Job Discussion Forums

[polecat]

I'm moving to Valencia at the end of August and have a couple of questions about getting started up. I've seen the other thread on Valencia, but think this thread might throw up some general info for setting up in Spain - especially as there seems to be a Catch-22 element in the topics I'm asking about.

1) How to get an apartment? I have spent time on idealista and loquo etc and found appropriate places. Sticking point seems to be contract. Most places want to see 3 months payslips before they'll enter into a contract. How does one get around this? Obviously arriving without a job makes this tricky.

2) Autonomo? Is it possible to begin working as an autonomo as soon as your application is submitted, or are you only able to do that once paperwork has been returned? Similarly, do you have to wait for your NIE card etc before starting any kind of work?

3) Bank account. Is it worth opening a non-resident's bank account at the start and then changing once you're legit? Can wages be paid into a non-resident's account?

It's looking like we (I'm one of the idiots who's taking his family with him) are going to have to rent a short-term apartment and employ a [i]gestor[/i] to help us through the maze of red-tape. But has anyone actually dealt with the above?

Many thanks for any help.

[redsell64]

Its looks likeyou have to move into a shared apartment first and then when you have three months wage slips you can rent your own.

You will also neeed a NIE card which although not technically necessary everyone will ask you for it. Its your Identity card and its useful. You need a contract to be able to get this and you need this to open a bank account.
First off then is your contract. Make sure they pay the IRPF for you, this is income tax. It will be around 17-20 % of your total income but it does allow you to have redundancy pay should you lose your job. This redundancy pay can be 80% of your salary for two years if you have enough credits so make sure the school is legal and pay IRPF. and Social security so if you need to go to the hospital.

Normally Spanish TEFL salaries are barely enough to keep you alive, especially in the big cities where rent is atronomical. calculate around 1000 Euros per month but rent could be 800.. so you need to make sure your wife can find a job...

You also mention you have a child.. If this child needs educating be very careful about certain areas of spain. Catalonia and parts of Valencia only use Catalan as the language in schools. Part of the independence movement of Jordi Pujol's 1980-90 government. This means that they will not be taught in Spanish. Something unintelligble to everyone outside Catalonia!

Whilst I do not want to critisize Catalan language It is incomprehensible that many people refuse to teach Spanish to their children and the Catalan and Valencian Governments are of theis persuasion..its fine if your child wishes to live in these enclaves all his/her life but if you move to another part of spain no-one will understand him/her.

[lodzubelieveit]

If you have an EU passport, then there is no legal problem whatsoever about red tape or opening bank accounts. Yes, open a non-resident's bank account and change it when you have your NIE. It's not difficult... Assuming your wife will be able to work, and you get a standard TEFL salary of about �1000, then rent any old place for a year and then take your pick... Getting a NIE is just a question of time and queueing and can be annoying, but is automatic ... Save together a bunch of money to pay a few months' rent and the issue with paying rent/showing payslips will disappear, and if you have a work contract to show them, you're laughing ... No idea about the autonomo question, I'm afraid - have never considered it due to the inevitable 'drowning in Spanish bureaucracy' aspect that it would entail despite 10 years in Spain ...

[mozzar]

[lodzubelieveit]

�1500 is a gross salary for an experienced DoS. No teacher makes that money nett in Spain.

[Moore]

quote "�1500 is a gross salary for an experienced DoS. No teacher makes that money nett in Spain"

...I totally agree with this, but remember that most legal and experienced teachers (at least in Barelona and Madrid) do earn that in a good month, if not more, but the problem is that you only work for 8 months a year with all the long unpaid holidays, so 1500 per month x 8 divided by 12 months makes 1000 per month average.

In fact if you could get hold of a salaried DOS position as a family man then that'd be ideal as they are indeed paid every month of the year and are generally much higher (I got offered 1600 a month net in Barcelona for a DOS post this year), but you have to have the superhuman organisational skills and reserves of patience that most people simply don't have! ...also of course, a very solid level of Spanish is needed, so that may take a couple of years or so for a new arrival.

There is of course the British Council who pay year-round salaries, but no idea if there's one in Valencia.





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