I'm an American living in Spain. It's actually one of the easier western European countries to move to (legally), but still not as easy as moving to another US state. Here's my standard spiel.
Understand, that like all places, living in Spain (any European country really) is very different from a month long vacation. Especially if that was your first time out of your home country, you'll quickly realize that everywhere becomes "normal" at least to some extent, after a while. That being said, I enjoy living here very much, and can afford to live a much better life here than I could in the USA. I suppose "the time of my life" is a fair assessment. If you're an American (or Canadian/ Kiwi/ Aussie), you have two realistic options:
1) I have posted extensively about this, but there is a visa called the non-lucrative visa which allows you to live in Spain for up to 5 years if you have a financial source outside of Spain. I have a job in the USA which allows me to telecommute, so because I have a full income from the USA, I am able to live here. You can also show that you have adequate savings to support yourself for one year, €25,560, or you could have investments, a pension, or any other source of at least €2,130 per month flowing into your bank account form outside of Spain. There's more information here, but note that you'll have to do everything through your local Spanish Consulate and requirements are slightly different from place to place:
http://www.exteriores.gob.es/Consula...nLucrative.pdf
2) There is a program that is quite popular with young Americans called the Auxiliares de conversación extranjeros en España where you essentially assist a teacher in a school with English classes. As far as I know, this program is unique in Europe. In Madrid, it's 16 hours per week for €1000/ month. In other areas, I believe it's only 12 hours per week for €700 per month. It's not a lot of money, but you can live on it, and you get a visa (student visa). In addition, you can hustle English lessons on the side to make extra cash - I have several friends in this program who earn an extra €500-€700 per month with private lessons. A downside, in your case, is that they don't have this program in Catalonia, but you could live almost anywhere else in Spain. The main requirements are a university degree and being a native English speaker. Another downside, besides low pay (i'll reiterate that you can live, even in Madrid, on 1000 per month, it just won't be glamorous) is that a lot of my friends who work in this program feel... under-utilized. I'm sure it depends on your school and the teachers you work with, but you are there to assist, not to be the sole teacher. If you've had a legit career, this might feel like a bit of a step back. But hey, it's a visa. More info here:
Consejerias Exteriores : Cultural Ambassadors: North American Language and Culture Assistants in Spain
Finding a proper job in Spain that pays a competitive wage and would sponsor you for a visa would be next to impossible. The situation for Spaniards is not the best, let alone other EU citizens trying to work here. A Spanish/EU company will have to prove that you're better qualified than anyone else (EU or non EU) that's applied in the last 30 days. Outside of the Auxiliary program, which operates through the loophole of giving you a student visa, it's quite difficult to find a visa-sponsoring English teaching job because UK and Irish citizens (EU members) don't require a visa. Like I said, I've been through the ringer myself, and have a roommate and several American friends who are making a go of the English teaching options, feel free to PM me if you want any additional information.
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