|
Go to Home Page Find Somewhere to live in Spain My Photos of Barcelona, Madrid, Mexico and Guatemala Spanish Courses Spanish Phrases Spanish Proverbs Spanish Schools Study Spanish Abroad The Best Way to Teach Yourself Spanish
|
You've taken the decision; you're going to move to Spain. Congratulations. Now you are faced with finding somewhere to live. The good news, it isn't that hard or too expensive. Here are some resources to help you The first place I would start looking is on Craigslist; pretty well everything that a normal person (and some rather strange ones) will ever need can be found there - housing, flatshare, jobs, vehicles, activities. It covers almost every major city in the developed world. In Spain, there are individual websites for each of these cities: Alicante, Barcelona, Bilbao, canarias, Cádiz, Granada, Madrid, Málaga, Sevilla, Valencia. If you fancy the islands, Craigslist also covers the Balearic Islands - Ibiza, Majorca, Minorca, Formentera and the Canary Islands - Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Lanzarote. For a keen linguist, Craigslist is a rich resource itself because in Spanish-speaking territories, the entries are in both English and Spanish. You'll find that this is a good way to acquire authentic, up to date terms for an enormous variety of items and situations. If you aren't yet familiar with Craigslist, you are in for a pleasant and fascinating experience, check it out at www.craigslist.com/es. Classified Ads - Anuncios clasificados There are lots of places to find classified ads covering all the standard necessities, houses, jobs, cars etc. Now you are going into total immersion because the language used is exclusively Spanish. But it doesn't take long to figure out such terms as Pisos y Apartamentos (both meaning flats (UK) or apartments); Alquiler means 'to rent', Busco Piso means 'I'm looking for a flat / apartment'; Pisos Compartidos is 'flatshare' and 'Busco Habitación' translates as 'I'm looking for a room'. More Spanish 'accommodation' words and phrases.
Here is one such site: http://www.habitamos.com/ if that's not enough, Google 'Anuncios clasificados', the results will keep you busy for a long time.
Live free by giving English conversation practice This is almost too good to be true, but you can earn your board and keep, ie your room and meals, by giving English conversation practice to a Spanish family. The hours are not onerous, typically 15 hours per week, which leaves you with plenty of time for other activities. Here is another link for this; Live with a Spanish family and teach your native language (which can be English, German, French or Italian), in exchange for room and board
A really oddball way of finding somewhere to live in Spain I'm going to give you the short version here, but really it's a story I should share in full. A few months ago I had a conversation with a Scottish man who by chance stayed for a year in Spain and picked up a good level of the language. He'd gone there on a regular 2 week vacation but by a series of misfortunes ended up with no money and nowhere to stay. By chance he met a man who was the manager of a church-run hostel for people with a variety of problems. They simply said that he could stay as long as he wanted and offered him some simple work to do in return for that. When I have the time, I'll tell you the whole fascinating tale.
Get a job with accommodation provided If you Google "job with accommodation in Spain", you will see many results for jobs which include somewhere to live. Commonly this will be in the hotel or restaurant sector - here is an example: Paid Jobs in Hospitality Management in Spain (Hotels, Restaurants..) You have to pay for the program above, but you also have a good chance of finding a job without using an agency simply by going to Spain and enquiring door-to-door at hotels and restaurants. In the more touristy areas, around the coast, you won't need any Spanish to do this because there are many bars, cafes and other businesses owned by foreigners, most of whom will be from Britain, Germany, The Netherlands or Scandinavia. This is not a perfect solution if you are a committed learner of Spanish though, because a lot of your conversations will be in English, but it could be a place to start. Bear in mind that the wages for jobs like this aren't very high and you need to check carefully the legalities of taking a job; EU nationals have the right to work, others may require a visa or work permit. In addition, inform yourself about the conditions required so that you are covered by Spanish work legislation, social security provisions and healthcare. Have fun Diviértate Robert
|
|
||||||
|
Site Map | Support | Privacy Policy | Contact |
||||||||
|
|
