Working in Spain as an expat

When you are thinking About Moving To Spain, you must consider very carefully how you are going to pay your bills. Despite what you may think, the cost of living in Spain is not that much cheaper than in the UK or USA and some things (electricity, electrical goods, some food items) are actually more expensive. So that 'little bit of money' you put by to live your Spanish 'life in the Sun' probably won't be anywhere near enough.

Unless you are moving to Spain as a retired person from the UK (in which case you will then get your pension paid to you wherever you live in the EU), you will need to work.

If you move to one of Spain's popular coastal areas, you will probably be able to get a job in the summer months working in a bar, restaurant or hotel, but this is seasonal work. Winters in Spain see many expats out of a job. So what else could you do?

This is where your options of finding work in Spain become limited. It will not only depend on how much Spanish you speak (without being able to speak fairly fluent Spanish you will stand hardly any chance at all of getting decent paying work), but also on the fact that Spain has very high unemployment rates.

The work that may be suitable for someone who speaks little Spanish (cleaning for example), will most likely go to 'someone who knows someone else'. The grapevine in local villages in Spain will get to the residents first.

Many people come to Spain thinking they can teach English to Spanish students. In the larger cities, with big universities, this could be the case. Even if you do not have the correct (TEFL) qualifications, you should be able to find some work. However, the rates of pay will be low and the hours will be long if you want to make enough money from teaching to live comfortably in Spain.

Teaching English to people in your local Spanish village or town could also be an option, but do not expect very high wages for this. You will, of course, also have to pay tax and national insurance as a self-employed business person so that you can sign up with a doctor under the national insurance scheme. And these rates are quite high for the self employed.

Many people either move to Spain with the idea of setting up a business, or soon decide that is the best way for them to work out here. There are now so many bars and restaurants in Spain, particularly along the coast, run by expats, that they are all in high competition with each other. Nevertheless, with hard work and lots of determination and good business sense, this could be a way of making a reasonable living when you move to here.

If you are a builder, plumber, electrician, carpenter or decorator, then you can probably find work in Spain. However, this will most likely be for an expat employer, as Spanish regulations require strict qualifications for all craftsment working for Spanish building firms. These will be as well as the qualifications you may already have, so you will either have to take them (and pay for them) when you move to Spain, or work for that expat employer, who will probably be less choosy about this.

Whatever work you do in Spain, if you work for an employer - Spanish or expat - you must try to ensure that your contract is for at least 6 months. This will protect you and give you the same rights as a Spanish employee and your employer must deduct payments from your wages for Spanish national insurance and tax, because without this you are working illegally and cannot claim health benefits.

If you are really stuck for finding a job when you move to Spain, don't give up. Think about what you can do to make your lifestyle still possible.

For instance, can you paint? Are you a good photographer? Are you good at sewing or another craft? If so, use those skills and show your goods around your local Spanish bars and restaurants, or set up a stall at a car boot sale (many large Spanish towns have these on a regular basis). Many expats in Spain find they can make a reasonable living this way. Again, it entails hard work, but who said that living a life in the sun would be easy?

When you think about moving to Spain and working here, it pays to 'think outside box'. Everyone has something to offer and enterprise, in Spain as in most countries, can pay off.

Moving to Spain - Mañana

I guess that, if you are serious about moving to Spain, then you will have read that life in Spain is slow and this is true in many senses.

The heat during the long Spanish summers ensures that things are never done at a rush. The siesta period (usually from about 12noon/1.30pm until around 4/5.30pm) is essential. When you first move to Spain you will find that you can do very little between those hours as the heat can be exhausting. It is then you will have great respect for the Spanish Siesta.

However, siesta time means that nearly all work in Spain comes to a halt and things can be delayed as a result. Work begins again after siesta and continues until around 8 or 9pm, but to the expat, newly living in Spain, this can seem like time wasted.

If you want work done on your Spanish renovation project, you may find that your builders work through part of the siesta to save daylight hours, but delivery drivers, electricians, surveyors, telephone engineers or any other service you may call upon will not. This can be very frustrating for someone unused to Spanish culture and who wants to get on with living their life in the sun as quickly as possible, as everything in Spain can appear to move in slow motion.

And when you couple this with the Spanish 'mañana', the new expat can find their patience driven to the limits.

It is likely that many people studying the Spanish language will assume that mañana means 'tomorrow'. Well yes, it does, but the term also means an awful lot more.

When, for example, you call a plumber or a telephone engineer, you will most likely be told that they will call 'mañana'. Don't hold your breath. There is an old saying 'tomorrow never comes'. People living in Spain don't exactly mean that when they tell you 'mañana', nevertheless, it can be a long time coming.

When moving to Spain you have to be prepared to live with this. Getting upset when you've waited in all day for the plumber to arrive will only get you stressed. And your Spanish telephone engineer will definitely be arriving at your villa 'mañana', but it may not be tomorrow. It could be next week or next month. Take a guess... And it is quite often not the fault of the Spanish worker. He could be waiting for special materials to arrive so that he can do his work. And he will have been told these will arrive 'mañana'.

The word 'mañana' can be as frustrating to Spanish people as to those who move to Spain. The difference is that they tend to shrug their shoulders and except this. The only way an expat can cope is to do exactly the same.

And in some ways the culture of 'mañana' is to be recommended. After all, when you planned on moving to Spain one of the things that probably attracted you was the slower pace of life here. So remember this when you are told something will be done 'mañana'.

And while you are waiting, why not go and soak up the spanish sunshine and try not to get too stressed?