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Posts: 13
Joined: Oct. 31 2004
From: Seattle, Washington
Living in Andalucia
Hello all, do any of you know how hard it is to find work for a non-spanish speaking American in Andalucia? I'm almost done with my four year degree here at the University of Washington and would love to live in southern Spain for a year or so. Can anyone give me pointers on living arrangements, work, etc.? Thanks!
Your best bet is to go to a big city and find work in a language school teaching English. You won't be able to save any money, but you should be able to pay the bills. It is practically impossible to find work prior to leaving, as you will have a very difficult time getting a visa. Most people work under the table.
My friend's girlfriend is from Madrid, and one day on the beach here, I was asking her the same question (they bailed here, and LOVE living in Barcelon, where he's opened an art gallery for his ceramic works, says he ain't ever comin' back to San Diego - which is supposed to be a top pick to live).
She giggled when I asked, and she said (her words); "We're [Spaniards] not really all that good with a lot of business, so there is a lot of work for good workers that have good business or professional skills. Under the table, but it's there.."
I survived for a year in Seville doing bits and pieces of work - first brick-laying, then gardening, then teaching English privately, and finally accompanying dance classes at Javier Cruz's studio. Work is possible, but you definately need to work on your Spanish, unless you want to limit yourself to finding work in places like Marabella where you may be able to work for rich British ex-pats. You can get a mobile phone and put up fliers around the place advertising for private English students (especially around universities) - this can really work well but it may take a while to build up a clientelle. In places like Seville and Madrid there is a lot of competition for this kind of private work, often from qualified and Spanish-speaking teachers. However in other centres such as Malaga I know people who have done very well doing this. I would really recommend teaching yourself at least some Spanish before you go, not just for looking for work but for having quality time in Andalucia. Imagine how someone would get on going to Seattle with no English, and this will give you some idea. I hope some of this is helpful - there is definately work out there but if you can bring enough cash for a couple of months; you may not find anything straight away.
Sean, I think its worse than that and cannot be stated enough. Without some spanish you will get nothing out of it. As mentioned there is work in bars in Marbella and places but your only gonna meet tourists. And these jobs pay very little and you'll see nothing of real spain. But spanish is not that difficult to get a grounding in. It reads pretty much as spoken (unlike english, french, etc.) and you can get lots of DVDs dubbed in Spanish with English subbies (although quite how useful "make my day" is i'm not sure .).
I knew a guy who spent five years in Tarifa (before it was full of kite surfers). For the first 2 years he got a little work with some germans in a windsurf shop but still made a big loss each month (his daddy gave him the equiv of 15000 Es per year and he wasn't saving anything). He then decided to make the effort and learn spanish. Of course a year later his spanish was crap but just by making the effort the spanish girls rushed to help him. That's why he stayed on for 5 years.
Andalucia is a magical place but without amigos its just like anywhere else in the sun. Good luck amigo
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nigel (el raton de Watford - now Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz)
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