Out of the frying pan and into the fire - Spanish move gone badly wrong!

LegacyUser

I think I have made an enormous mistake and I need some advice on what to do.

A few months ago, I decided to up-sticks and move to Spain. I came across, what seemed like, a really good English teaching opportunity and I took it up.

The employer was very enthusiastic, and the actual school is quite attractive. However, I am not being paid anything even remotely near the salary that I was promised. I was expecting 40 hours at €16/hour. My contract's been modified to 21 hours at €11 (before tax) and sometimes I am not even getting that.

I had budgeted everything based around the promised salary and I signed a lease on an apartment too. I can't really afford it and I'm actually at the stage that I can't even afford basic food. The cost of living in this part of Spain is pretty high, more like Irish price levels for groceries (other than wine).

In general, I am having an utterly miserable time. My colleagues aren't exactly outgoing and seem to spend all their time at home with their partners and the city itself is generally grim, unfriendly and very dead.

I've investigated the possibility of doing private classes, which would be paid at €25/hour but, you have to register as self-employed. This is a huge problem in Spain as you have to pay approximately €250/month social welfare charges regardless of your income. So, if you have a tight month, you could actually starve or end up missing a rent payment.

The amount of bureaucracy and red tape is just mind-bloggling!

The economy over here looks way worse than Ireland. Unemployment's well over 35% in this region, shops boarded up everywhere etc etc. Yet, the rental prices are still nuts as is the cost of living in general.

What I am just wondering is should I just cut and run and go back to Ireland? (Actually move home at no cost while looking for other work) I will lose a substantial deposit and have to pay big disconnection fees on some of the utilities but, it might bet better than ending up in heaps of credit card debt.

Or, should I tough it out and seek new opportunities?

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

tenchi-fan

Try to meet a local accountant to see if you can pay less on months you do not get as many hours.
If you got enough hours on €25 per hour you would not need to worry about the crummy €200 a week job (hate to point out the obvious, but you would get more in benefits in Ireland)

dellas1979

Ah...the way I see it is stay there and get cheaper accomodation (can you share?), 6months work experience, and move onto a nicer spot towards the summer.

Yes, your biggest expense is accomodation. Can you cut this in anyway?