Teaching English in Spain as an American: NALCAP, Visas, and Taxes

Written by Mike Wallace

MBA

Mike Wallace

MBA

Mike Wallace, CEO at Greenback Expat Tax Services, has extensive experience in finance, operations, and strategic leadership. Mike has worked in numerous C-Level roles, including at large financial institutions. Mike holds a Master's in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.

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Updated on October 7, 2026

10 minute read

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Wallace, M. (2026, October 07). Teaching English in Spain as an American: NALCAP, Visas, and Taxes. GreenbackTaxServices.com. Retrieved , from https://www.greenbacktaxservices.com/country-guide/spain/teaching-english-in-spain/

Americans can teach English in Spain through NALCAP, the Spanish government’s language assistant program, which places you in a public school for 14 to 16 hours a week from November to May with an allowance of €800 to €935 a month in 2026-27. The other main route is a paid job at a private language academy, which needs an employee work visa sponsored by the academy. This guide is part of our wider guide to living in Spain.

The route you pick decides your status. Spain classifies NALCAP as a grant, so you travel on a student visa, you can’t take paid side work without separate permission, and the allowance still counts toward your U.S. return. One school year is usually too short for the foreign earned income exclusion, but the allowance is small enough that it often adds little U.S. tax.

Teaching English in Spain at a Glance

How Can Americans Teach English in Spain?

Americans teach English in Spain through three main routes, each of which gives you a different legal status.

1. NALCAP: You become an auxiliar de conversación, a language assistant who supports English teachers in a public school. Spain treats it as a cultural exchange grant, and you hold a student visa.
2. A private language academy: you are an employee, so the academy has to sponsor your work authorization before you apply for a visa. The process is the same as for any other job and is covered in working in Spain.
3. A master’s degree with a school placement: Some Spanish universities pair a master’s program with a classroom placement. You hold a student stay for higher studies, which also lets you work up to 30 hours a week.

Some Americans apply through organizations that place assistants, such as CIEE, Fulbright, ConversaSpain, and RVF, which the Ministry of Education names on its NALCAP pages.

What Is NALCAP and How Does It Work?

NALCAP is the Ministry of Education program that brings U.S. college students and graduates to Spanish public schools as English language assistants for one school year. Over 50,000 Americans have taken part. You work alongside a classroom teacher, and in return, you receive a monthly allowance and health insurance.

Who Can Apply

You can apply if you:

1. are a U.S. citizen with a passport valid until at least 1 November 2027 for the 2026-27 program;
2. hold a degree, or are in at least your second year of college, with studies completed in English at a U.S. or Canadian institution;
3. are a native-like English speaker with basic Spanish for daily life;
4. are aged 18 to 44: 18 by 1 January 2026 and under 45 on 1 January 2027;
5. have a clean background check and are in good health.

Hours, Allowance and Regions for 2026-27

The 2026-27 program runs from 1 November 2026 to 31 May 2027. You assist for 14 to 16 hours a week and receive seven monthly payments. The amount depends on who places you: the Ministry of Education or a regional education office.

Madrid, Andalusia, Galicia, and Murcia are not in the 2026-27 program. The first payment can arrive any time between November and late December, so the program advises bringing at least $4,000 to cover your first few months. Health insurance is included, but it doesn’t cover pre-existing conditions or medication, and you pay your own flights.

How to Apply

1. Register on Profex 2, the Ministry’s application portal. Applying is free.
2. Apply in the June window. For 2026-27, it ran from 2 to 30 June 2026. The NALCAP page posts the dates for each year.
3. Watch for a placement in July. If you are selected, you have two days to accept.
4. Download your placement letter and use it to apply for your visa.

What Assistants Do, and Don’t Do

You help a teacher with conversation practice and bring American language and culture into the classroom. You never replace the teacher, run a class alone, handle discipline, or grade students. The 2026-27 call, written with Spain’s Ministry of Labor, includes a list of tasks that assistants may not perform. Spain added it to make the program’s non-employment status explicit.

Renewing for a Second Year

Regions allow two to four years in total, and Cataluña allows a single renewal for the Ministry cohort only. Your first renewal extends your residence card while you are in Spain. For a second or third renewal, you return to the U.S. and apply for a new visa.

What Visa Do You Need to Teach English in Spain?

The visa depends on the route: NALCAP assistants travel on a student visa, and academy teachers need an employee work visa.

