Best places to live in Spain for job opportunities

If you need to work once you're settled in Spain, you may have less choice of location, since the availability of jobs is going to be your first priority. Depending upon your skills, remote work may be an option, but for jobs that require you to attend daily in person, the widest range of opportunities and options will be in big cities.

Of course, if you are able to work 100% remotely, you can simply choose the Spanish location that most appeals to you, personally. Find out more about that in How to work remotely from Spain: Your ultimate guide to the digital nomad life.

Naturally, the type of work you are willing or able to do may be widely available in a high number of locations. Not all the best-paid jobs in Spain are in offices, for example. Our guide to key locations for workers will cover various industries, including those with the most vacancies at any time.

Where are the most jobs in Spain?

According to recent research by recruitment platform Infojobs, the top five regions with the lowest unemployment, the most vacancies and the highest pay are Madrid, Catalunya, Andalucía, the Comunidad Valenciana, and Galicia. The study claims these regions have the highest percentages of full-time workers earning over €2,000 a month, considered a well-above-average wage.

Madrid and Catalunya jointly account for around 50% of all job offers in Spain, based upon an analysis of vacancies advertised by Business Insider, Nsdaq and ADECCO.

By contrast, Spain's National Statistics Institute (INE) found that Madrid and the Basque Country are the top two highest-paying regions, followed by Navarra, Catalunya, Asturias, Cantabria, and Castilla y León.

The pattern emerging shows that, outside Madrid and Barcelona, the majority of jobs and the best wages are found in Spain's most heavily-populated and industrialised areas: The northern, southern and eastern coastal strips.

Top cities for jobs

Spain's capital, Madrid, is the second-largest in the European Union, home to a huge number of head offices, and with a booming international city-break tourism industry, plus a lively arts scene – including three of the continent's most famous art galleries. Transport links are easy and affordable, with an underground metro network and regular buses, as well as being the main national rail hub for the entire country. To this end, you may not even need a car to live there.

Madrid is ideal for those who like a 'quieter' version of big-city life, since it feels less like a national capital – it is the administrative hub of Spain, but without quite the same huge global presence as a tourism destination as, for example, London, Paris or Rome. For a more 'capital city' feel, Spain's second-largest metropolitan area, Barcelona, is more 'showy', and equally suitable for those who need a huge range of job options on their doorstep.

The downside to Spain's top two cities is that they are very expensive to live in. Property for sale tends to carry a much higher price than comparable options out in the provinces, and rent can typically be up to twice as high as in a smaller city or large town. Even allowing for the fact you may not need to incur the cost of owning a car, you should factor in greater living costs when working out the level of salary you'll need from your future job.

What is Spain's job market like?

It helps to know a bit about the fabric of a country's job market, and its economy, before moving there. If you're relocating from a country or city with a heavy corporate framework or financial services sector, you may not find what you're looking for in Spain outside Madrid or Barcelona.

To give you an idea, an estimated 75% of companies in Spain are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a high proportion of which are family-run, the majority of which have fewer than 50 or even fewer than 10 employees. This is especially so in smaller towns – major corporations are fairly centralised, with limited presence outside major cities. Spain's wealthiest individuals – the Forbes top 100 – do include a few banking executives, but most are either investors, or have inherited businesses that have been in family hands for generations, rather than being high-ranking employees of huge organisations.

It's tempting to believe the top-paid jobs are going to be in highly-qualified professions, like finance or management. But this is not always the case in Spain; salary structures are typically 'flatter' than in northern European or North American countries, meaning the difference between entry-level and senior employees' wages is far less drastic. A factory worker or low-skilled warehouse packer can sometimes earn more than a school teacher, optician, or lawyer. Jobs widely considered 'essential' or 'useful' for the daily functioning of society, but which do not require advanced education, or which are even unskilled, are frequently very well remunerated. The same is true of those considered to involve an element of risk to the worker.

Which jobs have the most vacancies?

Research by recruitment consultants Recursos Humanos Cuni y Asociados found jobs with the highest numbers of vacancies to be:

• Customer helpline operators, including technical support. Call centres tend to be centralised, however, and are usually in the outer metropolitan zones of the biggest cities
• Warehouse goods handlers. In theory, these jobs can be found in any location with an industrial estate or shipping port
• Delivery drivers and logistics in general. The upsurge in online shopping – and the ever-expanding presence of Amazon Spain in Catalunya and Madrid - means demand for workers is growing. Likely locations will be commuter towns, or large and medium-sized towns in high-population regions
• Administration and clerical work. Not easy to find outside major towns and cities, but required in various industries, especially customer-facing businesses
• Software developers. Among the best-paid professions in Spain, an in-office position may require living near a big city, although it's an ideal field for remote workers
• Retail staff. Major chain stores, supermarkets and department stores are the main employers. Cities and bigger towns offer the most vacancies
• Sales reps. Offered in a variety of industries, sales jobs may be commission-only or self-employed, but tend to be less restrictive in terms of location: You may not need to live within commuting distance of the firm you work for.

Depending upon your skill set, you might qualify to apply for one of the jobs on Spain's official 'shortages' list. Published by the State Public Employment Service (SEPE), a government agency, the list of vacancies that are hard to fill covers every province in Spain. Non-EU/EEA citizens who need an employment visa to move to Spain have a high chance of their application being successful if they are able to work in one of these fields.

Coastal regions like the Comunidad Valenciana, Murcia, Catalunya, Andalucía, Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, and the Basque Country - as well as the Canary and Balearic Islands, Ceuta, Melilla, and dry docks in Madrid—need dock and shipping workers. Roles range from goods handlers and general dock labourers to marine engineers, ship mechanics, captains, and crew. Passenger ferries and cruise liners in these areas also struggle to find stewards, chefs, on-board maintenance staff, captains, and crew.

