: rail, bus, airport, whether you need a car, and how walkable it is.
• Connectivity: fibre speed and mobile coverage.
• Daily services: shops, market, bank, school.
• Language and community: how much English or your own language is used, and what social groups exist.
• Safety and noise: by day and by night.
• Year-round life: what stays open in the off-season.
• Gut feeling: a personal score, written down on the spot.

Record times, prices and photos. Give each category a score, and weight the scores to match your priorities. The scorecard below is built for this.

Tests that need you on the street

The field checklist below lists each test. Here is why they matter and how to plan them.

Afternoon test. Shops, banks and offices often shut in the early afternoon and reopen around 17:00. Walk the area on a weekday between 14:00 and 17:00 and count what is closed. Small towns close for longer, and hot southern areas can break longer still in summer. Large chains, supermarkets and shopping centres often stay open all day. Many shops close on Sunday, and August brings many closures, so avoid judging a place on a single August visit.

Night test. Stand in the street from 22:00 to midnight on a Friday or Saturday, and again after midnight. See whether bar terraces fill the street. If you view a flat, stand at a window or on the balcony at night. That is the best noise test.

Lived-in or tourist street. Look for pharmacies, hardware shops, bakeries and bars with local customers. Menus in many languages point the other way. Check the same street on a Tuesday morning, ideally in the off-season.

Holiday lets. Look for key lockboxes at doors, wheeled suitcases, tourist-flat lists on intercoms and owners' notices banning them. Before you go, check the tourist-dwelling statistics from the national statistics office, your region's tourism registry and, in big cities, the council's maps. Since July 2025 there is also a national registry of short-term lets. These lists miss unlicensed flats, so always confirm on the street.

Health centre. Each region runs its own health service. Its website or health-card portal often shows which centro de salud covers an address, and some require padrón registration first. On site, note opening hours, the waiting room, how appointments are booked, and any signs in other languages. Measure the distance from the home to the centre, the nearest pharmacy and the hospital emergency department.

Plan your scouting day around Spanish hours

Lunch is the main meal, usually 14:00 to 16:00, often as a menú del día. Dinner is typically 21:00 to 23:00, and kitchens often open from 20:30. The north and Catalonia eat slightly earlier, and Madrid and Andalusia later. Offices commonly run 8:00 or 9:00 to 17:00 or 18:00 with a one-to-two-hour lunch break, so book errands and viewings for the morning.

Visit at different times of day, and in the off-season if you can. Repeat the same sequence in every place.

The documents below show what you will need once you settle.

Documents you need

• Padrón certificate showing your residential address, issued by your town hall. The padrón is the local residents' register. It is needed to be assigned a public centro de salud when you apply for the health card.

• Tarjeta sanitaria (public health card), issued by your region's health service. It gives you a family doctor and nurse at your assigned centro de salud, and you can often ask for a different centre.

What to check on the ground in each Spanish place

Daily-life tests to run in each place

• Stand at a window or on the balcony of any flat you view at night to hear the real noise level.

• Look for signs of a lived-in street: pharmacies, hardware shops, bakeries and bars with local customers, and menus in one language only.

• Check the street on a Tuesday morning, ideally in the off-season, to see whether it is busy outside tourist times.

• Find the assigned centro de salud (public health centre) for the address using the regional health service website, then visit it and note its opening hours, waiting room and appointment system.

• Test mobile and internet coverage inside each flat you view.

• Write down what you find in the same order in every place, so the result feeds your verdict on whether the place is worth a longer stay.

Scorecard for comparing the places you scouted

Copy this sheet once for each place you visit. Fill in every line the same way in every place, so you can compare them side by side after the trip.

Place: ____________ Dates visited: ____________ Season: ____________ Scored by: ____________

Step 1: Must-haves (pass or fail)

Pick two to four things you cannot live without before you travel. Write them here and answer yes or no in each place. A "no" takes the place out, whatever its score.

Step 2: Set your weights once

Agree the weights with your partner before the trip, and use the same ones for every place. Give more weight to what matters most to your household. A family might put more on healthcare and schools. The weights must add up to 100.

Step 3: Score each place from 1 to 5

1 is poor, 3 is acceptable, 5 is excellent. Write down what you saw, such as prices, times and photo numbers, so the score has evidence behind it.

Skip any line that does not apply to you, and share its weight among the others so the total stays at 100.

Step 4: Work out the result

For each line, multiply the score by the weight and divide by 100. Add up all the lines to get a result out of 5: ______

After the trip

• Compare as a pair. Each of you fills in a sheet alone, then you compare the scores and talk about the biggest differences.
• Test the weights. Change the weights a little and see if the ranking changes. If it does, the places are close and the gut-feeling line may decide it.
• Check another season. A place scored in summer can feel very different in winter. If you can, score it again in a second season before you decide.

Frequently asked questions

Which categories should I score the same way in every place?

Use the same set of categories in every place: cost, housing, climate, healthcare, transport, connectivity, daily services, language and community, safety and noise, year-round life, and a personal gut-feel score. Record times, prices and photos in one fixed template.

How can I tell how many tourist flats a neighbourhood has before I visit?

You can check the national statistics office's figures on tourist dwellings, which give counts by municipality and census district. Regional tourism registers list licensed units, and some city councils publish maps. Since July 2025 a national registry also gives short-term lets a registration number. Unlicensed flats are missed, so confirm with a street visit.

Why do shops and offices seem closed when I scout in the afternoon?

Many small shops and offices close for a long midday break, usually from about 14:00 until 16:30 or 17:00, and then reopen until 20:00 or 21:00. Large chains, supermarkets and shopping centres often stay open all day. Many shops close on Sunday, and August brings many closures, so plan errands for mornings.

What time should I plan lunch and dinner on a scouting day?

Plan lunch for 14:00 to 16:00, when many places serve a set menu del día (fixed-price lunch).