The moment I knew Spain had broken its own system... was when trying to rent a place in Madrid I was making very good money as an autónomo (a freelancer) I want to be clear about that, because what I'm about to tell you only makes sense if you understand that context I wasn't broke or struggling AT ALL. I wasn't some kid fresh out of university with no savings and a dream. I had clients, I had income, I had a track record of several years. By any reasonable measure, I was doing well I wanted to rent an €800/month apartment Modest, right? For the income level I was at, that's not too much. Most financial advisors tell you to keep rent under 30% of income. I was nowhere near that. This should have been the most straightforward transaction in the world Landlords didn't even consider my application. Most straight up hang up the phone when I told them I was self employed You see, I was a freelancer. That means I was a pariah in Spain Okay, I thought. Surely there's a solution here. I'll show bank statements. I'll show invoices. I'll show contracts with clients. I'll put down extra months upfront if that helps. Whatever you need Then came the suggestion that broke my brain a little "Could you open a company and hire yourself?" Read that again They wanted me to create a legal entity, pay the setup costs, deal with the accounting, the compliance, the administrative overhead... all so that I could receive a salary from myself, which would be lower than my current net income because now I'd be paying corporate costs on top of everything else, just so that a piece of paper would say "employee" instead of "freelancer" They wanted me to have less money, more bureaucracy, and more complexity So that I could rent an €800 apartment And here's the thing... this wasn't some rogue landlord. At least that one guy gave me a solution. Most just ignored me This is Spain. This is how the system is set up. Freelancers are second-class citizens. This happens with renting a place, opening a bank account, getting a loan... Even with income that would make most employees envious, you're considered unstable, untrustworthy, and a risk I ended up finding a landlord who was willing to give me and my wife a shot, and we ended up using Madrid as our base for a few years. I wouldn't trade that time for anything But at some point... all of these problems stopped being worth it The moment I moved to Paraguay? I looked at three apartments, made an offer on one, and moved within a week The hassle in Spain is not worth it
