How to get a job in Spain from the UK (2026)

Which visa do UK citizens need to work in Spain?

If you were living legally in Spain before 1 January 2021, the Withdrawal Agreement protects your right to work. Everyone else needs a visa and an authorisation to live and work in Spain. As a visitor you can stay up to 90 days in any 180 without a visa, but the rules for working are different.

These are the main routes, named as the Spanish government names them. Glo is a CV service, not an immigration adviser, so confirm your eligibility with the Spanish authorities or a qualified adviser before you commit.

How does the highly qualified professional permit work?

This is the route most professionals use. It sits under Ley 14/2013 and is handled by the Unidad de Grandes Empresas y Colectivos Estratégicos (UGE) at the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration. Either the company or you can submit the application. The law sets a maximum of 20 days for a decision after electronic submission, and if no decision is made in that time the application is treated as approved.

The permit lasts three years, or the length of the contract plus three months if that is shorter, and can be renewed for two years at a time.

For the EU Blue Card, Orden PJC/44/2026, in force since 31 January 2026, sets the minimum gross annual salary at 1.4 times the average gross annual earnings per worker in the INE's annual wage structure survey. A reduced threshold of 80% applies to occupations in major groups 1 and 2 that are on the shortage catalogue, and to people who obtained their qualification within the previous three years. The UGE publishes the current euro figure, last updated in June 2026, so check it there.

Once the authorisation is granted, you apply for the visa at a Spanish consulate. For the Blue Card, the law says the consulate cannot add requirements beyond those in the law and the general visa rules. In the UK there are Spanish consulates in London, Manchester and Edinburgh.

What is Spain's shortage occupations catalogue?

For ordinary jobs, the employer must show that the national employment situation allows it to hire from abroad. The simplest way is the Catálogo de Ocupaciones de Difícil Cobertura, the catalogue of hard-to-fill occupations. SEPE, the national public employment service, draws it up every quarter for each autonomous community, and a job on it can go straight to an application for your initial residence and work authorisation.

If the job is not on the catalogue, the employer can still try. It must place a precise job offer with the public employment service, which manages and publicises it for eight days. The employer then reports which candidates it accepted or rejected and why, and the service issues a certificate of insufficient candidates within three days.

These rules come from Spain's immigration regulation, Real Decreto 1155/2024, in force since 20 May 2025. You can search the current catalogue by province on the SEPE website. The first permit lasts up to one year and is tied to one region and one occupation, and you must be registered with Spanish social security within three months of entering Spain.

What are the NIE and the TIE?

The NIE (número de identidad de extranjero) is your personal foreigner's identity number, and it appears on every document Spain issues you. It is assigned automatically when you start a residence procedure. If you need one for other reasons while you are outside Spain, you can request it through a Spanish consulate.

The TIE (tarjeta de identidad de extranjero) is your residence card. If your visa or authorisation is for more than six months, you must apply for it in person within one month of entering Spain or of the authorisation taking effect. For employee permits that month runs from your registration with social security.

How does hiring work in Spain?

A CV and cover letter are the standard application, whether for an advertised job or a speculative approach. EURES says selection is usually based on interviews and sometimes includes psychometric or job-related tests, group exercises or an assessment centre lasting one or two days. Companies often contact only the candidates who pass the selection stage, so silence usually means no.

Contacts matter. EURES notes that many vacancies are filled through personal contacts and referrals, and that professional networks and social media play a growing part. Temporary employment agencies, marked ETT, hire staff and place them with client companies.

Where are jobs in Spain advertised?

EURES lists these among the most widely used job portals in Spain. Search with Spanish job titles as well as English ones.

• Portal Empléate: the job portal of Spain's national employment system, linked from the SEPE website.
• InfoJobs: general job board.
• LinkedIn: listed by EURES among the most used portals.
• Indeed España and Monster: general job boards.
• Infoempleo: general job board.
• Tecnoempleo: IT and telecoms jobs.
• EURES portal: European vacancies, including Spanish ones.
• Regional public employment services: each autonomous community runs its own, with vacancies and job-search guides.
• Company websites: look for pages headed Empleo, Recursos Humanos or Trabaja para nosotros.

How do you apply for Spanish jobs from the UK?

Mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands are one hour ahead of the UK all year, and the Canary Islands keep UK time. Be ready for part of a video interview to switch to Spanish.

Deal with relocation in the cover letter. Say when you can start and that you understand you would need a residence and work authorisation. If your role and salary fit the highly qualified route, mention that the law sets a 20-day maximum for the UGE decision. That reassures an employer who has never hired from outside the EU.

As a visitor you can stay up to 90 days in any 180 and attend business meetings, but GOV.UK warns that payment from a Spanish company for activities on such a trip could be classed as work. Do not start any job until your authorisation is granted.

Improve your Spanish before you apply. EURES says knowledge of Spanish is essential for working in Spain. If your level is modest, target employers that advertise in English, and say how you are improving.

Will your UK qualifications be recognised in Spain?

It depends on the job. Spain has two procedures under Real Decreto 889/2022. Homologación gives your degree the same effect as the Spanish degree required for a regulated profession, and lets you practise it on the same terms as Spanish graduates. Declaración de equivalencia confirms the academic level, such as Grado, Máster or Doctorado, without professional effects.

If your profession is regulated in Spain, you need homologación before you can practise, and the EU Blue Card requires it for regulated professions. GOV.UK adds that UK citizens may need their qualification legalised before it can be recognised.

For unregulated roles the employer decides what evidence it wants. Keep certified copies of your certificates ready: the highly qualified route requires proof of your qualification or experience.

How long does it take to start a job in Spain?

The usual sequence for a professional hired from the UK is below. Finding the job and serving your UK notice usually take longest, so raise the authorisation on the day you get the offer.

• Search: apply with a Spanish CV and cover letter through portals and company sites, and interview by video.
• Offer: for the EU Blue Card, the contract or firm offer must be for at least six months; check the salary against the threshold for your route.
• Authorisation: for the highly qualified route, the company or you apply to the UGE, which has a 20-day legal maximum to decide. For ordinary jobs, the employer first uses the shortage catalogue or the eight-day offer process.
• Visa: once the authorisation is granted, apply for the visa at a Spanish consulate.
• Arrival: register on the padrón at your town hall, and make sure your employer registers you with social security, which for ordinary employee permits must happen within three months of entry.
• First month: apply in person for your TIE if your authorisation is for more than six months.

Which sectors have documented demand in Spain?

The official list is the Catálogo de Ocupaciones de Difícil Cobertura, published by SEPE each quarter for each region. It changes, so search it for your occupation and the province you are targeting before you apply.

EURES's labour market report for Spain, drawing on the European Labour Authority's analysis, names health professionals, stationary plant and machine operators, and agricultural, forestry and fishery labourers as the occupational groups with the most shortage occupations in 2024. It lists science and engineering professionals and business and administration associate professionals among the groups with the most surplus occupations, so expect competition there.