# Moving to Spain - after Brexit/Covid



## Rosey1 (10 mo ago)

Hello, My husband and I have talked about moving to Spain for many years. I have begun to do some research but when doing this I end of creating another huge set of questions. 
We have two children at the end of primary school and I work as a primary school teacher. If we were to move, the idea is that I would secure a job first and then my husband would find something after we moved (probably part time, to enable him to support our children, as teaching entails long hours during term time) (although this throws up another question - Would he be able to come over without a job?)
I know that if you retire to Spain you have to have a certain income/pension, is this the same if you are working? (I am not sure how they monitor this unless you tried to claim benefits) 
The teaching jobs I have seen up to now don't seem to be as well paid as in the UK (I could be looking in the wrong places) but I am concerned that we would be considerably worse off financially if we moved out to Spain. Does anyone have any experience of working in education in Spain they can share or of practicalities of living in Spain? 
It seems the more research have done, the list of cons gets longer and longer!
Thank you


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

You are right about pay for teachers being worse than uk. You will only be able to work in the private sector - you would need to have your uk qualification officially recognized in Spain which is hard now that uk has left EU, plus Spanish and have done the state civil service exam, if you wanted to work in the Spanish sector where wages and conditions are better. Private Schools will take you but dont be shocked to find that a monthly paycheck of under 2,000 euros. I know a primary school teacher who has to work in the evenings in a language school to supplement her income so I guess it cant be great. As an individual then it would be fine but as a family with a non- working partner and 2 kids you will not manage without extra income from another source. If you have a non- mortgage property in uk you can rent and can buy a Spanish place outright you would probably be okay - if not I would think very hard about things. Also , although it may seem a long way away, if your children were to return to UK after school in Spain they ( as another result of Brexit) would be regarded as international students not home students and liable for very high university or college fees. 
I'm a language teacher here with a 15 year old. Although I dont earn as much as a primary teacher I quite simply would not have been able to remain had it not been for an income source from the uk. I earn a third of what I did in uk and although people think that Spain is cheap that is usually because they are in holiday-mode and are looking at stuff like eating out and drinking. Sure property is cheaper and there isnt really a council tax of sorts but then again property doesn't really represent an investment as old properties start to devalue after 10 years unless you live in the major cities. So all in all I would sit down and consider what you have and if you are prepared to risk losing that. If you can effectively risk the change but still have a bridge back then give it a go.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Unless you or your spouse has an EU passport or can get one (such as Irish), in order to work in Spain you will require a work visa, which must be sponsored by your potential employer in Spain, who has to demonstrate that they cannot find a qualified personnel among EU, Spanish or resident workforce. While in the past, international schools teaching US curriculum have been known to sponsor teachers for visa from US, I don't know if those schools teaching British curriculum are sponsoring visa now for UK teachers. So getting a work visa and finding a teaching post in Spain will be a major issue for UK nationals.


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## Rosey1 (10 mo ago)

Thank you Kaipa and Joppa. This does confirm what I have been reading. We would rent out our house in the UK but I still think we would be financially worse off relying on my salary and my husband working part-time. (If he was even able to) I have been thinking about my children's education and how a move could be detrimental to them. I don't think throwing them into the Spanish education system would be right but paying for an international school is another financial outlay that would mean eating into our savings. (Whilst not replenishing them!) It definitely helps to be able to talk to people who have done it and can give impartial advice. Thank you.


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

I think you are right about schools - if your children are finishing primary they will already be too old to effectively learn Spanish to participate in a Spanish secondary. Private international schools whilst cheaper than uk ones will still be around 9,000 euros a year by the time they reach secondary. As a parent I regret moving here with my son. He had a very difficult first 2 years trying to adjust and he was at th age where he had just made friends and then completely lost them. He does well at school now but like all immigrants he is acutely aware of his identity and status and it really affects his confidence. Most of the persons here are pensioners and not working families. Many live fairly comfortable lives with savings and mortgage free homes. Many no doubt live in areas where English is spoken and the need to integrate is simply voluntary not necessary. The perception of spanish life is seen through these perspectives and might not fully appreciate the experience of having to live and work here as immigrants with young families. My advice is simple: if you are moving because of work and a better future do it. If it amounts to a dream about escaping British weather and the perceived disadvantages this brings - dont do it. Spain is great for retirement or if you have sizeable savings but it is not going to make you happier if you struggle to afford things and see your children failing to reach their potentials


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## Overandout (Nov 10, 2012)

Any person who comes to Spain and needs to work to live must be fully prepared to suffer a loss in disposable income (unless coming as an expat with a salary level maintained from the original country).
I came in 2004 after quitting my professional job with company car and all the trimmings in the UK. I wasn't a teacher but my first salary in Spain was 15% of my last UK salary and I started teaching in the evenings to make ends meet, I was working 14 - 16 hour days. For the first 5 months I had no income at all and lived on savings from the UK.
It took me over 10 years to get my Spanish salary up to the same level as I was earning when I left the UK (not considering inflation) and I still earn a lot less that an equivalent professional in the UK. I always will.
In short, don't come to Spain to work unless you have another way to subsist / supplement your income, or are prepared to significantly reduce your spending power. The advantages of living in Spain are many, but seldom economic.


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## kaipa (Aug 3, 2013)

Overandout said:


> Any person who comes to Spain and needs to work to live must be fully prepared to suffer a loss in disposable income (unless coming as an expat with a salary level maintained from the original country).
> I came in 2004 after quitting my professional job with company car and all the trimmings in the UK. I wasn't a teacher but my first salary in Spain was 15% of my last UK salary and I started teaching in the evenings to make ends meet, I was working 14 - 16 hour days. For the first 5 months I had no income at all and lived on savings from the UK.
> It took me over 10 years to get my Spanish salary up to the same level as I was earning when I left the UK (not considering inflation) and I still earn a lot less that an equivalent professional in the UK. I always will.
> In short, don't come to Spain to work unless you have another way to subsist / supplement your income, or are prepared to significantly reduce your spending power. The advantages of living in Spain are many, but seldom economic.


I agree. As I said before, if you have a non-work income stream or savings then this will cushion the blow of the work income. If you come to spain without this as a young family you will quite possibly put yourself in a very difficult situation. Admittedly the OP is a qualified UK primary teacher and will be able to find work in an international school but the location of the job will intially determine where you can live and it would be unwise to buy a property there given that the contract would only guarantee one academic year. Many of these international schools will be struggling a bit now that EU students can no longer access uk universities as home/ EU students and will be classed as international, so for Spanish and UK pupils who previously might have done a uk curriculum the opportunity to study in uk will be very much restricted. Also many of these schools attract Russians students who also like to follow uk curriculum in English- the advent of sanctions is almost certainly going to affect their ability to access money from Russia to pay school fees. The knock on effect could mean that employment opportunities cant be relied on as being stable.


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