One in ten self-employed workers in Spain is foreign – roughly 175,000 of the “autónomo” total – according to 2019 data from Spain’s National Statistics Institute.
Foreign residents in Spain are in fact registering as self-employed at five times the rate of Spaniards, which shows the tendency among “extranjeros” to do their own thing and be self-sufficent.
But for many foreigners who are thinking of starting up in Spain, the prospect of lower than average wages might put them off from moving.
Fortunately, with the advent and acceptance of remote working in Spain’s work market, and a trend towards outsourcing work as in other countries, new well-paid job opportunities are opening up for freelancers.
A 2019 study by self-employment website Freelancer.com has helped to shed light on where the demand lies in Spain when it comes to freelancing in 2020, listing the “autónomo” jobs that can get freelancers up to €40,000 a year for working from home.
Big data analyst
Big data analysts are responsible for using data analytics to evaluate an organisation's performance and providing recommendations on system enhancements.
Freelance analysts with a knowledge of maths, statistics and programming can expect to earn around 24 euros an hour as a freelancer in Spain, averaging just under €200 for an 8-hour day and at least €40,000 a year before tax.
Demand for big data analysts grew by 58 percent globally in 2019.
Virtual advisor
Spain is still a country where most business and shopping is done in person but with coronavirus lockdown and restrictions remote customer service and consulting is becoming much more common.
Virtual advisor is actually a very broad job description which can go from marketing consultant to after-sales assistant. An ability to learn to use new tech is a plus but more importantly for foreigners communication skills and languages are highly valued.
It’s difficult to offer a salary bracket as freelance wages for this can vary greatly depending on the position, but virtual assistant jobs do have the advantage of being more flexible generally and have the possibility of working remotely.
Microsoft Excel consultants
Believe or not, the upsurge in computer work has also meant that more company workers need more training in how to use Word, Excel and the other Microsoft Office programmes that have been around for a long time.
A seasoned Excel user will be happy to hear that they are among 20 most sought-after freelance workers in Spain and can get very well paid to automate company tasks using Excel, train employees to do so or set up other Office programmes into the company system.
Transcription
While advances in automatic text transcription continue, the human factor is still decisive when it comes to transcribing texts, writing up transcripts of live events, and transcriptions where different accents make it impossible for any software to understand what’s being said.
Even though its fairly mundane work, it was the fifth most sought-after freelance job in 2019 and in Spain it usually pays €20 for an hour and a half of work.
Linguists again may have the upper hand in this regard.
Languages
Although the Freelancer.com’s study doesn’t specify what kind of language work is sought after, Russian, English, Spanish and French are among the 25 most demanded skills from freelancers.
There continues to be plenty of English teaching work in Spain – a lot of which is now being carried out online due to the coronavirus lockdown – as Spaniards use this period of uncertainty and restriction to improve their language skills.
Average hourly teaching rates in Spain range from €15 to €23 depending on experience.
READ ALSO:
- Self-employed in Spain: What you should know about being 'autónomo'
- Autónomo: What we know about Spain's plan to change freelance contributions
If you are looking for freelance work with a Spanish company or for an international company whilst being based in Spain, the following websites are a good place to start:
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