Electric power in Europe

The only thing you ave to be careful, that some manufacturers in order to save their insane prices in Europe (ML 390s here 9.200 euro, equals 12.000 usd) and block black import, put a small chip inside their machines to allow run it only on 60hz. Thats a problem, and only Psaudio P300 would help you out. So, you really should check the manuals of each gear what it says.

Thanks to all of you that responded. Will contact PS Audio for more details on the 50hz issue. Hector

I just got back from 6 years in the UK. Rather than run stuff on a step down transformer, I had my line stage (Audio Research), DAC and CD transport (Classe) and amplifier (Bryston) converted at the respective manufacturer to 230V 50hz. Cost was about $100 USD per unit to do it this way and I'm doing it again now that I'm back in the States. It's definitely worth selling your gear over there rather than bringing it back (my mistake).

As for DVD's, buy a universal zone player over there. A cheapie will work fine. That way you can watch your US DVD's and buy/rent local DVD's. I didn't find that Region 1 DVD's to be easily available without paying more. If you still must have a VCR, buy one which can handle multi formats. They're cheap and readily available on the internet.

If you're going to be in a Spanish city, don't take too much stuff over as you'll be spending your time exploring the culture and traveling. Travel light and if you really need it, buy it over there. Unless you're out in the country-side, you'll be in a flat with neighbors and space is tight.

As for the job, nothing to think about. Go for it. I went over for 2 years and ended up staying for 6. My wife and I loved the experience and spent all our time and money on travel and food.

The current current standard for Europe is 220-240V, 50Hz delivered by a single live wire (brown), neutral (blue) and earth (yellow/green).
The national grids have not really changed, they just redefined the permissable standard. So, if Spain was 220V it probably still is.
If you got any tube gear do not convert it! This will be either expensive ( new input trannies) or bad (voltage splitter and dummy load). Once in Europe get yourself a mains transformer for a professional hammer drill (Hilti,Makita) as for some reason these run of 110V. They'll cost about 50-100 Euro.
Very popular with musicians using american amps and more reliable than the factory conversions.