Keep in mind, the process for starting a business as an EU citizen/resident is quite different than it is for a non-EU citizen/resident.

And I think the scenario for starting a coop business to offer work visas to foreigners would be really, really difficult, unless it was a large legitimate business bringing in a good amount of revenue.

When a company makes an offer to a non-EU citizen, they must meet all sorts of requirements for the request for the work visa to be approved. They have to prove that they are a stable business that has paid taxes, has had full-time employees in the same or similar position, and that they have paid social security for these employees. Also the job has to be listed and offered via the Spanish unemployment office. I don't think there's any easy way to do it.

Hey all,

Here's the deal. I actually made it to Madrid, I suffered 10 hours sitting between two old men on the plane who decided it was the perfect time to simultaneously floss their teeth. I have been here for 3 days now and I have been scrambling to find an apartment for rent. Thanks to this website, I knew what to expect in terms of the size and pricing of these places, but I gotta be honest...WOW, I cannot believe just exactly how expensive (and small!) these places are!...Onward to the point of this post: I am staying at a hotel on Gran Via until Sunday April 1. Like the idiot I am, I didn't give myself ample time to find a place to live, so I have to shift gears and find a temporary place to stay (1 week to 1 month maybe), so I could take my time and find the right place to live. Anyone know any people subletting rooms or anything like that? This hotel is too expensive and I prefer not to stay in hostels. I've noticed a lot of people sublet rooms to make ends meat here, and I've checked all the papers and all the websites - so does anyone know any specific persons that can help? I have no problem paying in cash.

Please let me know and sorry for the long post. It's my bday today too...yay! I realized it was my bday at 5pm, which is scary!...

Thanks in advance for the help!

Just so you know, a hostal is a small hotel, not a hostel (a hostel is an albergue ). If you can't find a temporary shared room, you could save a lot of money by staying at a hostal.

Good luck... about 40% of Madrid leaves town during Semana Santa, so this is a rough week to look for a place. I'd try to look as much as you can this weekend and Monday and Tuesday, after that, a lot of people will be out of town until the 10th.

Feliz Cumpleannos y que vengan muchos mas!!
Plus a nice place to live. Good luck always.


Juan

madridmadridmadrid wrote: I've speant about 10 years of my life in a futile attempt to enlighten people about the distinction of the words and translation of words hostel, hostal, youth hostel, albergue juvenil when referring to Spain and Spanish-speaking countries.

The Spanish Ministry of Tourism translates the Spanish word Hostal to the English word Hostel. They translate the Spanish term Albergue Juvenil to Youth Hostel.

In non-Spanish-speaking countries a hostel is commonly understood as a YOUTH hostel but in Spanish-speaking countries a hostel (English) is a hostal (Spanish).

The correct term for backpacker-style-bunk-bed-lodging is Youth Hostel. We English-speakers have lazily abbreviated this term to just Hostel. But, in Spain, Spanish is the first-language and not English. They do often abbreviate Albergue Juvenil to simply Albergue but there's no confusion because of this. The confusion comes when English speakers abbreviate an English term, and that abbreviated term, hostel is misunderstood by Spanish speakers because they consider a hostel (English) to be a hostal (Spanish).

So, en fin, in Spain a Hostal (Spanish) AND a Hostel (English) is a small, budget hotel. In Spain, an Albergue Juvenil (Spanish) and a Youth Hostel (English) is a backpackers-bunk-bed-lodging-establishment.

One final comment about the plural form of the word Hostal when English speakers use/write this Spanish word. It's often mistakenly written as Hostals - which is the incorrect Spanish plural form. This word, Hostals, is an English-ized manipulation of the Spanish plural form in Hostales. The word hostals does have meaning though, as it's actually the plural form of hostal in the Catalán language - but not in Spanish and definitely doesn't exist in English.

No doubt I'll write and re-write this distinction several more times in my life but I can perfectly understand the confusion with English-speakers.

Saludos, MadridMan/ BarcelonaMan

Question of the day: So here I am 10 days into my Madrid adventure, and there is an employer who expressed interest in hiring me. They said that they would be willing to sign an offer letter. What do I need to do now? Is this one of those thing where I'd have to fly back to the US and formally apply, etc...cause if so, forget it haha! Is there a way that I can take this offer letter to the US or Spanish consulate/embassy here and make it work? Please advise...

MadridMan,

Seems like I've heard this sermon before and I can't keep it straight either. But hostal or hostel, there still an affordable way to stay in Madrid.

I also sometimes forget Madridman vs. MadridMan and I know this is also a bone of contention with you. Believe me, it's totally unintentional. :o

The other day I saw a Spanish lawyer on TV saying that if you did not come to Spain with a work visa, you would have to go back to your home country to get your new work visa. Which has proven totally impractical for most employers. The wait is so long between the time you apply for employment authorization in Spain and the issuance of the visa in your home country that no employer will to wait for your. Unless they really want you to work there...

trinichica I'm shocked you had problems at the airport, I've been all over Europe both by plane train and car and outside of airports in England and Switzerland I've never been asked to show my passport. England was the toughest, almost got refused entry as we had moved from Germany to Spain and didn't have my residency permit (still don't after a year) so I had no proof that we lived there. Switzerland was more a formality.

Regarding overstaying your visitor visas well there is always a first I've never heard of anyone being deported, as I said I've been here over a year and am still trying to get my residency permit sorted out, but that hasn't prevent us (my wife got her social security card and NIE without a problem as she has a German passport)from renting a place opening a bank account or in my case working.

www.idealista.com in English for rentals. But in most situations you will need to speak Spanish as there are alot of private ads.

Rent Madrid, have a friend looking for a place and she says she can't find anything under 900 a month and they are total dives!

Rob

btw the only time I got refused entry was in Sweden and then because I didn't have the proper paperwork for our dog! So I was put on the first flight back to Germany, got off in Denmark and rented a car and drove back. After that I was more careful to hide the dog (a small poodle) when we went through customs.