How to Retire Without Money
BEST PLACES TO RETIRE: SPAIN (page 3)
THE SPANIARDS. It is possible to type a people such as the Swiss or the Danes with a certain amount of accuracy but when you take a country as large as Spain it becomes as difficult as it would be to type the American. Obviously all Americans aren't the same-neither are all 30 million Spaniards.In Andulusia in the south, for instance, live the gypsies and although I have no prejudices in matters of race, nationality, or color I think I can truly state that the Spanish gypsy is the dirtiest, most poverty stricken, most dishonest, most untrustworthy people I have met in Europe, certainly they are the most lazy and shiftless. To the other extreme you have the residents of Madrid and also the Catalans of Barcelona who are modern, aggressive, hard working, honest folk who differ comparatively little from the average American.
Personally, I like the average Spaniard. I find him honest; clean, to the extent his poverty allows him to be; hospitable far beyond the extent he can afford; in love with his country, but with an amazing lack of knowledge about the rest of the world; a lover of his family, but also of good wine and good food, not to speak of good folk music. He is also, in spite of all misinformation to the contrary a hard worker (except for the gypsies).
§ MONEY. Spain has one of the softest currencies in Europe, and all indications are that it will become softer, especially if Uncle Sam discontinues plowing large sums of dollars into the shaky economy. At this writing, officially the peseta sells at a tourist rate of 42 to the dollar but in Tangier you get 53.50 to the dollar. I have seen it as low as 62 to the dollar in Tangier which is an indication of how greatly it can fluctuate.
No laws are broken by bringing pesetas into Spain. You are allowed to bring 10,000 of them for each member of your group. And you are also allowed to have your bank send you 3,000 pesetas a day. Before coming to Spain, however, I'd check this again with either the travel agent, your bank, or your money exchange house since laws can change quickly in this field.
§ WORK PERMISSION. You are allowed to work in Spain only if you have a work permit and if the job is of a type that a Spaniard could not fill. Actually this doesn't really affect you since Spanish pay is so inadequate that you would not be interested. As in all economical countries, labor prices are appallingly low. If you're interested in working, you'll have to swing some deal that involves a job other than an ordinary one for a Spanish concern. If you have some angle that will help tourism or in some other way attract dollars or other foreign currency, the authorities couldn't be happier.
If you work for dollars either for some American concern with a branch in Spain or for the American Armed Forces, no permission is necessary for such jobs. As far as I know they're the only jobs worth having in Spain.
Usually in opening a business, the American will take on a Spanish partner in whose name the business will operate. It is possible otherwise, but more difficult.
If you are the exception that proves the rule and do wish a work permit so that you can take a Spanish job, paid in pesetas, you apply first to the Ministerio de Informacion y Turismo and eventually are put in the hands of the Ministerio de Trabejo (Ministry of Labor). Address in both cases is simply, Madrid.
. . . more about retirement in Spain
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