Hi all,
Firstly, I have to say, I’ve found this website to be so helpful! Thankyou to the person/s behind it. My husband and I (both Kiwis) and our baby boy Jasper (10mths) have decided to stop dreaming about life in Spain, and actually get off our backsides and move there. I’ve got a Dutch EU passport, he’s only got a NZ one. When we were younger, single and child free, these sorts of impulse decisions were simple to make. Now that we have Jasper with us, we really need to do our homework first. We don’t speak a scratch of Spanish (although we’re self teaching and studying every night!), but we’d like to move to Barcelona for a year, in three months time. I’d be so grateful if anyone could answer my questions about this major move below:

1. My husband is a successful commercial architect, will he be able to find work? He doesn’t speak Spanish (although we’re trying). What’s the best way for him to find appropriate architectural jobs? He’s not looking for a career advancement, he’s just looking for anything in his field.

2. I’m a High School English teacher - not ESOL trained. Will I still be able to get English teaching work? I’ve taught in London before, so I understand both the UK GCSE system and ours in NZ.

3. Is it easy to find daycare for our baby (who will be just over a year old) - it’s likely one of us will stay home if the other works, but in case we both wan to work, can Jasper be easily put into local care? What’s the cost?

4. While we’re coming with money saved for our travel through Europe during the times we have off, all we need to work for is our cost of living in Barcelona. For the three of us, how much do we need to earn? We’re not looking to live it up, we’re just looking to get by.

5. What are salaries like?

6. Do we need a car to get around, or can we rely on public transport (NZ has the worst public transport around, but we’ve both lived in London and found it to be excellent).

7. How long do you think it takes to learn Spanish, once we’re there? Is it worthwhile doing a crash course in Barcelona?

8. We planned to get short term accommodation for a month to find our feet when we arrive. Do you think one month is long enough to find jobs and a flat?

9. What sort of documents do we need to work? I’ve read someething about an NIE?

10. What’s the best way to open bank accounts? I’ve still got my Barclays accounts in the UK - will they help me? Or is there any way I can open Spanish accounts from NZ?

Thanks heaps. That’s all I can think of for now. I appreciate any thoughts and suggestions.
Toni

Zero growth” recorded by Spanish economy , hightest employment rate is in spain off the EU . want me two keep going .....
please think very carful about moving here , good life stile and sun

Institute of Statistics (INE).

Their figures show that this year alone, half a million people have emigrated, mostly because of the lack of any possibility of finding a job.

Of these, 10 per cent ? around 50,000 ? are native Spaniards.

Experts say that as a result, Spain has lost a total of 130,850 inhabitants in one year ? a trend they expect to continue until at least 2020, the latest for which they can calculate reasonably accurate predictions.

Well, it’s a good thing we’d only be looking to get by and not get rich! I’m sure where there’s a will, there’s a way. Thanks for your feedback though.

Hi Toni,
Jurdy is right. I wouldn’t expect to be able to find work in less than 9 months at this point, so if you’re able to live on your savings and scrape by (albeit the lifestyle even just getting by is quite nice) then you’ll probably be okay.

1. Doubtful he’ll find much work. Architecture is a good business in BCN so maybe he’ll have some luck. At least it’s a more international arena than other industries.

2. You should consider doing a TEFL class for a month. Great way to make connections.

3. No info on that, sorry.

4. You can probably scrape by on about 1500? per month, with half of that going to rent an OK apartment, but you’ll still need a month or two to find one at that rate (tourist apartments are usually more expensive).

5. Salaries are low, but cost of living is relatively low too. Cut everything in NZ in half.

6. Public transit is golden in BCN. No worries there.

7. It takes about 6 months of intense work to be able to get by, 3 months if it’s a third language. Definitely suggest doing an intensive Spanish course for at least a month when you first arrive. Good networking too.

8. One month might get you an apartment but definitely not work. See #1.

9. You’ll need to get your NIE then apply for your husband to get residencia (and thus permission to work) based on your passport. This could be a several month process.

10. Barclays is probably helpful. You can open an account on your passport last time I tried but I’ve heard some saying you need to have your NIE now.

There’s a lot more on all of these topics in the individual articles. Go back to the homepage and start printing/reading away! :D Good luck!

EX

Thank you, thank you, Ex, for your thorough reply. I have to admit, my husband and I are having seconds thoughts! We’ve always landed on our feet whenever we’ve taken risks, but it’s a much harder decision when a gorgeous little baby is being subjected to our insane whims. Will keep doing our research and ask around some more before we make a final decision. Maybe just an extended holiday is on the cards…

Thanks again.

Not a bad idea. If you can swing a 2 month sabatical from your current employment, get yourself to BCN and spend that time living as locally as possible (avoid tourist expenses, stay in a humble apartment and look for a job) you’ll both get a flavour for the lifestyle and potentially get lucky along the way without risking everything.

Hi, I’ll try to answer everything in one post (difficult as I cannot now see your questions). First thing you need to do is see what type of visa your hubby can get. Forget about him being able to work as an architect, If you are intending to come here for a year only the best you can think of is teaching English. I live in A Coru?a and have architect friends, beleive me, in Spain at the moment there are many more highly qulified atchitects WITH experience than there are jobs you should have noproblem finding a job in Spain in SEPTEMBER as an English teacher, but in March… no chance. You have to look at the school year here in Europe - it starts in September. Your problem would be that a school would be interested in you, but to sponser your husdand aswell - either as a non-working spouse or as an employee is an expense that they wouldn’t have to take with any other EU citizen.

Regarding child care, if you are willing to pay, you could find child care. If you are intending to arrive in March, you will not be able to get a council playschool place as these are allocated in August to begin in September - remember the European school year (september to june).

Regards flat finding.. If you speak Spanish you could find a flat within a month, or… if you are a foreigner in a place like Barcelona, you can use an agent to find you a place ... for a fee, of course.

looking realiastically at your situation, if you were serious about wanting to stay in ?Spain for a year is to wait till September and for YOU to look for a teaching post, weather in a language school (which pays peanuts) or as a teaching assistant in a state school (which pays better, but only part time) or both (but this would contravene the visa conditiondss for a teaching assistant). Whichever way, unless a company is willing to sponser your husband, he’ll only be able to enter Spain as a tourist or if you’re lucky as a non-working spouse - most language schools will see your husband as an espensive hassle so will look for a non-attached teacher.

It would probably be easier to find something away from the big cities and tourist areas - think Spanish interior - Castilla y Leon, Castilla la Mancha, Extemadura or, for example Galicia or Asturias nearer the coast.

Good luck

Thank you so much. Am really appreciating this practical feedback. All comments are being fully considered by us, so if anyone has anything else to add, please do so. This is very, very useful! T

Toni:

I definitely agree that an “extended holiday” would make much more sense.  It would give you a feel for the place and allow you to see the job prospects (if any in the current economic climate).  The advice given on here is good, and there is no use telling you everything is a rose-garden, which it isn’t.  Unemployment in Spain is at an all-time high.
There are more people wanting to teach English than there are grains of sand! 

It all needs very careful thinking out.

Good Luck
Patricia