Where to live/work in spain?

Question

I am British and would love to live abroad for a few months in Spain to learn the language and get a job? any ideas of where to go on quite a tight budget? any ideas suggestions and advice would be much appreciate. Thanks

Answer 1

Hiya Suma.

Your best chances to be honest with you will be on the Costa Del Sol. Malaga, Marbella, Torremelinos etc. etc. simply because this has the largest British Ex-Pat community in the world with well over 300,000 Brits living there. So therefore there are plenty of English speaking bars where you could get a job etc.

My advice to you  is what my cousin did. She went out there for a 2 week holiday to basically look around and job hunt. She was hired after the 1st week and therefore stayed there, had she not been able to get a job well then she would have just come back to England on her return flight and then try again when she had more money. It is my aim to move out to Spain but ill be going to somewhere in Cataluna hopefully which is why i am studying Spanish and Catalan before i move there but there is nothing wrong with your method of going out there but make sure at the very least.... you save yourself enough money for a plane ticket home!!!

Good luck :-)

Answer 2

While living on the Costa del Sol MAY help you get a job - what with the high population of Brits there - living there WILL NOT help you learn Spanish - as you won't need it!!!!

My recommendation to you is to consider Granada City. It's a good-sized city, very very Spanish (and you'll need to learn it to live there!) and much less expensive than Madrid and Barcelona. And you could dine alone on the famous free tapas in Granada too! Buy a 1.50 Euro beer and practically get a free meal! You'll quickly learn who offers the best/largest free tapas there. Now that's budget!

You'll have good luck looking for a 3-month flat share in Granada too as the University there is teaming with international students (Americans and a few Brits)

Getting any job in a non-Brit-City will be difficult with your limited Spanish. Plus, as you probably know, you'll earn a very low wage - and definitely not a living wage so bring some money along with you.

All the best of luck to you though!

Saludos, BarcelonaMan(.com)

Answer 3

this is not as easy as you might think - if you choose a Brit populated area you may never need to hear or speak Spanish at all - and choosing a Spanish populated area will mean that it would be very difficult to get a job - an up and coming area would be better - perhaps rather than working you could find an exchange program whereby you live with a Spanish family for a specific period of time - this way you need minimal cash and learn maximum Spanish.

Answer 4

I agree with Barcelonaman.  You won't find yourself immersed enough to learn the language, if you go to a place that is chock full of English speakers.  Sort of defeats the purpose, since that's what you are looking for.

As for work...I know nothing, but the smaller the town, the less likely you will be to find tons of English speakers.  Sevilla is great, Granada, Madrid, where you are likely to be able to find work.  Ronda is really pretty, though I doubt there is much work to be had there.  And any of the surrounding villages, well, there are lots of British "colonies" there.  If you go to the North, you might find some good places.  If you want a University atmosphere, and really easy to understand language, I suggest Salamanca.  

Santander is another really good town, and Oviedo has a university.  Cádiz.  

Actually, anyplace in the South (Andalucía) you have to know that 1) it's really difficult to get a grip on the accent, and 2) once you have done so, you will be able to understand anyone from any Spanish speaking country.  But the accent is a bit strange...I get comments often.  That's where I learned how to speak, and when I went back, people thought I sounded like it.

Answer 5

if you want a climate similar to Britain ,go to Asturias ( Oviedo is a great city!!!), Galicia ,Cantabria or Euskadi ,byeee!