Spain vs Portugal

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Expat Planning retirement Portugal vs Spain. Anyone up to sharing their personal view/experience. Pros and cons? Pleeeeaz. Thank you in advance.

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Research the nao habitual scheme in PT. ES taxes all income, plus wealth tax.

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You can't compare like this, you should narrow it down at least to some cities. Porto is better than Alicante, Madrid and Valencia are the best cities on the peninsula.

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Which language do you speak best??

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Sunny Mediterranean or cold Atlantic?

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Madrid is awful in the summer

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I know. I lived there. Still beats anything else on the peninsula and no part of Portugal comes even close to what Madrid offers.

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Pros: cheaper more open culture and better food.

Cons: If you move to a hot part of those countries then climate change over the next 20+ years will probably kill you before your age does, or at the very least the sweltering heat will make life miserable for a significant portion of the year.

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Could you please expand on that a little, why in your opinion is Madrid so much better than Lisbon ?

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I had the same question but it is really subjective. In my opinion, Madrid has more culture, museums, etc but Lisbon has better food , broadly more people speak English, has a river running through it and is 20 mins from beaches.

It really depends what you like/want

Spend a month in each city and decide

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This is all a matter of personal preferences. I am in no way looking to denigrate Lisbon, which is a fantastic place, no question. I personally, just happen to know Spain and Madrid as someone who has actually lived there and Portugal only as a traveler.

Having said that, I have always been with the impression that everything I can have in Portugal, I can have in Spain, however, the reverse is not necessarily true. Admittedly, the Bacalao obsession has diminished recently a bit in Lisbon, but interestingly enough, the best seafood I've been having is in Madrid. Not Lisbon, Barcelona or Valencia. In general, the food scene in Madrid is one of the most exciting ones in Europe. I think the stereotype that Barcelona is the food capital of Spain is long gone.

The other thing I highly appreciate in Madrid is that it's so central and well connected with high-speed RENFE, that traveling to Catalonia, the Basque country or Andalusia is fast, very pleasant and picturesque. As a foreigner I also feel much more comfortable in Madrid, it's much more international (not only from the perspective of touristic crowds) than Lisbon which is still much more local, if that makes any sense.

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Of course, until you arrive to Bilbao and the rest of Pais Vasco

People say it's cloudy and rainy, but come on...my new standard for cloudy is the Swiss plateau

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Oh, absolutely, cannot agree more! What's not to like! Best steaks ("retired" dairy cow is the best possible response to the "aged" young beef in other countries), rugby and some of the most interesting pintxos. I took this photo on a trip to Santiago as I don't recall ever seeing rugby in public spaces elsewhere across Spain (although they will play in the world cup this autumn)