I have lived between the UK and Spain on and off for the last few years and it comes down to a question of economics.
Jobs are easy to come by in Britain and the pay is a lot lot higher.
You spend a lot of time and energy looking for work in Spain, you lower your standards all the time and finally if you do find work then it will be poor pay and long hours and twice as hard as back home.
So I came back to the UK got a job on 3 times the salary I was on in Madrid for half the hassle and soon I had a pot of money saved, meaning I could go back and live there for say 6 months at a time with no pressure and no need to work. Then hey presto, a job falls in your lap. Right place, right time etc. So thats one way of getting the Spanish experience.

It's the same with working in the USA versus Spain for sure. Salaries in Spain are about half to one-third of that in the USA. Really odd since the housing market in Spain is through the roof, practically unattainable, and people earning those low salaries can't even HOPE to buy a home at this time.

What job fell in your lap in Spain? Maybe we could interview there too!

Saludos, MadridMan

Hi,
this is my 1st post in this forum.. and i should say i got a bit worried.. it seems that the company that i m working for wants to relocate me in madrid starting march 2005, I haven t received the offer yet but i would like to ask you guys what would be a decent salary in Madrid for a position equivalent to an assistant marketing manager ? i just want to have you guys opinions even if they are not precise & accurate , but at least that would give me an idea about the salary they re going to offer me. thanks a lot..

Hi Simo.
If you are to be paid the local market rate the news might not be so good.There are scores of Spanish marketing graduates available and looking for work as marketing is a popular career choice.Other career choices such as my own, construction, are not so popular and a bit higher paid I think. Therefore with the law of supply and demand the going rate might be as low as 2M pesetas (about £10.000 per annum - dollars not sure of the conversion), maybe 3M.If however your employer is US based you may have a better negotiation chance.
Good luck, let us know how you fare.

Housing prices for buying a place in Madrid are through the roof, but renting is quite affordable. At least half what it would be in a big American city...

WHAT! Maybe affordable for americans, but not for spaniards.

An average "apartamento", this means 1 sleeping room plus living-room, uses to cost around 500 + euros a month.

An average "piso" or apartment, of three rooms plus living room costs 650 (very few)to 900+. But there are many above.

If you realize that some salaries are about 600 euros after taxes, and maybe most under 1.200, I wouldn't say they are cheap ... if you work here and get a spanish salary.

In fact, it's about 100 euros a month more, many times, to BUY the flat on a 30 years mortgage.

Renting prices are comparatively much more expensive than buying ones. That's also one of the reasons why people tries to buy, causinggo up even more. A vicious circle.

Yeah, I agree housing here is atrocious, especially near the big cities. Not only that but the new apartment buildings they make now are crap. The attitude seems to be: "Let's fit as many people in one building as we can, build it super fast, give them all 80m2 (with about 63m2 of actual living space), with super thin walls (so you can hear all your neighbors nice and clear), and then sell it for a crazily stupid price!" I wouldn't buy a new apartment here now, the buildings they built 20 years ago seem to be much better built but the good ones are so out of reach financially.

For example, my wife and I saw a very nice apartment last weekend (in Albacete): nice, spacious, room to breathe, good solid construction and cost about 300,000 Euros. Big money is hard to come by here, so who can afford these crazy prices?

Spanadian.

Thanks Steven for your info.
Jsu want a small clarification : between 10000 to 15000 GBP is what a fresh graduate can make per annum for his 1st job.. i have been working for my company for more than 4 and 1/2 years , it s a very strong multinational company , i was hired first in Morocco ( i m from morocco ) and then i was expatriated to indonesia where i m still working now , now they want to relocate me to spain but under a local contract , not an expat contract like the one i have now, so neither accomodation nor transportaion allocations , if you tell me i m gonna make 15.000 GBP per year and have to pay 600 to 800 eur per month for the rent, than indeed it is not good news at all. . Anyway, I ll let you know how is it going.. thanks ..

Well, it depends on what the "assistant marketing manager" stands for. if you are speaking of an executive position, then it's absolutely different.

It depends on wether they valorate your experience and skill. There are other marketing positions apart from the majoritary "misery salaries" ones, where you can get more decent salaries, and, above all, juicy commisions.

It depends totally on your salary wether it's worth to come or not. Yo have to compare with your previous situation. Expect national products prices to be 2 to 3 times cheaper than in England, international products like cars to be about the same, and property almost the same.

If you balance the weight all of these have on your monthly budget, you could accept a salary that is about 65 or 70% the one you'd have in England and lead a similar standard of life.

If you can make 15000 GBP (22000 Euros a year, say 1500 Euros take home a month) and pay just 600 Euros rent, then I happen to think you'll be very well off. Most people both in Spain and the UK pay a far larger proportion of their income on rent or mortgage payments. Plus, if you're prepared to share an apartment you should be able to find somewhere for 300 Euros.