press rank #30 · ~$1,600/mo

Can you live unwatched in Spain?

Compulsory DNI card and cash limits on big purchases, otherwise open.

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The privacy scorecard

State surveillance4/5
Facial recognition3/5
No national ID2/5
Data-protection law5/5
Encryption4/5
VPN freedom5/5
Democracy5/5
Free expression4/5
Cash still works4/5
Financial privacy3/5
Crypto freedom4/5
Easy to stay3/5
Off-grid living5/5
8 cameras / 1,000 people press rank #30 ~$1,600/mo national average

Childhood vaccines: recommended, never required

Spain has no mandate and coverage above 95 per cent, which is the argument its health service makes against one.

If you skip them: Nothing, although a judge can order a vaccination during an outbreak.

Exemptions: Not needed.

Source: Vaccines 2024;12:1296, European survey

Legal & financial exposure

Facts about the law, not a privacy score: whether each one helps or hurts depends on what you are trying to do.

Reports your account balances abroad (CRS)

Extradition treaty with the US

Crypto capital gains are taxed

Progressive capital gains tax, 19% to 28%.

4 of 7 signals are unverified for this country: not shown, rather than guessed.

125 real places in Spain

Facial recognition, Bitcoin friendliness and cost vary by city even inside the same country.

Madrid

~$1,800/mo! facial recognition present₿ crypto 3/5

Barcelona

~$2,200/mo! facial recognition present₿ crypto 3/5

Valencia

~$1,900/mo! facial recognition present₿ crypto 3/5

Seville

~$1,600/mo! facial recognition present₿ crypto 3/5

Malaga

~$1,650/mo! facial recognition present₿ crypto 3/5

Palma de Mallorca

~$2,100/mo! facial recognition present₿ crypto 3/5

Gran Canaria

~$1,750/mo! facial recognition present₿ crypto 3/5

Las Palmas

~$1,800/mo! facial recognition present₿ crypto 3/5

Bilbao

~$1,900/mo! facial recognition present₿ crypto 3/5

Alicante

~$1,600/mo! facial recognition present₿ crypto 3/5

Córdoba

~$1,650/mo! facial recognition present₿ crypto 3/5

Vigo

~$1,650/mo! facial recognition present₿ crypto 3/5

Weigh Spain against your own threat model

Surveillance, speech, money: filter thousands of real places across every country and see where Spain actually ranks.

Browse every place

Not just privacy?

Arcadia matches the same real places against how you actually want to live: weather, cost, healthcare, schools, internet.

Find where to live on Arcadia

Country-level estimates for orientation, not legal advice. Surveillance law changes fast: verify anything you would act on.