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Cuenta Ajena
In practice this means that an EU citizen who is looking for ajob may enter Spain without any more formalities than the presentation of his passport, and remain as a “tourist” for a time, until he finds work. The EU job seeker should present himself at the nearest office of the INEM, the Instituto Nacional de Empleo, the National Employment Institute, where he registers as a demandante de enzpleo, a person looking for work. This is exactly the way Spaniards do it. The time limit for this is the normal tourist visit of six months.
When our job seeker obtains employment, he must present his work contract and Social Security registration to the Spanish police and to the national government’s sub-delegate office of the province, as well as to the Delegado de Trabajo, the provincial director of the Labour Ministry, who should routinely issue his tarj eta comunitaria, his EU citizen’s residence and work permit.
The first work permit will be for one year and renewals will be for five years. Your new employer will make the arrangements for your registration and payment into the Spanish Social Security scheme. Remember that it is illegal to work in Spain without being registered for Social Security.
There are short-term permits as well, called Permiso A, running for three-month, six-month, or nine-month periods. The normal work permit is called Permiso B.
Those who have found jobs in Spain should also read the next chapter on Employing Others for a full discussion of their rights as workers.
Cuenta Propia or Autonomo
The other sort of work permit applies to persons such as plumbers, carpenters or business operators, who wish to work as self-
employed. This is called working “on your own account” the cuenta propia. It is often called autonomo as well, because the worker pays into the Spanish Social Security system under a different plan from the employee.
Unfortunately for these self-employed persons, their situation is a little more complicated, but it is no more complicated than it is for Spaniards themselves. Remember that “equal treatment” means that those persons applying for self-employed permits will have to go through a series of fiscal licenses, opening permits and inspections just like Spaniards trying to start a business. The red tape has driven more than one Spaniard round the bend and foreigners will find the same frustrations.
European professionals who want to work in Spain now find it much easier to have their professional qualifications standardized to Spanish regulations and to set up their practice in Spain.
Doctors, dentists, nurses, veterinarians, architects, lawyers, insurance agents and hairdressers now experience fewer difficulties when they want to render their services in Spain. Other professions also will find restrictions relaxed.
The recognition of foreign qualifications has been greatly simplified and speeded up. Even the professional Colleges can no longer act as either open or covert obstacles to the practice of professions by EU citizens who hold the proper titles in their home countries.
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