Privacy policy
Last updated 2 October 2026.
Who we are
The Tertulia Index (tertuliaindex.com) is a free research site for Americans planning to retire in Spain. We are responsible for the personal information described here. Write to hello@tertuliaindex.com about anything in this policy.
What we collect, and why
When you start the survey
Your email address, first name, last name (optional), when you plan to move, and whether you also want the Tertulia Letter. When you reach your result, we pass your name, email address, move timing and your three towns to our email provider, which emails you the result with a link to confirm your address. If you leave the survey before the end, your name and email address are not kept. We send the Letter only if you tick the box, and only after you confirm your address (double opt-in).
Your survey answers
Who is moving, age band, rough income, net wealth and home value, how you balance tax against daily life, what matters to you, the islands question, the extras you pick, anything you tell us we missed, the US state if you give it, and how useful you found the result. We use them to compute your result and, without your name or email attached, to decide what the Index measures next. We store your answers apart from your name and email: they are linked only by a code that our email provider assigns.
The Tertulia Letter
Your email address, with your consent, until you unsubscribe.
Contributions
Your town, the year you moved there, your ratings, any numbers you share, and your email address, so we can credit you and follow up. Your email is held by our email provider, not with your answers.
"Challenge a number"
The figure you challenge, your source and your email address, so we can reply.
Running the site
To stop abuse we limit how many requests one connection can make. For that we keep a one-way, salted code derived from your IP address; the salt changes every day, and the codes are deleted after 24 hours. We do not keep IP addresses. Cloudflare Turnstile checks that forms are sent by a person; it processes technical information about your browser to do so. We use Cloudflare Web Analytics, which counts visits without cookies and without identifying you.
Town summaries on the Index page are loaded by your browser directly from Wikipedia, so Wikipedia receives your IP address when you open a town; see the Wikimedia Foundation's privacy policy.
Legal bases
Sending your result: your request. The Tertulia Letter: your consent, which you can withdraw at any time. Research with your answers, credits for contributions and replies to challenges: our legitimate interest in improving the Index, balanced against yours; you can object at any time. Abuse prevention: our legitimate interest in keeping the site available.
Who processes it for us
Kit (kit.com, in the United States) holds names and email addresses and sends our emails. Cloudflare hosts the site and the database that holds survey answers, contributions and challenges, and runs Turnstile and Web Analytics. Both act on our instructions under data-processing terms. Where information leaves the European Economic Area or the UK, it is protected by those providers' standard contractual clauses or equivalent safeguards. We do not sell or share personal information, and we do not use it for advertising.
How long we keep it
Survey answers: three years, then deleted. Letter subscriptions: until you unsubscribe. Contributions and challenges: as long as they are needed for the edition they inform, and no longer than three years. Rate-limit codes: 24 hours.
No cookies
This site sets no cookies and stores nothing in your browser, so there is no cookie banner.
Your rights
Under the GDPR and the UK GDPR you can ask to see, correct, delete, restrict or receive a copy of your information, object to its use, and withdraw consent. Under US state privacy laws, including California's, you can ask what we hold, have it corrected or deleted, and you will not be treated differently for asking; we do not sell or share personal information. Every email has an unsubscribe link. For anything else, write to hello@tertuliaindex.com; we answer within one month. You can also complain to a data protection authority, such as Spain's AEPD or the UK's ICO.
Children
The site is meant for adults planning a retirement and is not directed at anyone under 18.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will appear here with a new date. If a change affects how we use information you have already given us, we will tell you by email first.