All regions, with or without a port, have hard-to-fill vacancies in specialist construction-related fields: Crane operators, forklift truck drivers, metal workers, window-fitters, locksmiths, and electricians. In many cases, you will be self-employed, and foreign applicants need to ensure their qualifications are officially recognised by the Spanish State before practising. This could even mean taking their qualifications again from the beginning, but it would be a good investment if it allowed you to make a living in two different countries.

Outside the shortages list, essential industries needing a large in-house workforce to function include manufacturing and retail. Many such positionss do not require special skills or qualifications, meaning they are open to a wider range of jobseekers, and pay can be exceptionally high.

Where to find manufacturing and production line work in Spain

Spain has a huge industrial, manufacturing and production sector, meaning jobs are in high supply. Any town with an industrial estate or close to a shipping port is likely to be a good source of employment opportunities. Given the sheer size of the sector, its comparatively high pay, ample availability of jobs and wide range of locations, this is an ideal field to target if you're looking for steady employment and regular income.

Ideal locations could include areas with long fruit seasons. Key crops are oranges (Catalunya, Murcia, the Comunidad Valenciana), tomatoes (especially Almería), and lettuce (mainly Murcia). These industries are perfect for those preferring rural areas over urban centres.

Industrial and production-line work also has the advantage of being offered by large national or multi-national companies with a solid brand, reputation and capital base. This can offer greater security, the option of relocation if you later want to live somewhere else, enhanced working conditions and pre-set pay scales.

An example is motor vehicle assembly. Spain, a top European car manufacturer, has 16 plants, including Ford in Valencia, Nissan in Barcelona, and SEAT in Martorell. Motor factory work is ideal for those wanting to live in less-touristic, northern, or inland regions, with major plants like Rénault in Palencia and Valladolid, Mercedes-Benz in Vitoria, Stellantis in Madrid, Zaragoza, and Vigo, and Nissan in Cantabria and Ávila.

Food and drinks manufacturers are prolific in Spain, since most supermarket goods are nationally-produced. Again, these are usually found on industrial estates, but not necessarily in cities: Even small villages often have retail and trade parks.

A growing field in production line work is recycling. Figures from IFMA España reveal Spain has around 400 plants - at least one in every province, typically on industrial estates in medium-sized towns. Waste is sorted manually rather than by machines, so demand for workers is constantly growing. Given that waste-handling comes with a discomfort factor, recycling-plant sorters are very highly paid.

Where to find retail work in Spain

According to the INE, Spain's retail sector is worth over €250,000,000 a year, accounts for one-eighth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 9.4% of all employees, of whom 63% are female. It's expected to grow by over 2% annually, meaning jobs will always be available wherever there are plenty of shops.

Supermarket work is surprisingly well paid in Spain. Long-standing employees typically earn higher than the national average wage, and working conditions are often very favourable. Plus, you're usually guaranteed Sundays and public holidays off.

Supermarkets will always be necessary and, as Spanish municipalities are generally highly self-reliant, even small villages have at least one branch of a major chain. Thus, your location choice is relatively unrestricted; although, clearly, the more densely-populated the area, the more stores with job vacancies there are likely to be.

Other retail work is easier to find in out-of-town shopping centres than on high streets – especially outside the cities, since shops in smaller municipalities are more likely to be independent and family-run. Towns of over 50,000 inhabitants are a good place to look for retail work, as are high-tourism areas, such as on the coasts. Here, ability to speak languages other than Spanish can be a bonus, potentially making expatriates desirable candidates.

In cities, major department stores often actively recruit ahead of busy periods, and seasonal staff are sometimes kept on permanently or offered their short-term jobs again year after year.

Face-to-face trade in Spain remains buoyant, and the culture of friendly local shops is alive and well. As yet, online grocery shopping is not a major trend. In-store order fulfilment and click-and-collect services tend to complement, rather than threaten, customer-facing retail. This means the industry regularly advertises for new store staff.

Best locations for tourism jobs

If your line of work is more in the catering, hospitality, or water sports industries, you'll more job opportunities in the typical summer holiday zones. The Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol, the Balearic and Canary Islands have local economies heavily focused on traditional tourism. But you should bear in mind that a high percentage of such jobs are seasonal and relatively low-paid. Do not expect to make up your wages through tips, either: Spain does not have a huge tipping culture, and doing so is not compulsory, so employers will not normally underpay their staff on the basis that the customers will top them up. This would lead to a substantial percentage of restaurant staff's salaries being in undeclared cash, which is illegal in Spain and frowned upon socially.

Permanent, high-end catering and hospitality jobs can, however, be exceptionally well paid. Silver-service waiting staff and experienced chefs can earn well above the national average salary, and are in high demand on cruise liners. Café culture is huge in Spain year-round, and the country prides itself on its excellent cuisine. In fact, Spain holds the world record for the highest number of bars and restaurants per inhabitant and the industry accounts for around 15% of the GDP. Consequently, there's no shortage of job vacancies, especially in high summer.

Other tourism-related employment includes hotel work, which can be in rural inland locations, not just built-up coastal towns – or looking after holiday lets. Much of Spain's beach tourism involves apartment and villa rentals or owner-occupied holiday homes; hence, agencies organising lets, meeting and greeting guests, and providing administration and keyholder services are frequently present on the Costas and islands. Agencies also need cleaners, gardeners and pool-cleaners, who'll have plenty to do in high season. They are usually self-employed, but their work continues year-round, albeit less intensely outside summer.

The type of work you seek in Spain may be defined by your chosen location, or maybe it's the other way around, and your choice of location will depend upon the jobs available in it. Before deciding where to live, though, you may find it helpful to read our article Top jobs for expats in Spain.