# Considering a year in Spain



## Rammi82 (Nov 18, 2021)

Hello
We’re in our 30s with a 10’year old and 3 year old and wish to spend a year in Spain to see if it’s the life for us.

we will not need to work but my partner is a high school science teacher with only basic Spanish language skills -if he wanted to work is it possible ? Maybe in an international school …for us that’s not as big a consideration as to where to settle - though a base to explore from is our preference , somewhere with plenty to do for the two kids and schooling for the eldest. Beach/ town areas preferable

where would you / did you start !


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Rammi82 said:


> Hello
> We’re in our 30s with a 10’year old and 3 year old and wish to spend a year in Spain to see if it’s the life for us.
> 
> we will not need to work but my partner is a high school science teacher with only basic Spanish language skills -if he wanted to work is it possible ? Maybe in an international school …for us that’s not as big a consideration as to where to settle - though a base to explore from is our preference , somewhere with plenty to do for the two kids and schooling for the eldest. Beach/ town areas preferable
> ...


Welcome!

First things first. What passports do you hold? That will make a HUGE difference to the answers to your questions.


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## Rammi82 (Nov 18, 2021)

xabiaxica said:


> Welcome!
> 
> First things first. What passports do you hold? That will make a HUGE difference to the answers to your questions.


British x


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## Barriej (Jul 23, 2012)

Rammi82 said:


> British x


Unfortunately you cannot just come over for a year, you will need a visa of some sort.
And there are now lots of hoops to jump through. 






Visas (FAQ)







www.exteriores.gob.es





If you follow the link it gives all the information needed.
Read through all of it and then ask questions.

Good luck...


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## Rammi82 (Nov 18, 2021)

I understand a visa will be required and financial requirements met which I’ve looked into

at this stage I’m at a general research stage before knowing I want to start a visa process


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

If you can get the visa then I guess your partner could get a job at an International school, many of which I believe offer heavily discounted places to their teachers' children, which might partly solve the main problem of finding a school for the 10 year old. At that age it's a bit risky sending a 10 year old to a Spanish school because they won't have much time to pick up enough Spanish to be ready for secondary school. Language wouldn't be a problem for the 3 year old, although a factor that might influence your decision is which language you want him/her to to be exposed to (Catalan? Valenciano? Basque? Gallego? Whatever it is they speak in Andalucia? or proper Spanish? )


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

Your best bet would be to contact international schools and see what they have to offer. I imagine if a school desperately needed a teacher they would arrange the work Visa but it is probably all a bit new for schools recruiting British teachers. Maybe by next academic year it will be easier. I dont think the pay is anything like what you might earn in UK and despite what you might read Spain is not as cheap as people think. Sure properties outside of the main cities are cheap if you have cash from a UK sale. If you plan on a mortgage and have little savings I wouldn't recommend it. I doubt whether one salary would be sufficient to support a 4 person family.


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## proud.to.be.EUROPEAN (Feb 14, 2020)

Rammi82 said:


> I understand a visa will be required and financial requirements met which I’ve looked into
> 
> at this stage I’m at a general research stage before knowing I want to start a visa process


I take it you have also researched UK and ES tax rules and know how double taxation works.
You have also research cost of living in ES for family your size without any income for a year ?


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## Barriej (Jul 23, 2012)

Im going to get all sorts of trouble for this but hey... in for a Euro.

Have you considered the education implications of 'coming for a year' on the 10 year old?
It might be a fun, fact finding experience for the family but if you decide against it, what damage will you have done to your older child?
After all they will be off to school while the rest of the family is swanning around having fun.

Spending a year in a strange country, trying to learn the language as well as doing the classwork, homework etc, not having many friends (I would have thought that making them will be hard if everyone knows you might not be here next year). And then what happens if you return to the Uk?

Will they have to retake the year they missed in the UK? 
Will all the kids back at home (and possibly the same school) treat them as a bit of a talking point, or worse?
Will they resent you removing them from their friends and school, just to see if you like it in spain?

I know I wouldn't, it was bad enough when we moved from London to Northampton when the kids were early teens. Let alone to a totally different country.
This would be the first thing I would consider and did every time we moved. 
Even to leaving my 27 year old son behind in the Uk when we moved here, we sat down and made sure he was happy.
After all I might need a kidney one day or looked after when I get old 

If it were me (and its not so do what you will) I would see about a 3 month fact finding visit before you commit.

My 2c your milage (KM) may vary......


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## Joey Testa (Jan 5, 2021)

The job market in Spain is very competitive. I can´t see any school hiring a foreigener for just one year.


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

Joey Testa said:


> The job market in Spain is very competitive. I can´t see any school hiring a foreigener for just one year.


