Single-item shipping UK to Spain
One-piece, fully insured

What counts as single-item work

Single-item shipping is for one piece whose handling, rather than its size, decides how it travels: an upright or grand piano, a harp, a sculpture, a large framed canvas, a longcase clock, or an antique cabinet that cannot be taken apart. What these have in common is that the risk sits in getting the piece out of one building and into another, not in the distance between them.

Vehicles of any age are not single-item work. They travel with the specialist vehicle-transport partner we book and coordinate, described on our vehicle relocation page.

How a single item travels, step by step

1. You send photographs, dimensions and, where you know it, the weight. For a piano we need the make and model, because construction varies a great deal.
2. We survey access at the UK end, and ask you or your agent for photographs of the Spanish entrance, stairs, lift and doorways. Both buildings shape the plan.
3. We specify the protection: a bespoke crate for art and sculpture, a padded cradle and skid for a piano, and a fitted case for instruments sensitive to knocks and humidity.
4. Our UK crew collects with the right equipment for the piece, such as a piano board, a stair-climber or lifting straps, and crates it on site where needed.
5. The item travels on a scheduled run with its own inventory line and a declared value for insurance.
6. We declare it to customs either as part of your household relief claim or on its own terms, depending on why it is moving.
7. Our Spanish destination team delivers, uncrates and places the piece, and takes the crate away unless you want to keep it.

What changes the quote for one piece

Weight and construction come first, then access: tight turns, a staircase without a lift, or a route that needs a window removed or an external hoist. The crating specification and the declared value both feed in. So does the reason the item is moving. A piece that belongs to your own change of residence can usually sit on the relief claim, while a sale, a gift or a gallery loan is declared differently and may carry tax.

Spain-specific considerations

In an old-town building without a lift, a piano or a large cabinet often goes in through a balcony using an external lift platform. That needs the comunidad's agreement and, because the platform stands in the street, usually a permit from the ayuntamiento to occupy the public road. We apply for it once the survey confirms the hoist is needed.

Climate matters for wood and veneers. A piano moving from a damp UK house to a dry inland flat in Madrid or Granada will move as it settles, so plan on having it tuned once it has acclimatised rather than straight away. Coastal properties bring the opposite problem, and we pack against humidity there.

Some pieces need export paperwork before they leave the UK. Older or valuable works of art and antiques can need an export licence from Arts Council England, and instruments containing ivory, tortoiseshell or certain rosewoods can need CITES documents. We ask about this at survey. The customs declarations guide and our complete guide to moving to Spain cover the wider customs picture.