A Canadian in Spain without a work visa?

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stassy
stassy

Hi,
I'm a Canadian who id heading over to Spain january 30th, and i am just looking to see if anyone has any experience/advice with casually working there without a work visa? I'd love to stay in one place for 3 months or so and get to know it well.
I lived in ireland for 15 months recently, and managed to find a waitressing job there cash-in-hand, but am a little nervous about attempting to find something like that in a county that doesnt so much speak english. I do speak some spanish and pick languages up decently quick, and speak french decently as well. Anyways I have experience in a wide range of things, um waitressing, barwork, golf course maintenance, house prep and painting, ski resorts, soccer refereeing and im not sure what else i could be forgetting. i also recently completed a TESOL certificate course, but i dont want to teach in a school, i did it to make english tutoring possible.

So theres a bit of background, can anyone offer advice on whether they think I'll find work in any of those areas above, (esp. tutoring or barwork) or the best towns to look in, or resources for finding jobs? Really i'm open to any and all advice or comment or offers!!!!!

and just to forestall anyone who is tempted to completely dash my hopes lol i AM monetarily prepared in case i dont find work, i would just prefer to work because i think it really allows you to get to know a new place better!

also the main place i am looking to head to is Toledo, so if anyone wants to share their experiences with me i'd love that too!

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bpguruagain
bpguruagain

Are you aware of Schengen stassy?

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stassy
stassy

Hi
I wasn't until i noticed something about it in another post on thorn tree yesterday, and now i've started to look into it and i'm getting somewhat worried. not sure how i've never heard of this before!!! all the info i am finding on the net is rather complicated seeming, can anyone simplify it a bit for me so i can figure out what i'm going to need to do??

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bpguruagain
bpguruagain

You can stay a maximum of 90 in every 180 calendar days, in all of the Schengen countries combined.

That means if you stay in Spain for 90 days, you must then go out of the Schengen and stay out for 90 days. The rule is simple. What complicates things is people looking for a loophole to get around it. There is none.

As for working, it is possible to pick up under the table casual work but counting on it is never a good idea. If you stumble across something that can supplement your funds that's fine but you need to consider probable vs. possible. Anything is possible but how probable it is, is what matters. Every year 1000s of backpackers head off hoping to find work. Some do, most don't. That's reality.

Also bear in mind that if you do find casual/illegal work, you could be caught and deported. Also bear in mind that any casual work you find is not likely to pay much at all. You can probably earn a lot more slinging burgers at MacDonald's than you can picking grapes in France or whatever. Most casual work pays just about enough to exist on and not a dime more. It is always far better to work a month or two longer at home than look for work when travelling.

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