Spain has become the most popular country in the EU for Dutch people to live and/or work. Almost 50,000 Dutch people are registered in Spain. This blog discusses opportunities in the Spanish labor market, factors to consider, and essential arrangements to make before your departure.
The Labor Market in Spain
There are quite a few prejudices and misconceptions about the labor market in Spain. For example, there’s a perception that employment is primarily in tourism and that unemployment is high. The reality is a bit more nuanced.
Yes, tourism traditionally provides a lot of employment in Spain and is one of the engines of the Spanish economy. However, there is now a sector that creates more employment, and that is the ICT sector. Business services are also a rapidly growing sector in Spain that creates many jobs, especially for people who master one or more foreign languages; this is a promising sector. Many customer contact centers are now established in Spain, looking for, among others, Dutch customer service representatives to answer customer queries from Rabobank, Eneco, or Odido clients, for example. But the online gaming industry is also a growing sector that seeks “language talents” for the development, presentation, or translation of games. And all these sectors regularly seek international/multilingual managers. These international companies often pay more than usual for comparable work in Spain.
And that’s important to note, because wages in Spain are considerably lower than what we are used to. The minimum wage in Spain is €1,134 gross per month compared to €2,371 in the Netherlands (2024). The average monthly income is around €2,000 gross per month and is highly dependent on the region in which you work (source: Spanje vandaag ). For comparison: in the Netherlands, that is €3,783 gross per month.
It is therefore good to take into account a lower salary if you are going to work in Spain, and it is certainly not the case that the cost of living in Spain decreases proportionally with the salary difference. Yes, life in Spain is cheaper than in the Netherlands, but not by half. This also strongly depends on the region. A practical website to gain insight into this is Cost of Living (numbeo.com)
What about Unemployment?
Yes, it is high in some parts of Spain, especially youth unemployment in the South. In some provinces in Andalusia, this rises to almost 30%, and the national average is 12.6% compared to 3.5% in the Netherlands. This Spanish figure is also highly region-dependent. (source: Eurostat ) There is a downward trend in unemployment in Spain; never before have so many people been employed in Spain as in 2024.
And yet, based on information about the labor market in Spain, you can assume that there is a lot of employment in Spain. How does that work?
In fact, the demand from the Spanish labor market is different from what people are trained for. The labor market primarily demands employees at vocational education level, but almost 50% of Spanish citizens under 34 have now graduated from university. And 28% have only received primary education (source: werkloosheid Spanje ). It seems, though not supported by figures, that Spaniards are reluctant to take a step back. Furthermore, since this year, a trend has been observed, especially in the South, that many Spaniards no longer want to work in the hospitality industry due to low wages and long hours. These vacancies then remain unfilled, or some Spanish hospitality entrepreneurs are now recruiting outside the EU (source: Horeca Spanje )
It doesn’t help that Spanish universities generally do not apply a numerus fixus (enrollment cap). Thus, people are university-trained for professions for which there is hardly any demand in Spain.
In short, this means that for many professions at university level, there is little demand and competition is high. With exceptions, this also offers few opportunities for Dutch people who want to practice such a profession in Spain.
NIE and Registration
Before you can even work in Spain, you are required to have a so-called NIE number. NIE stands for Numéro de Identificación de Extranjeros (Foreigner’s Identification Number) and is important for almost all administrative matters in Spain. It is quite comparable to the BSN (Citizen Service Number) in the Netherlands. Applying for an NIE number is mandatory if you stay in Spain for longer than 3 months. Furthermore, formal registration in Spain is also mandatory if you stay longer than 3 months.
The NIE number can be applied for in 2 ways:
- In Spain via the official authorities. You make an online appointment in advance at the local police station with an immigration department and go to the appointment with your passport or ID card, passport photo, and a printed and completed EX15 form. This form can be easily found and downloaded via Google. You schedule the appointment via this website: Solicitud de Datos de Inicio de Sesión. (citapreviadnie.es)
Appointment slots are often already taken, and then there’s nothing else to do but keep trying. Tip: log in shortly after midnight; new appointment slots will then become available.
Costs: +/- 10 euros. (The price is adjusted periodically)
- Via a commercial party. Do you not speak Spanish or prefer to have it handled for you? Then it is advisable to leave the application to a commercial party. Arranging matters through the Spanish government is almost always in Spanish, and English-speaking government websites or employees who speak English are scarce in Spain. If you Google “aanvragen NIE”, various parties will appear in the search results.
Costs: from 100 euros.
Housing
It is difficult to say anything general about the housing market in Spain; this also varies by region. Our tip is to pay close attention to the duration of a rental contract. On the coast, it regularly happens that landlords want to terminate the rental contract in June to rent out the same apartment to tourists until October. This generates more income for the landlord because they can then ask for a higher rent.
Landlords often prefer to sign a rental contract before the property has been viewed; our advice is to only sign after a viewing. Also, inquire carefully whether the rent includes or excludes gas, water, and electricity. An NIE number is also required for signing a rental contract.
Practical websites to find housing: idealista , fotocasa , HousingAnywhere
More tips on housing? Read our blog Finding affordable housing
Our Services
We would be happy to discuss your opportunities in the Spanish labor market with you and guide you. You can send an email to werkenineuropa@uwv.nl and we will contact you as soon as possible. Do you want to practice your current profession in Spain? Then we can jointly assess if/what is still needed to do so.
Looking to explore further online? Our colleagues at EURES Spain have written a blog that helps you specifically search for work in Spain that matches your knowledge and experience, even if you don’t speak Spanish yet.
You can find the blog here: ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A JOB IN SPAIN?
Did you know that on the EURES portal, we have a clear description of living and working per country? You can find the description of living and working in Spain here: wonen en werken in Spanje
Disclaimer: the figures mentioned in this article are from September 2024