Is the sentence correct?

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They've moved to Spain for three years.

Is the sentence correct? To me, it appears wrong because they do not take three years to moved to Spain.

Many thanks.

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I think it's okay.

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Thanks, Mc Tag.

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The context delivers the meaning.
You could say "They've gone to Spain for three years", which is virtually the same, but without the distraction of "moved".
But they're both fine.

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Thanks, again, Mc Tag.

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In BrE, "Moving" means moving one's residence; if I went to stay in a hotel in Spain for three years, keeping my present home going, I wouldn't be "moving" there.

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I agree with McT... and disagree with contrex, once again. Whether you are moving permanently or temporarily, for 3 months or 3 years, if you're living there, you've moved. Having another residence has nothing to do with it, IMO, because you're now, and for the next three years, living elsewhere.

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Well my goodness. Contrex was pointing out British English usage (as a favour and deserving of gratitude) and what he said sounded right to me.

"Moving" to Brits means "moving house", indeed that's where this particular sense of the phrase comes from I think, and consequently refers to upping stakes and moving lock, stock and barrel.
When you change your main place of residence, to a British person, is when you refer to yourself/your family as having "moved".

Mame, I never willingly disagree with you, you know that. Embarrassed

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Thank you, McTag. So many North Americans seem to think that their local brand of English is all there is, and all that anybody could possibly want to know about. Unless Mame is now purporting to know everything about British English usage?

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I know that Mame knows a lot, being Canadian. Smile

She even spells proper. Very Happy

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contrex wrote:

Thank you, McTag. So many North Americans seem to think that their local brand of English is all there is, and all that anybody could possibly want to know about. Unless Mame is now purporting to know everything about British English usage?

Agreed, Mame was a bit testy, Contrex, but you hardly qualified this response as indicative of only BrE.

So, McTag or Contrex, for BrE, if you move, errr, travel to another country but keep your home, even if rented out to others, you haven't actually moved. Is this correct?

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That depends.
If you keep your home but rent it out intending to return, then you haven't moved house.
It's a nice point.

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JTT wrote:

Agreed, Mame was a bit testy, Contrex, but you hardly qualified this response as indicative of only BrE.

I thought I had.

Quote:

In BrE, "Moving" means moving one's residence

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McTag wrote:

That depends.
If you keep your home but rent it out intending to return, then you haven't moved house.

It's a nice point.

That's confusing for us, McTag. Why would anyone transport their house to say, Paris, when it's much easier to buy or rent one there? Smile

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Which part of the world do you hail from, JTT? If you've answered that question before, I apologise for having missed it or having forgotten the answer.

I think the key to the problem, if problem there be, is in the concept of moving house or moving houshold, not in the simple act of moving.

Medieval kings used to move around their kingdom, They travelled with their whole retinue and stayed in this castle or that, but always returned to their capital, and their own gaff. No-one thought they had moved, they were just travelling as kings do. German kings did that, since Charlemagne.

Nowadays if people relocate for a finite period with the intention of returning, we do not regard them as having "moved". It's the same thing.
Well almost the same thing.

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McTag wrote:

That depends.
If you keep your home but rent it out intending to return, then you haven't moved house.
It's a nice point.

So what do you call the above situation? Temporarily relocated?

So you've only "moved" if you're never going back to the original home?

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Quote:

So what do you call the above situation? Temporarily relocated?

Something like that.