Au pair in Madrid, Spain
Madrid, Spain's capital, attracts many Spanish-speaking candidates and offers a broad market of welcoming families.
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Prepared by AuPair Connect — Compliance Team
Every legal, tax or safety detail in this content is verified by the AuPair Connect Compliance Team against official sources and dated.
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The official data for Spain
Legal status(es)
Age 17–30 years
Written agreement signed between the au pair and the host family
Visa
Required
Study authorisation, au-pair modality (long-stay au-pair student visa) for stays over 90 days by non-EU/EEA nationals — Real Decreto 1155/2024
Where no explicit legal rule exists (hour cap, police clearance), AuPair Connect recommends defining hours and checks by written contract, referring to the ~€320/month reference and carrying out a thorough interview before hosting.
Age
17–30 years
For the long-stay au-pair student visa, applicants must be at least 17 and in no case over 30 years old (Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores consular instruction; Strasbourg Convention of 24.11.1969). The host family has no specific legal age limit.
Working time
5 h/day
For au pairs from third countries, Spain's long-stay au-pair student visa requires a placement agreement in which household/childcare tasks do not exceed 5 hours a day, with at least one full free day per week (Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores consular instruction; placement framed by the Strasbourg Convention of 24.11.1969). The agreement runs for a maximum of one year, renewable up to two.
Contract / Agreement
Written au-pair placement agreement (study-stay au-pair modality) — Written agreement signed between the au pair and the host family
Spanish Social Security (special household-employee scheme) · Registration with Social Security by the family
Lodging and meals are provided by the host family under the au-pair placement (study-stay authorisation, au-pair modality).
Steps
- 1 Sign the written au pair contract with the host family — Host family / young au pair
- 2 For non-EU nationals: apply for the long-stay au-pair student visa (study authorisation, au-pair modality) at the Spanish consulate — Spanish consulate (Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores)
- 3 Obtain the NIE (foreigner identification number) — Spanish immigration administration
- 4 For EU nationals: register after 3 months (Certificado de Registro de Ciudadano de la UE) — Spanish local authorities
- 5 The family registers the au pair with Social Security — Spanish Social Security (SEPE)
Salary / Pocket money
320.00–320.00 EUR/month
≈ €320/month (≈ €80/week): reference value of accepted practice, not fixed by Spanish law; negotiated in the contract. Includes lodging, meals and health insurance.
Contributions
Spanish Social Security (SEPE)
Registration of the au pair under the special household-employee scheme
Registration is assessed case by case; RD 1620/2011 art. 2.2 excludes “family collaboration at par” relationships from the salaried household-employee scheme. Individual advice recommended.
Tax advantages
May need to declare the payments as household expenses
Pocket money generally below the IRPF filing threshold (€22,000/year — one payer; €15,876/year — several payers; in force 2026)
IRPF thresholds are updated every year by the Budget Law (Ley 35/2006 art. 96.9). The tax classification of au pair pocket money is not documented by the Agencia Tributaria; individual tax advice recommended in case of doubt.
Official sources
- Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones — extranjeros.inclusion.gob.es · verified on 2026-08-17
- Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores — consulats (exteriores.gob.es) · verified on 2026-08-17
- BOE — Real Decreto 1155/2024 (Reglamento de Extranjería ; transposition Directive UE 2016/801 « colocación au pair ») · verified on 2026-09-11
- Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Unión Europea y Cooperación — Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores — Servicios consulares: visados nacionales de estudios · verified on 2026-09-11
- BOE — Real Decreto 1620/2011 (relation spéciale employés de maison, art. 2.2) · verified on 2026-08-17
- BOE (Boletín Oficial del Estado) / Council of Europe — Consejo de Europa — Acuerdo Europeo sobre la Colocación «Au Pair» (Estrasburgo, 24.11.1969 ; BOE-A-1988-21042, art. 3 durée, art. 4.1 âge 17–30, art. 8 jour libre/cours de langue, art. 9 tâches ≤ 5 h/jour) · verified on 2026-09-11
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Living & settling in Madrid
Concrete local information for your au pair stay in Madrid.
