Part 1: Americans Working in Spain
Over the past month, I’ve received enough inquiries about moving to Spain to make my opening a consulting service a viable option. From visa requirements for Canadian citizens to school options for handicapped children, I’ve received the gamut, but there has been no question more often asked of me than, “I’m an American wanting to pick up and move to Spain like you, but I don’t know how to do it”.
Now, for those of you considering to take the leap, allow to begin with the obvious, this decision is NOT for everyone. I know you don’t want to hear this, and you’d rather stay in that happy bubble of romance, but I think its imperative to be honest with yourself and to consider the following:
- Why do I truly want to move to Spain? (you’d be surprised how few people can’t answer this question)
- For how long do I want to live in Spain? (1 month, 1 year, your entire life)
- What are all of my preconceived notions of Spain and of its people?
- Can I handle the fact that I may not see my family or friends for long stretches of time?
- Am I comfortable with other cultures, realizing that my cultural norms may not be accepted or recognized from day to day?
- Am I open minded to making mistakes, understanding that I must try to speak and butcher the language before I have a firm grasp of it?
- Am I willing to reach out to others, as relationships take time and effort to build in any culture, and that the only way this will occur is if I am active in this building process?
- Am I willing to analyze my own cultural biases, looking back to see what parts of my culture norms function well for me and which need to be discarded?
- Am I willing to accept massive bureaucracy, realizing that most government functions occur slowly and inefficiently?
- Am I willing to accept a pay cut, as the majority of salaries in Spain are significantly lower than those in the USA?
These are just some of the many questions I wish I had considered before taking the great leap. Granted, if you have never lived in another country, its difficult to even wrap your brain around what these questions mean, and how they directly effect your life. However, I think you’ll save yourself a considerable amount of headache if your relatively clear on the amount of time, and commitment, you want to spend in making this a reality.
More to come later this week!
Saludos,
Gabriella Opaz
Gabriella Opaz is the co-founder of catavino.net, a website dedicated to Spanish and Portuguese wine.
Flickr attribution to by jmaximo
Tags: moving to spain, visa, work
Blog RSS
Gabriella,
Excellent questions. They should be required reading for all who are considering a permanent move to Spain. I think everyone considering making the move needs to do a test run, if possible. By that I mean, coming to Spain for a three to six-month stint. For some people, what they really want is to enjoy an extended vacation in Spain, not the potentially messy day-to-day experience of actually having to get up every day and go to work, making ends meet, dealing with annoying co-workers and neigbors, etc.
Many people love the IDEA of living in Spain (sun, fun, cool people, fascinating culture) but the REALITY (extremely low salaries, job instability, lack of job mobility/flexiblity, high cost of living, bureaucratic redtape) can be a shock for many. There are many people who have warm memories of their time in a college semester abroad program in Spain from ten years ago and their impression of Spain is stuck in the past. They have no clue as to how much the country and the economy has dramatically changed since they left but they hold on to the image that Spain is an affordable country to live and find work in.
So much to read, so much wealth of good information, keep it up