The OP partner is a UK teacher so would be able to work in an international school where native speakers are required.Contracts are always just for an academic year


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## Barriej (Jul 23, 2012)

kaipa said:


> The OP partner is a UK teacher so would be able to work in an international school where native speakers are required.Contracts are always just for an academic year


But they would still require a visa, so they can't just come over and hope to get work. It would all have to be sorted before they arrived.
So the visa path would be very limited, NLV would mean no work, a working visa would need a job offer.

In their original post they mentioned getting a job if they wanted too. It wont be their decision....


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

Just saw an advert for a secondary school teacher in an international school in Alicante. Full time position...1,500 euros a month!!!. That is absolutely ridiculous. You need to be fully qualified and able to deliver the GCSE syllabus. The bread line minimum in Spain is 1.100 euros- that is what an unemployed family can get.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

kaipa said:


> Just saw an advert for a secondary school teacher in an international school in Alicante. Full time position...1,500 euros a month!!!. That is absolutely ridiculous. You need to be fully qualified and able to deliver the GCSE syllabus. The bread line minimum in Spain is 1.100 euros- that is what an unemployed family can get.


Also, I read a post by someone elsewhere who had accepted a 'year' contract in an International school, but because the contract was September to July, she was told at the consulate that the work visa didn't support her bringing her husband & child with her. For them to come too, her husband would have to apply for a visa for himself & the child.


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## Joey Testa (Jan 5, 2021)

kaipa said:


> 1,500 euros a month!!!. That is absolutely ridiculous. You need to be fully qualified and able to deliver the GCSE syllabus. The bread line minimum in Spain is 1.100 euros- that is what an unemployed family can get.


1500 a month during the academic year only. Probably during the holidays there is no pay at all.


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

Joey Testa said:


> 1500 a month during the academic year only. Probably during the holidays there is no pay at all.


Exactly- a 9 month contract then Paro( if you can qualify). Really not worth taking if you have put in all that work to qualify as a teacher ( not too mention student loan). I know it is a private school but that is a joke if you are expected to work full-time preparing kids for important UK exams. I Imagine a UK teacher must start on over £30,000 at least. Spain might be a bit cheaper than UK but it would be a hard for one person to live on that let alone a family.


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## Joey Testa (Jan 5, 2021)

The job market in Spain is a disaster. High unemployment and low salaries. Young people survive by living with their parents. Meanwhile pensioners receive 80% of their final salaries. Many pensioners now earn more than young working people. a completely unsustainable situation.


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

Joey Testa said:


> Meanwhile pensioners receive 80% of their final salaries.


No they don't.

The maximum state pension is currently 2,707€ / month, so you only get 80% of your final salary if your final salary happened to be 3,384€ / month just before you retired, and had made the maximum contributions which is roughly 37.5 years with at least 15 years continuous contributions prior to retiring.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

kaipa said:


> Exactly- a 9 month contract then Paro( if you can qualify). Really not worth taking if you have put in all that work to qualify as a teacher ( not too mention student loan). I know it is a private school but that is a joke if you are expected to work full-time preparing kids for important UK exams. I Imagine a UK teacher must start on over £30,000 at least. Spain might be a bit cheaper than UK but it would be a hard for one person to live on that let alone a family.


Could be just over 30k, but not across the whole country according to this official UK Govt. website





__





Teaching salaries and benefits | Get Into Teaching GOV.UK


All qualified teachers will have a starting salary of at least £28,000 (or higher in London). Find out about teacher pay scales and more benefits of teaching.




getintoteaching.education.gov.uk





Given housing costs and Council Tax, I think it would still be quite difficult for a single person to maintain a household. Certainly my stepdaughter's partner, who is a primary school teacher with years of experience, could not afford to buy a property until a good few years after they moved in together and they had to remain renting with their combined salaries until an inheritance helped them get a deposit together, by which time they were both just over 40. That's in the East Midlands, not one of the most expensive areas of the UK.


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

I think people are forgetting the OP said they will not need to work (at least for a year I assume) and they have looked into the financial requirements. So any additional income is a bonus, but not an actual requirement for them to live off. Yes the teachers' salaries will be low, but if you also factor in the 10 year old will probably receive a heavily discounted school fee, it still might be worthwhile. As for getting the job in the first place, well I think it's pretty obvious that many teaching jobs at established international schools are arranged before the teacher moves to Spain, and the schools are set up to arrange visas. If it's a school that teaches the British curriculum I assume it's fairly straight forward for them to get a visa, since very few people in Spain are suitably qualified.


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## Chopera (Apr 22, 2013)

Overandout said:


> No they don't.
> 
> The maximum state pension is currently 2,707€ / month, so you only get 80% of your final salary* if your final salary happened to be 3,384€ / month just before you retired*, and had made the maximum contributions which is roughly 37.5 years with at least 15 years continuous contributions prior to retiring.


I think they take the average base salary over at least the last 15 years before retirement these days. It used to be the case that they used the last few years to work it out, so people (especially autonomos) would suddenly incease their base salary just before they retired. But I'm pretty sure they put an end to that as a result of the financial crisis.


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