Hi, I am about to have interviews for several teaching jobs in Spain and Italy.  So far these are in Madrid, Tarragona, Sabadell, and Milan.  I have searched the forums for info on Tarragona and Sabadell but without much success? I have three question I hope someone can help me with….

1) Please can anyone fill me in a little on what these places are like in terms of general appearance, costs of living, and advantages and disadvantages of living there?  Any suggestions of other cities to consider will also be appreciated.

2) The schools I am considering at the moment are all International House schools, does anyone have any comments on whether they are good employers in Spain, or can anyone suggest other well-known schools that I should consider?  (I am British, with a degree and CELTA from IH plus a years teaching experience in Asia).

3) Finally, if anyone has any comments on why I should choose to live and work in Spain rather than Italy your views would be most welcome (especially if you have taught in both countries).

Mollie,

I read your post and thought i would reply, since no one else has, however im not really totally experienced enough to be able to give you an in depth answer i have taught a few times in Spain and lived a while in Tarragona.

1. Tarragona is a lovely place, (again just my opinion) i am moving to Spain again in a month or so and Tarragona was one of the top places on my list to try and find work in. Its a big city without the real hussle and bussle of places such as Barcelona. I really think it would be a wonderfull place to work and live, i taught there a while and found it so good, i ve wanted to go back ever since but unfortunately havent been able to, in a nutshell its easily one of my favourite places in Spain. On the negative side, i dont know anything about Sabadell or Milan.

2. Again i dont know barely anything about International House, but they do have a good reputation and a good name withing the TEFL teaching positions so im sure they would look after you.

3. Look, this question can only be answered by you, its totally about personal preference and opinion. I ve never been to Italy so i wouldnt know. Me being me (and not you haha) would go to Spain because, 1. I love the place, the food, the way of life and the women. 2. Because i speak fluent spanish and 3. because i dont seem to get on so well with Italians.

Anyway, as i say, its all got to be your decision really, see how you feel.
Good Luck.

For me it would definitly be Italy. I lived there for 13 years, I’ve been in Barcelona for the last 2 & I’m moving back to Italy in September. I love the culture, the food, the language, the people (depending where you go!), it’s a very special country-very, very beautiful. Personally I wouldn’t chose to go to Milano (I lived there for 1 year) it’s not typically Italian.

In the north of Italy the summers are very hot & humid & the winters are very cold. The weather in Tarragona is much nicer, Madrid is freezing in the winter - I could never live there & Sabadell I don’t know.

If you want to learn the language & intergrate go somewhere smaller (not tiny) there’ll be less English speakers there & you’ll learn the language must faster. If you want to make friends fast & don’t mind if you learn the language or not then go somewhere bigger. You can live in Barcelona & almost always get away with speaking English if you want to.

If you want to PM me I’ll make more suggestions,
Helen

My two cents:

Madrid will be great and you’ll probably have the most adventurous experience there. That said the weather in winter may be a problem.

Tarragona is okay but lacks the cosmopolitan flair of bigger cities. The beach here was not as nice as I expected either.

Milan: I’d never spent more than a day or two here. The worst of all Italian cities I’ve been to. I also get on better with spaniards and appreciate their nuances more.

No idea about sabadell.

I lived in Italy for a year while studying and have lived in Spain for the past 5 years.  There is a lot to love about Italy, as a student it was tremendous…but to live there…yikes!  I imagine its like an insane asylum.  Spain is much more laid back and although some here are critical of the bureaucracy being a bit, well, bureaucratic, it seems to run like a swiss watch in comparison to the Italian system.  The IVA in Italy is more than here in Spain, if you can believe that, the health care system here really works, and thats coming from an American who lived in NYC amongst the best hospitals and physicians around (dental here still sucks though)

I find Spain much cleaner than Italy, I went to visit some friends in Rome last summer and was shocked at the condition of the beaches and roads leading to them.  I was really put off by it…I guess I’m spoiled by the care the Spaniards take of their beaches.

Just my two cents…

Hey, as dilemmas go, that’s one of the best, as all those places are great!
Firstly, what are the salaries offered in the respective jobs?  Italy is generally more expensive than Spain, and Milan is probably the most expensive city in Italy, although salaries are usually quite a bit higher there. However, within Spain, Madrid is expensive and rent can be high. Catalunya isn’t the cheapest part of the country either, although I think your money will go further in Sabadell or Tarragona than the capital.
If you’re the sociable type, I think you would integrate best in Madrid, where everyone practically lives in bars. In my limited experience the Milanese are rather private and their social lives revolve around dinner parties and stuff, so you have to be in the right circles to have a good time. Northern Italians are generally lovely, but they can be very judgemental and snobbish about professions, fashion (of course) and education, whereas the Spanish are more democratic. That said, they might just ignore you - they tend to just let people get on with life!
Then there’s language. Of course Spanish is a global language so perhaps over your lifetime, you’re more likely to use it. So go for Madrid if you want to practice Spanish, as Tarragona and Sabadell will be largely Catalan speaking and you’d need to learn two languages at the same time. Of course Italian is a beautiful language too!

I’m italian living in north east italy and would love to and planning on moving to spain! Milan has got to be the ugliest cities in europe (seriously). Italians in the north are very close minded, biggoted and unfriendly if you ask me and in italy, spain has a reputation of being the place to flee to ....

Italy is the most currupted country in western europe, the mafia is the first (in terms of money making) ‘business’ in italy: more than FIAT, MEDIASET and the rest of the big companies here .....  we are the country that spends least on research and schooling (well, Greece is the very least), and are generally in a very, very bad political, social, economical situation.

Defenitly go to spain

I am an italian living in Spain. I find that there is no great difference. Learning Spanish will be for you the same as difficult as Italian. There is not a big difference in salaries either.

Except Milano, all italian cities are beautiful and the people is friendly as in Spain. You have a difficult dilemma to solve there. Luck with that!