Advice

Hi. To be perfectly honest, your chances of carrying on working aren’t high. The entire area is full of expat ‘builders’ - I use the word with reservations! - trying to earn a crust. Many of them are simply trying it on, although of course, there are professionals . This is also not taking into account the many perfectly competent Spanish firms all of whom are perfectly legal.

Assuming that you don’t speak Spanish(?) , then your target market is going to be the expat community, most of whom are retired with pensions. Without The language, no local firm would employ you. There are of course, many perfectly legal building firms owned and run by English/German/ Dutch etc etc.

In order to work for yourself legally, you will be required to register as ‘autonomo’, self employed. This will immediately make you liable for tax and social security contributions, which are due monthly regardless of income. This will also entitle you to Healthcare. Without any of this, you will be required to prove private healthcare insurance, paid in advance for a year. Should you obtain work as an employee with a legal contract, then your employer will pay the contributions.

In a few days, when the disaster that is Brexit officially occurs, technically no one has a clue what the requirements for obtaining Residencia will be, other than the financial   requirements, proof of income, will be higher. It is simply not worth trying to work ‘cash in hand’ below the radar with the rest of the cowboys, as the authorities are tightening up dramatically and the fines if you are caught are swingeing and levied both on you and your client for employing you.

It’s generally reckoned that you need enough money to live on for a year in the first instance, by which time you hopefully will have got a foothold for work.

Good luck, but you need to think very carefully if you still need to earn a living. 

It may help with your queries if you have a look at Jim’s Guides on this site.   Also the Citizens Advice Bureau Spain site may help re general queries and the N332 site for anything to do with driving in Spain.

Thank you for your replies, we are out in May, So hopefully we will have a better idea what Brexit means to us all.