For NALCAP, you file at the Spanish consulate covering your home state about two months before your start date, once you have your placement letter. You can’t apply from inside Spain. Start the background check early, since it needs an apostille and an official translation. The Ministry’s NALCAP visa guidance walks through the documents, and each consulate sets its own checklist. After you arrive, you apply for your TIE, the foreigner identity card that carries your NIE number.

For an academy job, the academy files for your work authorization with the Spanish authorities, and you apply for the visa once it is granted.

Can Language Assistants Give Private Classes?

Not without a separate work authorization. Spain’s immigration regulation, Real Decreto 1155/2024, classifies language assistants as stays for formative activities (article 52.1.e). The automatic right to work up to 30 hours a week in Article 57 applies only to students in higher education. As an assistant, private lessons or academy hours require an authorization to be applied for in their own right. A master’s student on a placement program can work without one, provided they stay within the 30-hour limit.

How Much Do English Teachers Make in Spain?

A NALCAP assistant receives €5,600 to €6,545 for the 2026-27 school year, paid in 7 payments of €800 to €935. Converted at €0.886 to $1, the IRS average rate for 2025, that is about $6,320 to $7,390. Academy pay is set by each academy and its sector’s collective agreement, so it varies by city and by the hours you teach. Spain’s average and minimum wages are in our guide to working in Spain.

Do Language Assistants Pay Tax in Spain?

Most one-year language assistants are not Spanish tax residents, because the program keeps them in Spain for fewer than 183 days in each calendar year. Spain counts you as a tax resident for any calendar year in which you’re in the country for over 183 days, or in which Spain is the center of your work and finances. A November-to-May placement gives you about 61 days in 2026 and 151 days in 2027.

Staying on for a second year, or arriving early and staying through the summer, can change that. The residency tests are explained on our page on how the Spanish tax system works. Ask your regional education office whether anything is withheld from your allowance, and keep your payment statements for your U.S. return.

How Does Teaching English in Spain Show Up on Your U.S. Return?

The NALCAP allowance is taxable U.S. income, and the payments land on two U.S. returns because the program spans two calendar years.

• Taxable income: The IRS treats grant money that pays for teaching or other required services as taxable, according to Publication 970. You report each payment in dollars on the return for the year you receive it.
• The exclusion usually doesn’t apply to the first year: the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion requires 330 full days abroad within 12 months under the Physical Presence Test, and a November-to-May placement is about 212 days. A second year that keeps you in Spain through the summer can get you there.
• Small totals often mean little tax: if the allowance is your only income for a year and your total stays under the $16,100 standard deduction for a single filer in 2026, the allowance adds no U.S. income tax, and you may not have to file.
• Your Spanish bank account: once your accounts outside the U.S. together top $10,000 on any single day, you file an FBAR.
• Academy teachers on Spanish payroll: Spanish tax is withheld from your salary and usually becomes a credit on your U.S. return, as explained in working in Spain.

Your home state may also still expect a return while you’re away, depending on its residency rules; see state taxes for expats.

Example: A First-Year Assistant’s U.S. Tax

Jordan, a recent graduate from Ohio, earned $24,000 at a U.S. job from January to August 2026. She starts NALCAP in Castilla y León on 1 November 2026 at €800 per month for 14 hours per week. Her first payment arrives in December, and the other six arrive in 2027.

Her whole NALCAP year adds about $90 to her U.S. tax. If her first payment had arrived in November, two payments would fall in 2026. Dollars are converted at €0.886 to $1, the IRS yearly average for 2025, and 2027 uses the 2026 standard deduction because the 2027 figure isn’t published yet.

Frequently Asked Questions About Teaching English in Spain

How Greenback Helps Americans Teaching English in Spain

Greenback’s tax team handles the U.S. return for Americans teaching in Spain, whether you are a first-year language assistant or teaching at a Spanish-run academy on the Spanish payroll. We report your allowance on the correct return for each payment, check whether the foreign earned income exclusion or the Foreign Tax Credit applies to your year, and file your FBAR when your Spanish account requires it. Spanish returns stay with a local adviser. Find out how we help U.S. citizens living abroad.

Heading to Spain as a Language Assistant?

Greenback helps you plan which U.S. returns your allowance lands on before your first payment arrives.

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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute tax or legal advice. Program figures come from Spain’s Ministry of Education for 2026-27, the example uses 2026 U.S. tax figures, and your result depends on your region, your other income, and when each payment arrives. Speak with a qualified professional about your situation.