Pieter & Carmen(41)

Carmen and I met during her Erasmus semester in Delft. She stayed, we married, had son Lucas. But after twelve years in the Netherlands she desperately missed her family in Seville. Her mother fell ill, and Carmen wanted to be close. I worked as a mechanical engineer at a water management company — not exactly a sector that thrives in Andalusia.

The solution came unexpectedly: my employer had a collaboration project with the Confederación Hidrográfica del Guadalquivir in Seville. They offered me a two-year secondment, with option to extend. My salary remained at Dutch level — €4,800 gross per month — but I paid Spanish tax through the IRPF system. Thanks to the Beckham Law regime for seconded workers I paid a flat rate of 24% on the first €600,000.

Carmen immediately found work as a Spanish-Dutch translator at a law firm serving Dutch expats. Her local network — family, old university friends, former neighbors — opened doors I would never have found alone as a foreigner. We found a rental house in the Triana neighborhood, across the Guadalquivir, for €1,100 per month. Three bedrooms, patio, and the sound of flamenco from the bar on the corner.

Lucas went to the public school in Triana. As half Spanish with a Spanish mother he adapted incredibly fast. Within a month he had friends and spoke Spanish on the playground. For me it took longer. I only spoke "hola" and "cerveza" when we arrived. After a year of intensive classes at the Escuela de Idiomas my Spanish is now at B2 level.

Seville summers are merciless — 45 degrees in July and August. Everyone flees to the beach or the mountains. We go to Carmen's family in Punta Umbría on the Costa de la Luz. But the rest of the year Seville is magical: the Semana Santa processions, the Feria de Abril, daily life on the plazas. Carmen radiates here. She's a different person than in grey Delft.

After two years we decided to stay permanently. My employer offered me a local contract. The salary is lower — €3,200 gross — but with Carmen's income and lower costs we live comfortably. The IBI (property tax) on our rental house is €380 per year. Our biggest expense is Lucas's school: we ultimately chose a concertado — a semi-private school — for €120 per month. It was the right choice for Carmen, for Lucas, and ultimately for me too.