I've searched the forums for posts that might apply to our situation however, I've found nothing.

My wife is a citizen of the UK and I am an american citizen and also a legal permanent resident of the UK. We have been married for 7 years and are planning to make a move to Madrid soon. (long term)

I realize that my wife will have no problem seeking work and living in Spain due to the fact that she's a citizen of an EU member state. However, I'm a bit confused as to whether I will be able to legally reside and work in Spain as well.

My main questions are:

1. Will I be able to live and work in Spain?
2. Will I be able to get a bank account?
3. Is it difficult to find an apartment in the suburbs for say, 450 per month? (keep in mind I'm talking about living 20 to 25 miles out of the city)
4. What areas of Madrid should we be extra carefull in?

I appreciate any help any of you may be able to provide. It's difficult to find information with regard to the legal status of a couple in our position. All the info on the internet seems to be about EU citizens or non-EU citizens. I've yet to run across anything pertaining to people married to an EU citizen who is also a legal permanent resident of an EU member state.

Please help

Have you tried visiting the UK's Spain Consulate office or website @ http://www.conspalon.org/ ? If you don't find the answer there in their FAQ page you might consider simply sending them an email and I'm somewhat confident they'd reply with a "official" answer.

If anyone else has personal, firsthand information and/or experiences, please share! Best of luck!

Saludos, MadridMan

hello Blanco,
There are some web pages to search houses. I know these two links:
http://www.fotocasa.es/
http://www.idealista.com/pagina/portada

At the moment "Idealista" site has 4,328 houses to rent (para alquilar) in the whole province of Madrid, including the city. The average price for the rent(el alquiler) for those houses is 14 euros per square meter.

The cheapest house in the list is a 12 m2 wood cabin in the country 110km from Madrid city center wich costs 180 euros a month. Of course not suitable for living.
I am so sorry to say this but you will not find anything decent under 600 euros and that price is for 1-2 bedrooms aparment at least 30 or 40 km from Madrid centre.

I think what we have here is a failure to communicate. LOL

Maybe I should clarify what we deem to be "decent". If it keeps the rain off our heads, we have room enough to change our socks and maybe a bucket to pee in out back.. That's decent. We are well aware that it will only be a temporary situation until our situation improves. Hardship is no issue with us. We've slept in the jungle monsoons of central america night after night, navigated the Darien Gap and lived in places others wouldn't pee in. We are only interested in making due in the early days.

I have in fact been to both the sites you suggested before my initial writing and found a few places that fit our criteria. However, having traveled extensively for the past 25 years, I'm aware that the best deals are found not in the papers or on websites but, in the local shops or by talking to people at the local cafes and businesses.

I guess I really want to know what's going on at the street level from people who walk those streets daily. You know. gather a little local intel. For example, I know that for every listing I see on Segundo Mano there are probably two more that never make it to the internet. That's what I'm interested in.

I do appreciate you taking time out of your day to respond to my posting. Tools such as this site simply did not exist 25 years ago. The manner in which we travel is certainly not the norm so, I thought I would clarify a few points for anyone who may be able to assist us in future.

Thank You Once Again