Why Do Spaniards Live in Apartments While the Dutch Dream of a Villa?
Why Do Spaniards Live in Apartments While the Dutch Dream of a Villa?
When a Dutch person decides to buy a home in Spain, they usually have a very clear picture in mind.
A detached villa.
A private swimming pool.
A huge terrace.
A palm tree positioned perfectly for Instagram.
And, of course: peace and quiet.
No neighbours.
Especially no neighbours.
Meanwhile, a Spaniard looks at that enormous house, the garden and the swimming pool and probably has just one question:
Who is going to clean all that?
🏡 The Dutch dream: finally, some space!
The Dutch come from a country where owning a detached house has roughly the same status as owning a small castle.
We are used to terraced houses.
And gardens of twelve square metres that estate agents describe as:
"A generous, sunny outdoor space offering endless possibilities."
Those possibilities usually include:
☀️ one table
☀️ four chairs
☀️ and, if everyone holds their stomach in, a barbecue
So the moment we start looking at Spain, we get a little carried away.
Suddenly, we want:
🏡 a villa
🏊 a swimming pool
🌴 three palm trees
☀️ six terraces
🚗 a garage for a car we don't even own yet
🛏️ four bedrooms, even though only two people actually live there
"For when the children come to visit."
The children come three times a year.
But still.
Obviously, they each need their own wing.
☕ The Spanish dream: everything nearby and someone to talk to
Many Spaniards look at housing very differently.
An apartment in the middle of a lively neighbourhood?
Perfect.
The bakery downstairs.
The bar around the corner.
Family nearby.
And a neighbour who knows exactly what time you came home, who you were with and why.
That is not a security camera.
That is Carmen from 3B.
Carmen misses nothing.
A Dutch person looks at an apartment and asks:
"But where is the privacy?"
A Spaniard looks at a villa outside town and asks:
"But where are the people?"
And perhaps that is the biggest difference of all.
🤫 The Dutch buy silence and then discover it is very, very quiet
Dutch buyers often want peace.
Lots of peace.
So they buy a beautiful villa twenty minutes outside the village.
The first week is fantastic.
"Listen! You can't hear anything!"
Three weeks later:
"Shall we go to the supermarket? Just... for something to do?"
After two months, they know exactly what time the rubbish truck arrives and have formed an emotional bond with the delivery driver.
The Spaniard saw this problem coming from the beginning.
That is why he simply lives above a café.
🏊 And then there is the swimming pool...
For the Dutch, a swimming pool belongs in Spain like cheese belongs in the Netherlands.
Without one, it almost feels as if you haven't emigrated properly.
But a swimming pool has one annoying characteristic:
It does not maintain itself.
It needs cleaning.
The water needs checking.
The pump needs to run.
Leaves need to come out.
And in the end, you actually use it three times a week for ten minutes.
The rest of the time, you look at it.
A Spaniard may be perfectly happy with a communal swimming pool.
He swims.
He goes home.
Someone else figures out why the water has suddenly turned green.
That is not a lack of ambition.
That is efficiency.
🌴 The garden: a Dutch dream, a Spanish job
The Dutch see a large Spanish garden and think:
"How beautiful!"
Spaniards look at the same garden and think:
"How much water is that going to cost?"
We fantasise about lemon trees, orange trees, olive trees and bougainvillea.
Three months later, we are Googling:
"Why is my lemon tree dying?"
Then:
"How often should you water a lemon tree?"
And finally:
"Dutch gardener in Spain urgent."
☀️ In Spain, your home is not always your entire world
In the Netherlands, we spend a lot of time indoors because outside it is regularly raining, windy or both at the same time.
So when we think about a home, we automatically think about space inside the house.
A large living room.
A big kitchen.
A guest room.
An office.
A second office, in case the first office gets lonely.
In Spain, much more of daily life happens outside the home.
In the street.
On a terrace.
In the square.
In a restaurant.
With family.
Your home does not always need to be your entire universe.
Sometimes it is simply the place where you sleep, shower and argue about who set the air conditioning to 18 degrees.
🇪🇸 Apartment living is completely normal in Spain
For many Dutch people, an apartment can still feel like a temporary step.
Something for first-time buyers.
Or for people who will eventually move on to "a real house."
In Spain, things are different.
Families, older people and people who could easily afford another type of property often happily live in apartments.
Not because they cannot find a villa.
But because they have absolutely no desire for:
☀️ a huge garden to maintain
☀️ a swimming pool that constantly needs attention
☀️ two cars because everything is far away
☀️ a house full of rooms nobody enters for three months
A good apartment in the right location can be far more attractive than a large villa in the middle of nowhere.
Everything nearby.
Less maintenance.
More life around you.
And always someone available who knows exactly what is happening in the building.
Probably Carmen.
🤔 So who is right?
Nobody.
And everybody.
The Dutch person dreaming of a villa wants space, freedom and a private piece of Spain.
The Spaniard choosing an apartment wants convenience, company and everyday life close by.
One does not want to hear the neighbours.
The other wants to know why the neighbours are so quiet today.
Perhaps that is the real difference.
The Dutch often buy the life in Spain they have dreamed about for years.
Spaniards often choose the life that simply works best for them.
And that is why, at 8:00 on Saturday morning, the Dutch homeowner is fishing leaves out of the private swimming pool...
...while his Spanish neighbour is sitting on a terrace drinking coffee.
Which one made the better choice?
We'll get back to you as soon as the pool is clean. 😄
🏡 Villa or apartment: which one actually suits you?
Perhaps you dream of a detached villa with a private swimming pool.
Perhaps you would rather step outside your front door and find yourself immediately in the middle of Spanish life.
Or perhaps you always thought you wanted a villa...
...until you realised that someone has to maintain the garden.
At CasaOthers, you can discover different ways of living in Spain.
Browse the latest properties in Spain and discover what genuinely suits your life.
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