Career guide
Tips for your job search in Spain: applications, accommodation, NIE, language and seasonal work.
Working in Spain: paperwork, contracts, pay and where the jobs are
Basics
The rules are national, job centres and health cards are regional – and when employers hire depends on where you look.
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Moving to Spain for work: the steps in the right order
Moving
Right to work first, then the region, the job, the flat and the paperwork – the order in which a move to Spain works.
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Jobs in Spain for English speakers: where English is enough
Languages
English is not an official language in Spain, yet plenty of people work in it. Where that works, where it does not – and why your passport matters first.
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Working in Spain after Brexit: what UK citizens need
Visas
Since 2021 a UK passport no longer opens the Spanish job market. Who kept their rights, what the 90/180 rule allows – and the routes that remain.
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Teaching English in Spain: assistants, academies and schools
Teaching
Language assistant, academy teacher or school teacher: three ways to teach English in Spain, with three very different sets of rules.
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Applying for jobs in Spain: CV, cover letter and interview
Job search
A one-page CV, a cover letter written for each job – and questions an employer is not allowed to ask.
Read the articleGetting an NIE: the first step before any contract
Paperwork
No NIE, no contract. Form EX-15, a €9.84 fee, a five-day deadline — and why an NIE is not a residence permit.
Read the articleSpanish social security number: applying for the NUSS
Paperwork
You get the number. Your employer does the registration. Mixing the two up means arriving on day one without it.
Read the articleSpanish employment contracts: probation, hours, holiday
Employment law
Thirty days of holiday sounds like six weeks. They are calendar days — just over four. And the 37.5-hour week is not law.
Read the articleDismissal in Spain: notice, severance pay and the finiquito
Employment law
After a dismissal you have 20 working days to challenge it. Miss the deadline and the dismissal stands, however unfair it was.
Read the articlePay in Spain: what is left of the gross
Money
€1,500 over 14 payments is not €1,500 a month. The difference is a sixth.
Read the articleHow to read a Spanish payslip (nómina), line by line
Money
If your contribution base is higher than this month's pay, nothing is wrong: it includes a twelfth of your extra payments.
Read the articleSpain's minimum wage in 2026: monthly, yearly, daily and hourly
Money
€1,221 is only one of the figures in the decree. Which one applies to you depends on how you are employed.
Read the articlePublic holidays in Spain 2026: the working calendar for every region
Employment law
Eight public holidays apply across Spain in 2026. Each region chooses four more, which is why 2 November is a day off in Madrid and a working day in Barcelona.
Read the articleFijo discontinuo: the seasonal contract that is not temporary
Employment law
Not a temporary contract but a permanent one with gaps. What that means for the call-up, seniority and protection against dismissal.
Read the articleSeasonal work and summer jobs in Spain: seasons, contracts, paperwork
Employment law
Summer in the Balearics, winter in the Canaries, snow in the Pyrenees – and contract rules that changed with the 2021 labour reform.
Read the articleSummer jobs in Spain 2027: a timeline for applying
Seasonal work
What summer 2026 showed, an early Easter in 2027 and a minimum wage that has not been set yet: the timeline for working in Spain next summer.
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Summer jobs in Mallorca 2027: where, when and how
Season
The resort areas that hire, the months that matter, staff housing and the seasonal contract: what you need to know before your first summer in Mallorca.
Read the articleUnemployment benefit after the season: deadline, duration, requirements
Employment law
360 contribution days, fifteen days to apply — and arriving late costs you benefit days, not the entitlement. That is the difference almost nobody knows.
Read the articleWorking in Barcelona: jobs, language, paperwork and housing
Regions
Spain's second city, two official languages, its own job centre and rent limits – what is different about Barcelona.
Read the articleWorking in Madrid: the job market, offices and first steps
Regions
Spain's largest city and capital, tourism even in winter – and authorities that run everything through the padrón.
Read the articleWorking in Valencia: the city, the coast and what to know first
Regions
Spain's third city, a coast with a winter season, two official languages – and the SIP card you need at the doctor's.
Read the articleWorking on the Costa Blanca: Alicante, Benidorm and the coast
Regions
Nearly one in four residents of the province of Alicante holds a foreign passport – and it shapes the coast, its customers and its jobs.
Read the articleWorking in Málaga and on the Costa del Sol
Regions
A holiday coast and a tech park in one province – what to know about seasons, offices and pay agreements.
Read the articleWorking in Seville: government, aerospace, tourism – and the heat
Regions
Spain's fourth city, home of the Andalusian government and of two military aircraft assembly lines – with July afternoons averaging 36 °C.
Read the articleWorking in the Canary Islands: the season is in winter
Regions
In the Canaries, winter is the busy season. What that means for applications, contracts and paperwork – and what the resident discount is worth.
Read the articleWorking in Ibiza: the season, accommodation and paperwork
Regions
A short, intense season, a small island and the same authorities as Mallorca – what to settle before you accept a job.
Read the articleWorking in Mallorca
Basics
Registration, social security number, minimum wage and the seasonal rhythm — the groundwork before you apply.
Read the articleMoving to Mallorca: the right order
Moving
Job first, then housing, then paperwork — the order in which a move to the island works.
Read the articleWorking in Mallorca without Spanish
Languages
Where German and English are enough, where Spanish is mandatory — and how to tell the difference from the listing itself.
Read the articleJobs in Mallorca with accommodation
Accommodation
What «accommodation provided» actually means — and the questions to ask before you say yes.
Read the articleRegistering on the padrón in Mallorca
Paperwork
It is free and takes half an hour. Without it there is no health card. It is the errand everyone postpones.
Read the articleThe health card on Mallorca
Health
First your employer registers you, then the card follows. Reverse the order and the health centre will send you home.
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