# US Pharmacist (to-be) Wanting to Work in Spain



## Farma10

Hello all,

I am about to start my 3rd year out of 4 of pharmacy school in the US and will graduate with a PharmD degree. I am wondering if there is anyone out there that can help me with what I need to do to be able to work as a pharmacist in Spain?

My in-laws (from Mexico) don't speak hardly any English so I have had to learn Spanish to communicate with them and am now fluent-ish -- with a couple months of intensive brushing up, I should be ready to go. 

My wife and I have been to Europe several times and really love Spain and Italy. I don't speak Italian, so that leaves Spain . 

If anyone can help me figure out if it would be possible for me to practice pharmacy in Spain, I would greatly appreciate it.

Finally, I know that the pay in Spain is less than the US for pharmacists... but how much less? I would settle for less if it meant I could live in Madrid or Barcelona or Malaga etc.

Thank you!

Tyler


----------



## xabiaxica

Farma10 said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I am about to start my 3rd year out of 4 of pharmacy school in the US and will graduate with a PharmD degree. I am wondering if there is anyone out there that can help me with what I need to do to be able to work as a pharmacist in Spain?
> 
> My in-laws (from Mexico) don't speak hardly any English so I have had to learn Spanish to communicate with them and am now fluent-ish -- with a couple months of intensive brushing up, I should be ready to go.
> 
> My wife and I have been to Europe several times and really love Spain and Italy. I don't speak Italian, so that leaves Spain .
> 
> If anyone can help me figure out if it would be possible for me to practice pharmacy in Spain, I would greatly appreciate it.
> 
> Finally, I know that the pay in Spain is less than the US for pharmacists... but how much less? I would settle for less if it meant I could live in Madrid or Barcelona or Malaga etc.
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> Tyler


:welcome:

your US qualification might not be valid in Spain, so you'd need to check that out - you'd at the very least need to get it 'homologado', which can take some time & be costly

but if all that is sorted out, you'd then, as a non-EU citizen, need to find a company here willing to employ & sponsor you, which would mean proving that no EU citizen can do the job


you might also be interested to hear that farmacias all over the country & especially in my region have been on strike several times over the past year or so because they haven't been paid by the govt...............


----------



## 213979

xabiachica said:


> :welcome:
> 
> your US qualification might not be valid in Spain, so you'd need to check that out - you'd at the very least need to get it 'homologado', which can take some time & be costly
> 
> but if all that is sorted out, you'd then, as a non-EU citizen, need to find a company here willing to employ & sponsor you, which would mean proving that no EU citizen can do the job
> 
> 
> you might also be interested to hear that farmacias all over the country & especially in my region have been on strike several times over the past year or so because they haven't been paid by the govt...............


Tyler, 

Xabiachica is right. The very first thing you need to do is look into legalizing your credentials. I majored in Spanish and Poli Sci but my degree was not automatically recognized; I would have had to go back to university to get Spain to fully recognize my degrees. I would have had to have taken more classes to make my degree fully equal to a Spanish degree in order to get it fully recognized. 
The legalization process, or _homologación_ can take up to a year. 

What's your plan to get work permission? Are you a EU citizen? Otherwise, just coming to work is going to be tough.


----------



## Farma10

Thank you both for responding, I appreciate it. Sounds like plan A (working for a Spanish company in Spain) is a no go then. Luckily I have some back up plans that will hopefully get my wife and me over there. Tell me if you think these plans are feasible or if you can think of a better way for me to be able to make a living in Spain.

Plan B - Work as a Civilian Pharmacist for the US Military
- Problem with this is it will only get me to Rota or just outside Sevilla as these are the only 2 bases in Spain - I would really like to be in Madrid or Barcelona (who wouldn't though?)

Plan C - Work for an American pharmacy company/manufacturer etc. in Spain
- Problem with this is that I'm not aware of any of these companies

Anybody able to help me out with other possibilities?

Thanks,

Tyler


----------

