Living in Spain?

Question

I would like to move out to Spain to live but have been told it is hard to earn a living in the winter.
Also the health care is expensive

Answer 1

Depends on alot of things but if you have a few qualifications and learn the language you shouldn´t have too many problems finding work.

Health care is free if you are an EU passport holder.

Ask yourself : "Are you willing to start at the bottom again if thats what it takes?"

Answer 2

I'm sorry but it's hard to earn a DECENT living in Spain all year round. There are bar jobs etc, but long hours, low pay. But with immigrants from all countries coming here and some of the Eastern Europeans speaking more than 3 languages they will be favoured more than you if you don't speak anything but English, unless you work for a British company of course.

Yes, there is nothing like the NHS. If you don't work and are not retired you will need private health insurance or you will not get medical treatment.

Answer 3

If you have a proper full time job, there is no problem and the Spanish NHS is excellent

Being a beach bum, however is highly competitive.

Only the British NHS is stupid enough to give free medical attention to any Tom, Dick or Harry who rolls up in their country.
If you have a valid EU medical card or pay Spanish NHI you will get Spanish NHS facilities. If not, who cares?
Health care, in my experience, is no more expensive than in the UK.

Regarding winter work, if you work in holiday tourism, the hotels, bars etc. close in winter. The rest of the country does NOT close and it is business as usual.

If you have no qualification, you will have difficulty in finding a full time job. Spain has high unemployment and locals have priority.

Inability to speak Spanish is obviously a serious problem. In Catalunya, some Catalan is often required.

p.s. There is a shortage of forklift drivers in Madrid Province but you must be able to speak some Spanish.

Answer 4

The worst thing I found when living there in the winter was there's no central heating! It's blooming freezing. We used tosit with the gas heaters on and sleeping bags over us while watching the telly on a night! People say it's diffcult to find work in Winter cos they go to the tourist places. You need to go to mainland Spain and you'll have no trouble. Do a TEFL course (Teach English as a Foreign Language), it's expensive but worth it in the long run, then you could go anywhere else and use it there too if you've got the travel bug at the moment. Also it's the type of job that pays through the winter then in the summer you could get a bar job at the beach in the tourist towns. Oh, you're making me Spain sick!

Answer 5

Its hard to earn a legal living at anytime of the year now, property is not selling and the numbers of visitors is down despite the reports in the newspapers here, I live here and have never known it to be so quiet. The place is just down to those that live here and bars and restaurants are struggling with many closing up. Think of somewhere else as the red tape is horrendous for anyone non spanish to get legal here, despite it supposedly being part fo the EU
As for health care, the system is very different here, if you are lucky enough to get into the equivalent of the NHS, you have to bear in mind it is not a compete package of care as per the UK, for example, most hospitals will treat the injury or ilness, but if you require something like physio afterwards, you will have to pay for it, and thats expensive! All medications are paid for at their cost not a flat presecription rate as per the UK, so several different medications could cost one heck of a lot.
A lot of places will offer employment, but not with a contract as that means they have to pay social security for you, at a rate of 260€ a month, this gives you entitlement to the health service, without a contract and proof of social security payments being made for you, you have no NHS cover at all, then you'd have to consider private and that can be pricey with certain things being excluded

Answer 6

You can live in spain but can come and work in Gibraltar. Over 6 thousand people cross the border every morning to work here. There are plenty of jobs if your really look for them.My brother has just bought a house in spain as the cost of living is cheaper than Gibraltar, but he works here and goes back every afternoon. It depends what part of spain you want to live, but even if you live in the costa del sol it is only about 11/2 hours away from Gibraltar and If you work here you are entitled to the health care here. You are entitled to it for free if you go for on the NHS, but even if you go private it is not so expensive in Spain.

Answer 7

Getting a job in Spain is as complicated/easy as in the US, the thing you need is the language and your paper work done. Health care is free in spain... well not free but the taxes you pay each month (about a 12%) gets you the health care you need. In my case you don't even need to know the language, the company i work for only asks for english and your nateve language(dutch, swedish ect.)
Good Luck and enjoy spain,
ITS WONDERFULL!!

Answer 8

A friend went to spain to live and struggled to make a living in the winter. He was doing A/C and heating system repairs tho.

Answer 9

Have a look in this newspaper, in the jobs section. It will give you an idea of whats available at the moment. Also look at the accommodation, rentals etc to see how much you are likely to be paying in rent.
http://www.surinenglish.com
If you can get a job that offers a contract then your health care is taken care of, other than that you have to pay privately and its not that expensive
Good luck

Answer 10

The main barrier to finding work in Spain is the language.

Many people move over there without speaking a word of Spanish and wonder why they find it difficult to get work.