Prefecture & appointments
In Madrid, the au pair permit is settled at the Oficina de Extranjería or the comisaría for biometric fingerprinting: the appointment is booked online through the ministry. The initial authorisation is often processed within 1 to 3 months.
FLE schools & Alliance Française
To learn Spanish in Madrid, the Instituto Cervantes (c/ Alcalá 49) and the Escuela Internacional de español de Madrid offer intensive courses; au pairs often join language tandems in Malasaña.
Local family demand
Families in Chamberí, Salamanca and Malasaña, often bilingual, look for Spanish-speaking candidates for immediate Spanish immersion; demand is strong for morning care and school pick-up.
Transport & cost of living
A Madrid metro monthly pass costs about €54.60 all zones; the city is very dense with free public wifi. A shared room rents for around €450–600.
The au pair market in Madrid
How local demand is structured and what families look for in Madrid.
Madrid has the largest au pair market in Spain, structured around the residential districts of the centre and the north. Families in Chamberí, Salamanca, Chamartín and Retiro look for foreign candidates for early language immersion, often with two or three children and schedules built around the international schools of the Paseo de la Castellana. Demand is driven by a large expatriate community and by bilingual Spanish families who want to keep English or French alive at home, and districts such as Malasaña and La Latina remain highly sought after by young people. For the language, the Instituto Cervantes (calle de Alcalá 49) and many private schools in the capital run intensive Spanish courses for foreigners, with evening options compatible with childcare. Administratively, a non-EU candidate has no standalone "au pair" visa: the stay falls under the estancia por estudios, modalidad au pair, and the Oficina de Extranjería of the Comunidad de Madrid arranges the biometric appointment, while the long-stay visa is requested from the Spanish consulate before departure. Madrid's metro is dense and a monthly pass covers the whole city, while the private room and meals provided by the family offset most of a housing cost that is among the highest in the country. Competition is strong: verified references, an attested Spanish level and availability around school pick-up times make the difference. District by district, Madrid's demand map is legible: Chamberí and Salamanca for established families near the Paseo de la Castellana, Retiro and Ibiza for well-off dual-income households, Malasaña and Lavapiés for younger central parents who need a hand in the morning and at school pick-up. Metro lines 4, 6 and 9 serve these areas and Barajas airport stays reachable via line 8, easing family trips. For daily life, the San Miguel and Chamberí markets and the shops along calle Fuencarral give a dense, walkable setting. Language learning continues outside class: Spanish-English or Spanish-French tandems multiply in the cafés of Malasaña and La Latina, and municipal libraries offer free study spaces. For an au pair, the key in this market is punctuality around Spanish schedules, which run late into the evening, and the ability to help with homework in both Spanish and English.
Verified facts · Madrid
- Spain has no standalone "au pair" visa: beyond 90 days, a non-EU candidate's stay falls under the estancia por estudios, au pair modality (Real Decreto 1155/2024, transposing EU Directive 2016/801), with tasks capped at 5 hours a day and at least one full rest day a week. Source : Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE) — Real Decreto 1155/2024 · Verified
- The Oficina de Extranjería of the Comunidad de Madrid receives biometric-fingerprint applications by appointment (cita previa) for au-pair study stays; the long-stay visa is requested from the Spanish consulate before departure. Source : Comunidad de Madrid — Oficina de Extranjería · Verified
- The Instituto Cervantes in Madrid (calle de Alcalá 49) and accredited private schools offer Spanish courses for foreigners from beginner to advanced level, with intensive and evening options designed for those who work. Source : Instituto Cervantes — Spanish courses · Verified
- The Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid runs the urban metro and bus network; a monthly pass covers all zones and cuts the cost of home-to-school journeys compared with single tickets. Source : Consorcio Regional de Transportes de Madrid · Verified
Au pair in Madrid: all nationalities
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Guides for au pairing in Madrid
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Au pair in Madrid: questions & answers
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