Finding Work in Spain

HOW TO FIND WORK AND EMPLOYMENT IN SPAIN 2012

If you are moving to Spain from Northern Europe or North America then of course you are wanting to try find work or employment before you arrive so you know you will be able to survive financially.

Finding work and employment before you arrive in Spain means you should be offered a contract which will entitle you to free medical care. Without a contract you are working illegally and you won't have health care in Spain unless you pay to go private.

Finding well paid work and employment in Spain is not easy unless you are fluent in Spain and/or have sought-after work skills such as perhaps computing skills or engineering skills.

Many people who move to Spain looking to find work and employment, find work so difficult to get, that they end up starting their own business in Spain. We have a section on this at the bottom of the page.

To find work in Spain we really recommend picking up a basic knowledge of Spanish otherwise you will be limited to typical expat work. By this we mean work such as building work, plumbing work, removal work, cleaning swimming pools, villa cleaning and gardening.

This sort of work in Spain is very much casual, you won't be on a regular wage or contract and will likely be paid cash. Work can be sporadic and irregular and will be found through word of mouth when you are in Spain. To find this sort of work in Spain it is best to visit local pubs and bars and ask if anyone can give you work.

If you are a professional person with some basic Spanish you could try find work in Spain in an estate agency. Spain's property boom means there are plenty of opportunities for work in property related companies.

To find jobs and employment in Spain we recommend scouring websites on Spain in particular you can find adverts for work on most expat sites.

If you are looking for temporary work in Spain then you may also want to check out our pages on finding summer jobs in Spain.

Below we have a good article supporting the theme of this page which essentially looks at whether it is possible to come to Spain and find work that is reasonably paid and with good working conditions and prospects.

FINDING WORK IN SPAIN - IS IT VIABLE?

By Nick Snelling

Of course, not everyone moving to Spain is retired. Whilst this may be true of the majority of people, there are still many who come to work in Spain as 'part and parcel' of their permanent relocation. It is equally true to say that quite a few people with pensions find that they have to work (albeit often part time) to subsidise their incomes. This has been particularly the case since the huge drop in the value of Sterling against the Euro over the past couple of years.

So, what is it like working in Spain and what job opportunities exist?

Firstly (and obviously), you can, as a right, work in Spain if you are an EU citizen - although you must to be properly registered and pay tax or make a tax return to the Spanish authorities. It is best to do this by using a Gestor who will advise you on your options (as an employee or self-employed person etc.). He will also be able to help you with all the necessary paperwork.

As to the opportunities that exist to work in Spain - these depend upon your own skills and also the condition of the economy at the time. To state the obvious, the Spanish economy now (January 2009) is in a terrible state with unemployment around 19% (according to Spanish government figures). This means that non-specialised work in Spain is hard to find. This is particularly true if the work in Spain you seek in any way competes with the Spanish themselves - or with existing cheap rate immigrant labour from the new EU countries or the Third World.

Traditionally British people moving to Spain with the intention of working in Spain have tended to gravitate into one of five sectors:

1. Bars and bar work.
2. Construction.
3. Estate agency.
4. B&B or holiday apartment rentals.
5. Property maintenance of villas in Spain

At the moment, all of the above are suffering terribly from the current recession. The construction industry has largely collapsed and, along with it, sufficient Spanish property sales to make earning an income, as an estate agent, in any way easy. Certainly, sales of both villas in Spain and apartments have dropped radically over the past couple of years.

Meanwhile, bars are tending to show significant decreases in income because of the fall in the purchase power of Sterling (within British areas) and the drop in disposable wealth amongst the Spanish themselves.

Unhappily, one of the most reliable ways of making an income was through holiday rentals and B&Bs. However, even this type of business has also taken a 'hit', if it has depended upon the British marketplace - once again weakened by the fall in Sterling. This has made holiday making in Spain some 30% more expensive for the British than it was a couple of years ago. Of course, Euro travellers have not been affected which means that those clever enough to re-target their marketing have suffered less.

Finally, property maintenance of villas in Spain (both for elderly permanent foreign owners and those Britons owning second homes in Spain) has remained fairly constant. However, as can be imagined, the competition for looking after villas in Spain (and the accompanying minor repair jobs) has become fierce and has affected what can be earned.

From all of this, you may draw the conclusion that working in Spain is impossible! This is not true - although at the moment (recessions do not last for ever!), it is certainly difficult. The secret, of course, is to either make sure that you secure a job before you come over or you have a specialist skill - or the ability to enter a particular market that is not currently being fully exploited.

Equally, moving to Spain can be a clever thing to do if you are able to make an income on the internet through e-commerce. Obviously, so long as you have a an ADSL connection then you can work in Spain without having to worry about the conventional marketplace. The cautionary warning to this, however, is that you must not take an ADSL connection for granted. Indeed, in rural areas some types of Spanish property lack land line telephones and are unlikely (for the foreseeable future) to gain them! So, be very careful about where you move to Spain - to ensure that the communications you need are good enough for any internet work.

Certainly, the possibilities for working in Spain are not something that you should treat lightly. If you want to move to Spain then do not underestimate the conventional Spanish market where there is a lot of competition, not least from the Spanish themselves - and they are not short of modern skills! Equally, appreciate that (unless you intend working only with English speakers) you will need good Spanish to have much chance of competing with a native Spaniard if the skills of both of you are similar. Furthermore, work in Spain is not (normally) highly paid and you may be quite shocked at the low rates of pay in Spain - compared to the rest of Northern Europe.

Nick Snelling is a journalist and author of three books on Spain including 'How to Move Safely to Spain'

Related Make a Living in Spain Pages:

Finding Work and Employment in Spain

HOW TO FIND WORK AND EMPLOYMENT IN SPAIN 2012

FINDING WORK IN SPAIN - IS IT VIABLE?