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WORKING IN SPAIN

Not English: The languages linked to high-paying jobs in Spain

It is generally thought that if you speak English, you will have access to more, better and higher paying jobs overseas, but that's not necessarily the case in Spain.

Published: 6 May 2024 09:23 CEST
Updated: 12 May 2024 11:48 CEST
Not English: The languages linked to high-paying jobs in Spain
The languages linked to high-paying jobs in Spain. Photo: Karolina Grabowska / Pexels

It’s obvious that language skills are very important when applying for certain jobs and that some companies are attracted to applications from those who speak more than one.

A common belief in Spain, particularly among locals, is that if you learn English then you’ll have access to better-paying jobs within Spain.

Therefore, it might be surprising to learn that according to a recent study from online, language learning marketplace Preply, it’s not English or even French that’s the most economically valuable foreign language in Spain, it’s Romanian.

The company analysed a total of 500,000 job vacancies in Spain in order to find out which languages ​​are the most economically profitable and which have the greatest demand.  

All the job vacancies were listed on job search engine Adzuna or were from advertisements that explicitly sought foreign language skills.

The study revealed that those who speak Romanian earn an average annual salary of €82,865, almost triple the average Spanish salary, which is €29,113.

In second place was Portuguese, with speakers earning an average of €68,120. This was followed by Arabic, whose speakers earn an average salary of €67,357.  In fourth place was Greek, with an average salary of €58,333 and then French, with an average annual salary of €54,725.

English didn’t even feature in the top five languages when it came to those earning the most in Spain. In fact, it came in ninth place, with speakers earning €49,000 on average.

While English speakers may not be earning the top salary here, it is however still one of the most useful languages to know (other than Spanish) as the study found that it was required by the most number of foreign companies in Spain – 16,000 in total.  

In second place, when it came to useful languages was German. However, the number of companies requiring candidates to speak it was much less than English, with a total of 2,040 vacancies.

READ ALSO: Why are the Spanish ‘so bad’ at English?

Why is Romanian such a profitable language to know in Spain?

It largely comes down to the fact that there are more than half a million Romanians living in Spain. A total of 627,478 in 2022, according to the latest figures available from Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE)

Rapid growth in the Romanian-speaking population means that there’s a greater need for Romanian translators and interpreters here. 

The majority of these translators are in the court system and National Police. Romanian, along with Arabic, makes up 50 percent of the court translation requests.

Since 2008, interpreters for the police have been in such great demand that they have had to outsource to specialised companies.

Because of the scarcity of translators who speak these languages specifically and the greater demand, these positions usually come with high salaries.

It has been reported that this year alone, the police will spend around €850,000 per month to translate conversations intercepted from criminals. 

Over the last 10 years, the budget for hiring translators and interpreters has increased dramatically. Currently, the police pay around €26 per hour.

Recently, the Spanish Cabinet authorised the Interior Ministry to bid for new contracts so that the National Police will have access to better interpreter services.  

The budget for this is set at €39.7 million, which is much higher than what was available before.  

Currently, the National Police can request translators in several languages ​​divided into categories according to the frequency of use.  

English, French, German and standard Arabic are some of the most requested, followed by Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Portuguese, Romanian, Italian, Polish and Dutch.

Serbian, Bambara, Bengali, Iranian, Persian, Farsi, Armenian and Igbo interpreters are also sought-after.

These translators must have a qualification and experience and must be available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. When requested, they must appear at the required police station within a maximum time that ranges between 90 minutes and four hours, depending on the language they speak and the distance they have to travel. This goes some way to explain why they are paid so much.    

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AMERICANS IN SPAIN

EXCLUSIVE: What the new Spain-US social security deal means for Americans

The Local speaks to the Spanish government and tax experts to understand what the new social security and pensions agreement between the United States and Spain means for American workers, digital nomads and pensioners in Spain.

Published: 15 May 2024 11:10 CEST
EXCLUSIVE: What the new Spain-US social security deal means for Americans

In early April, the United States and Spain announced a new social security and pension agreement.

