Hi everyone,

Please can someone shed some light on how people ( preferably expats as I’m a Uk citizen moving to Spain ) actually manage to live and earn in Spain.

I have spent at least 8 solid hours surfing forums etc.. and there seem to be only 3 ways to work legally !

These are : Contract ( If you can find someone to give you a decent and meaningful one )
: Open a business
: Or become autonomo

As it is autonomo that I would require I looked further into the finer details,to find that I would need to pay between 175 and 260 Euros per month to the social security regardless of what I earn plus about 50 or 60 Euros to an accountant every month plus 20% tax on income earned plus VAT.

As a friend of mine said...........I can’t believe that everyone with a paintbrush,hammer,plumbers bag or a few english pupils is actually paying out nearly 300 Euros every month before expenses ,food,rent etc...I just refuse to believe it !
Well,I’m more interested in the comments on this forum .

What actually happens if you are registered as autonomo,is there room to live and pay all this or do I really need to accept that my friend is right and the big black economy is thriving much as it does in most countries.?

I want to be legal ...but how can I be with a low income to begin with and not a stash of money behind me to support the ss payments.

I welcome any constructive comments as I don’t want to enjoy my new country looking over my shoulder,taking the back roads to avoid the Gardia or just slowly sinking into working illegally like so many others....is there an alternative ?

Thank you for your replies in advance