hola, todos...

interesting information about working in Spain...

in regards to the legality and being caught, i have a friend that works in the guardia civil that was telling me that the principal reason for the "10 year" rule. it is that oftentimes north africans of the drug trade find their way onto spanish land and in the past have tried to make a regular life for themselves selling hash and other drugs... one way that the government found to keep them out was to have a 90 day visa-free stay for citizens of most countries, but then to have a penalty for extending the stay without permission... that the government will really only crack down upon those that are engaged in illegal activity, and traditionally it had been the north african drug peddlers. i don't know if this is exactly the reason, but probably has something to do with it...

also, i lived in spain well over the 90 day visa-free law and never had a problem, EVEN when crossing borders (into france and back into Spain). i think some people can be targeted by their trade... for instance, someone teaching english or helping in the tourist trade and who is not "apparrantly" a problem may be more welcome than another person in a different trade. teaching english and being involved in tourism helps the spanish economy... i think the goverment actively allows this sort of thing... another friend who is a lawyer in Madrid has told me these things too...

anywho, i would wish anyone wanting to go to Spain the very best of luck because you can work there and live nicely, and illegally. just be sure to do us all the favour of being a good "ambassadour" so that the government will continue to be relaxed about these things.

Thank you Real_megia for your clarification and information, greatly appreciated!!

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San Lorenzo del El Escorial Page!! Check it out! http://www.geocities.com/missmadrid98/homepage.html?957296168010

[This message has been edited by missmadrid98 (edited 07-06-2000).]

Hey MadridMan, that's a good idea. Maybe we should solicit the advice from some Spanish lawyers on the topic of working "without papers". It might be more reassuring. I have been trying to get to Spain now for a year. My boyfriend (native Spaniard, living in Bilbao) has gone to many official offices (only in Bilbao) trying to help me, to no avail. I'm going to ask him to seek out the advice from legal counsel. He knows many "native Spaniards" who work illegally there, and it is quite a normal thing for them. However like you, I wouldn't want to risk it, I have two sweet children to think about. Hasta luego!

so many things have already been said on this topic. we all know we may want to take the chance, right. like you madridman, i'm a little worried about being deported for ten years. i couldn't handle that exile!!! when i move there in january i'll be on a student visa until february 2002. seeing how i know i'm already going tobe looking for work without papers, its even more unerving to take that chance knowing that i can't legally work as a student. but alas, i'm going to try. the goal is to stay there long after i'm done with school.
i think it's a wonderful idea to get some feedback from a spanish lawyer. we all know what the books say, but we need to know what the real story is on the street. so for all of our spanish friends out there, can you help us? here ends my part.

buenoooo....

i mentioned a friend of mine who is a lawyer in Madrid, but unfortunately he is not an "online" type of person, so in turn i am only corresponding with him via snail-mail...

i wonder how we could solicit this information from a lawyer without perhaps tipping any government people off about this site... are we not supporting the abuse of the spanish legal system here? (seriously, i'm not opposed to living there illegally, but i wonder if their are any unforeseen legalisms for MadridMan...??) sorry, not trying to be the "paranoid."

i am going to search for any spanish chat rooms, or websites with contact information, and try to get a lawyer to visit us... that would be nice to know updates in spanish law about these things...

¡que viva la segunda patria!

ps> ok, as i thought about this i realize that i am being paranoid so i wanted to come back and edit this... just don't want to see our MadridMan getting harrased by anyone.. after all, we only seek information!

[This message has been edited by real_megia (edited 07-08-2000).]

Thanks for your consideration, real_megia! I appreciate your "taking care" of this message board. But yes, having some free legal advice regarding this matter would be helpful. Having this would be invaluable to those of us who would like to "make the move" in the best way.

Saludos, MadridMan