The first update to the bilateral agreement between the two countries since 1986 was announced by US Ambassador to Spain, Julissa Reynoso, and Spain’s Minister of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration, Elma Saiz.

The official agreement is unpublished so The Local spoke with a representative from Spain’s Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration as well as international tax experts to understand the agreement in more detail.

Key aspects of the agreement

The Ministry told The Local Spain that the agreement is a step towards, bolstering mobility between Spain and the United States by improving pension calculations and social security protections.

The agreement has to do with the accumulation of benefits and affects working Americans living in Spain. There are two main components; the first affects which system people pay into (Spanish or American) and the second maximises the amount people can collect from social security.
 
Regarding paying into social security, the new agreement extends the “posting period” from three years to five years, with the possibility of extending it to seven years.

READ ALSO:

This is meaningful for US employees who are working in Spain and means that they can now pay into the US social security system, rather than the Spanish social security system for longer.

Whereas the employee contributions in Spain and the United States are similar, 6.4 percent in Spain and 6.2 percent in the United States, the rate that employers pay differs greatly. In the United States the employer pays 6.2 percent into social security, whereas in Spain they pay 31 percent.
 
Why does this matter? “Previously when Americans moved to Spain, US employers were cutting the amount that they paid in salary because the cost of employment went up so much”, Louis Williams, Co-Founder and CEO of Entre Trámites, told The Local Spain.

It’s also made employers hesitant to grant digital nomads an Employer of Record (EOR) which would allow American workers to be on a Spanish contract.

READ ALSO:

In terms of collecting benefits, the representative from Spain’s Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration says, “In the calculation of the Spanish pension there have been technical modifications that will benefit especially those people who developed their last working life in the United States, without this harming those who have worked in Spain immediately before requesting the benefit.”

In other words, under the new agreement, after calculating a person’s benefits under each country’s system, the recipient will be awarded the most beneficial of those two calculations.

Impacts for self-employed workers and digital nomads

According to the Ministry, “The agreement allows self-employed workers to temporarily move to the other State while maintaining their legislation, a possibility that was previously restricted only to employed workers.”
 
This has big implications for people who avoid moving to Spain because of the complicated social security contributions scheme, as they’ll now be able to continue paying US social security taxes (rather than Spanish) for up to seven years.
 
“The interesting thing is if this is extended to digital nomads because it would make the digital nomad visa more attractive,” says Williams.

“Why? Because if you’re posted by an employer (who can now avoid high Spanish social security taxes) you’re eligible for Beckham’s Law.” The law, which does not extend to autonomous works, can cap tax liabilities at 24 percent.
 
Being posted could make life much simpler, according to Elliott Locke, ACSI, co-founder of abroaden, a financial wellbeing and education start-up for people living abroad headquartered in Barcelona.

“The calculus is harder for freelancers given the different legal structures and methods for freelancing between the two countries. In many ways, if an American moves here to work remotely, it could be beneficial for them to have their US-based employer hire them on a local contract through an employer-of-record,” Locke told The Local.
 
In short, the new agreement could make it more attractive for U.S. companies to post employees in Spain, making them eligible for Beckham’s law and allowing autonomous workers to pay into the U.S. social security system, making it more beneficial and easier to be a digital nomad in Spain.

READ ALSO:

Who benefits from the new agreement?
 
The people who will feel this new agreement the most are employers, digital nomads, retirees who have paid into both systems over the years, and finally, civil servants. “Spain has incorporated as possible beneficiaries of the Agreement those people who have contributed to the civil servant’s regime (passive class regime), who were excluded in the previous Agreement,” says the Ministry.
 
When can we expect the new agreement to come into force?

Don’t hold your breath; this is Spain after all, but we can expect the agreement to come into force within the next two years.

The deal has to pass through Congress before approval, which is likely why it has not yet been published. If things move quickly, people could expect to benefit within a year.

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