Teaching Jobs in Spain

Working in Spain is easier than most western European countries. There’s plenty of work and since many have paved the road before you, the process is much easier. A European passport, a teaching certificate and English fluency can pretty much guarantee you a job if it’s the right time of year. Along with Italy and Greece, Spain has the highest number of residents studying English and it’s greatest source of income is tourism. Thus the demand for teachers is greater than the supply in private English education. In fact, it’s said that out of the more than 5 million residents in Madrid province, at least 10,000 are English teachers (either full or part time).

The teaching season runs from October to June. So the best time to look is in September, while July and August offer few opportunities with locals still up in the mountains or down on the beach.

Most employers require a teaching certificate to show some seriousness and experience on the teacher’s part. Too many “fly-by-night”, “I-speak-so-can-teach” backpackers have drifted through in the past. One-month teaching certificate courses can be taken in the bigger cities such as Seville, Madrid or Barcelona with professional certifying institutes such as Cambridge or TEFL International, who often help place you in job situations. Legally, teaching institutes cannot hire unqualified nor illegal teachers, so both legal papers to work in Europe and a teaching certificate qualification are your best bets. Most places will only consider unqualified teachers as a last resort since they are building reputations with students that they want to continue enrolling. And you really want to know how to handle those Spanish kids too before you get thrown in with them.

Now and then, there are government audits looking for illegal workers, however such an influx of people seeking work from outside Spain and the great demand for English teachers means that many institutes in large cities will still offer work to a highly-qualified teacher with a known certificate. So there’s hope for you yet. Some institutes will even apply for and get working documents for teachers that lack them (i.e. North American teachers) after they have been there for some time (usually longer than a year). Recognizing this, the government offers an “amnesty” every couple years, opening the doors for illegal workers to apply and get papers if they prove they have been employed over a length of time. But these amnesties are not announced beforehand, so don’t count on this factor, or move your whole family to a beach house in Spain.