Removals from the UK to Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country, usually on the direct ferry to Santander or Bilbao. Packed for a wet climate and delivered in about a week.
Removals to Northern Spain from the UK almost never go the long way through France. For Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country we normally put the lorry on the direct Brittany Ferries crossing from Portsmouth or Plymouth to Santander or Bilbao, which lands your goods on the right side of the Pyrenees after about a day at sea. The north is green, mountainous and wet, and the people who move there have usually chosen it precisely because it is not the Costa: cooler summers, serious food, cities with real working economies and a coastline that looks more like Cornwall than Benidorm.
The ferry ports are the obvious starting points. Santander, Cantabria’s capital, is an elegant seaside city with beaches in town. Bilbao, in the Basque Country, is the region’s biggest city and a working one, with the Guggenheim and a lively old quarter, the Casco Viejo. Along the coast east of it, San Sebastián — Donostia in Basque — sits around its famous bay and has some of the most expensive property in Spain.
Heading west, Asturias brings Oviedo and Gijón and a coast of cliffs and fishing villages backed by the Picos de Europa. Then comes Galicia: Santiago de Compostela with its cathedral and pilgrim routes, the port city of A Coruña, and a countryside of scattered hamlets, stone houses and the raised granaries called hórreos. We move people to all of it — younger professionals heading to Bilbao for work, Spanish families returning home after years in Britain, and British buyers restoring a stone farmhouse in the Galician hills.
The north gets a lot of rain, and it affects the move in two ways. First, packing: cartons that would be fine for a dry run to Alicante need to be export grade here, and furniture is fully pad-wrapped so a wet transfer from lorry to door does not mark it. Second, access: a Galician or Asturian farmhouse at the end of a lane can be fine in summer and a muddy slope after a week of rain, so we plan a smaller transfer vehicle where the track needs one, and we allow for weather in the delivery day.
The cities have their own awkwardness. San Sebastián’s Parte Vieja and Bilbao’s Casco Viejo are old, narrow and partly pedestrianised; Santiago’s historic centre is tight and busy with pilgrims. Many older city buildings have small lifts. Basque country houses, the caseríos, often sit on hillsides reached by steep, winding roads.
The terrain is also why the ferry makes sense: it avoids a long climb over the Pyrenees and lands the lorry within an easy drive of most northern addresses.
We also think about what the north asks of your furniture once it is there. Houses in Galicia and Asturias are built for damp winters: stone walls, small windows, and often a wood-burning stove or central heating that runs for much of the year. Antique furniture that has lived happily in a centrally heated Sussex house can take time to adjust to a different humidity, so we advise letting solid wood acclimatise before it is pushed against a stone wall, and keeping books and paperwork in sealed boxes until you know which rooms stay driest. Bilbao and San Sebastián apartments are a different story again: modern, well insulated and often compact, so the same conversation about what fits applies as in any Spanish city. At survey we talk through the property you are going to, not just the one you are leaving, so the load that reaches the north is the right one for the house that receives it.
Because the lorry goes by ferry, the export side of the customs file is completed in Britain before it sails, and the Spanish entry is made through our destination agent once the goods land. The relief that matters is the same across Spain: moving your normal residence there, with goods you have owned and used for at least six months, means no IVA or duty on an approved ToR1. You need an NIE for the goods to be released, and registration on the padrón at your town hall supports your residence.
Two things are more northern than elsewhere. Many of our customers here are Spanish nationals returning home after years in Britain, who will not need an NIE because they have a Spanish DNI, but who still need their goods properly declared as a return of residence. And the Basque Country has its own provincial tax authorities, the Haciendas Forales, which handle most local tax matters there — customs, however, remains national, handled by the Spanish Tax Agency (Agencia Tributaria), so the import of your household goods follows the same process as anywhere else in Spain.
Allow a total transit of 5–7 days, the quickest of our Spanish routes. The sailing from Portsmouth or Plymouth takes around a day, and from Santander or Bilbao the drive to most northern addresses is short. Galicia is the far end of the region and sits towards the longer end of the window.
Sailings run to a timetable, so the ferry day anchors the plan and we book it early, particularly in summer when the crossing is busy with holiday traffic. A sole-use load follows your dates; a shared load waits for a sailing with space. If the house purchase in Cantabria or the Basque Country is late, our storage before overseas shipping at Lower Dicker keeps your goods dry and safe until the ferry is booked. We will always tell you which sailing your goods are on and when the lorry is expected at your door, so you can plan your own journey north — whether you are flying into Bilbao or Santiago, or taking the car on a later sailing yourself.
We are a family-owned removals business in East Sussex, set up in 2017, and Northern Spain is the Spanish route where our team’s packing discipline counts most, because rain is part of the delivery plan. You start with a free survey and a fixed quote that includes the ferry, the destination agent, customs entry and delivery into the house. Wood, upholstery and books travel with export packing and crating for a wet climate, and anything precious goes in a sealed custom-built timber crate. Our full export packing service takes the job off your hands, or we deliver export-strength packing boxes if you are packing yourself. Pianos go with our piano transport team.
We are a member of the BAR Overseas Group of removers and work to the BS 8564 overseas removals standard. Have a look at our reviews from customers who moved with us, meet the Mark Ratcliffe Moving family, or read the wider guide to moving to Spain. If you are weighing the north against the Mediterranean, the Catalonia and Barcelona removals page covers the other side of the Pyrenees, and our removals to Portugal page covers the country just south of Galicia. Call Mark on 01323 848 008.
Looking further south for the sun? These are the Mediterranean and island routes we run.
Total transit is typically 5–7 days, the quickest of our Spanish routes, because we normally use the direct Brittany Ferries crossing to Santander or Bilbao. Galicia sits towards the longer end of that window.
The direct sailing from Portsmouth or Plymouth lands the lorry close to most northern addresses after around a day at sea, avoiding the long drive through France and over the Pyrenees.
Yes. We use export-grade cartons and full pad-wrap so a wet transfer from lorry to door does not damage anything, and we plan transfer vehicles for rural tracks that turn muddy after rain.
You will not need an NIE because you have a Spanish DNI, but your goods still need to be declared correctly as a return of residence. We prepare the inventory and file the paperwork with you before the ferry sails.
No. The Basque provincial tax offices, the Haciendas Forales, handle most local tax matters, but customs is national, so importing household goods follows the same process as the rest of Spain.
Call us for a free, no-obligation quote, or use our online form. Whether it is a shared part-load or a whole house, we have handled the route before and we will handle yours with care.