Moving to Spain

So you are moving to the land of sunshine and tapas. You dream of starting a new life down south amongst the palms and the sound of flamenco and the warm waters of the Med.

Yes, I can report, life in Spain is fun and enjoyable and the people are great. Important though, only after you deal with practical side of life will you be in the position to feel relaxed and secure enough to start enjoying your new location.

Without the security of having basic needs sorted out, life in the sun will be a constant worry and lead to giving up and running home with your tail between your legs.

1. Learn the language. It doesn't matter how old or young you are, you can do it. The language is essential to being able to get information which will help you settle into the community.
If you plan on living on the coast of Spain the chances are that you'll end up in a town or city where there are a lot of English speakers. This will prove tempting to intergrate with the local expat community and therefore hinder your language learning curve severely.

You will have to visit local council offices to deal with paperwork. So at least a smattering of the language will help to smooth the paper process.

The Spanish are proud of their language too. 350 million people speak it world-wide. They often expect others to have at least tried learning some of the language and they don't really want to have to learn five European languages to do their job at the town hall.



2. You are going to want accomodation and a job if you plan to stay in Spain for any length of time. Again, this is where your networking skills come in handy. Get to know as many people as possible. Locals, born and bred, expats of all nationalities. All these people , who have been living in your part of Spain longer than you are a source of knowledge and advice that is essential to you.

Getting a place to live can be a little difficult at first - even if you're loaded with cash and are prepared to pay a higher price.

It's a case of the old story, you need a job to prove income to get a flat. You need a flat - therefore an address - to get a job. How irritating! There must be a way around it?

Of course there is. This is what I mean about the importance of networking.
Looking for a job and a flat is a task to be done at the same time.
It depends where you are on how much you will pay. I live in Andalusia and I think rent prices are normal and quite fair. Most of the private owners I've rented from so far, have been decent people who just want their monthly income from rent to be stable. This means that they will often question you about your intentions, how long are you planning to live there, where do you work and show me your work contract.
the problem of not having a work contract at first is the main concern and cause of anxiety for new expats. I searched high and low for my first apartment, I was turned down again and again because I couldn't show anything more than a passport.

Then at the last moment, the point which was testing my determination to live in Spain, I looked at another apartment. two bedrooms, salon, kitchen and bathroom with patio. Sounded great. When I got to the flat, I looked around, thought how amazing it was that
anybody could cram all these rooms into such a small space.
The owner talked to me, got to know me a little, liked me and offered me the flat. She never once asked to see documents. I was so relieved. We went to a Spanish lawyer together and signed a contract that stated that I promised to pay six months rent over a period of six months. She trusted her judgement and was right about it, I paid the rent every month and she was quite content. The stroke of luck gave me the opportunity to relax and go looking for a job which I got two days later.

The point is that although so many landlords want to see that you are employed and intend to be a stable tenant over a longer period of time, you can find many places to rent where documentation beyond passport isn't important. Often, when you are looking at places to share with two or three others, your character is the determening factor in whether you get the flat or not.

Try and deal directly with the landlord. If you do use an agent get somebody to recommend one that they have already dealt with. They will do the job of finding a flat for you and therefore expect to be paid, normally one months rent is their payment. Make sure that they are a proper estate agent and not an agency offering addresses to visit. agents with address lists often offer a certain amount of addresses for certain amount of money. The addresses come from the newspapers. They have reams of addresses and telephone numbers to offer you, most are old and don't even know that an agency is passing their number on to clients.



Most people come to Spain and want to teach English. Good idea - a lot of Spanish people want to learn it, have to learn it for their job or their company demands it because they operate in a world market. On the other hand, some avoid teaching and end up working in a bar where the rate of pay is adjusted to local-rates and not English teacher rates. Big difference between 5 euros an hour in a bar and 12 - 15 Euros in a language school.

If you have the TEFL qualifications or have already been teaching English, then you're in a good position to get a job.
Most language schools employ new teachers around September, yet they advertise for these jobs from end of June through July. Come August most schools close down for a month - August is the quietest month in the south of Spain. It's just too hot to do anything - let alone sitting in a classroom learning English.
Don't imagine that you can get an interview in August. Like I said, in August nothing happens, nothing moves or changes. Many of the family run shops close down for the month. Some of the bars too, it can be a very dry month!