How do you find a seasonal tourism job on the Costa Blanca?

To land a seasonal tourism job on the Costa Blanca, apply directly through Turijobs and InfoJobs from early spring, register as a jobseeker at your local SEPE office, and get two documents ready in advance: your NIE and your Spanish social security number. No employer can legally put you on the books without them. Every summer, hotels, restaurants, beach bars and resort entertainment teams across Benidorm, Torrevieja, Alicante and Dénia hire thousands of seasonal staff, usually on a contract called the fijo-discontinuo, which works nothing like a standard fixed-term deal.

Two quick reference points before you start: check the real cost of living on the Costa Blanca in 2026 to size up your summer budget, and if a season is only your first step, sort out your right to work (more on that just below) before you count on the pay.

Do UK and non-EU nationals need a work permit for a summer job in Spain?

It depends entirely on your passport. If you hold an Irish passport, or any other EU, EEA or Swiss nationality, free movement applies in full: you need no work permit at all, just a NIE and a social security number, exactly like a Spanish worker. If you are a British citizen, that changed on 1 January 2021. Since Brexit, UK nationals are third-country nationals in Spain and cannot simply turn up and take a summer job: you need a work authorisation or a visa that allows employment before an employer can hire you. The same goes for US, Canadian, Australian and other non-EU passport holders.

This is the single biggest practical difference for readers coming from outside the EU. A seasonal contract does not, on its own, give you the right to work, so settle your immigration status first. If you are weighing up a longer move rather than one summer, our visa guide for non-EU nationals moving to Spain sets out the routes that actually allow paid work.

What contract will a Costa Blanca hotel actually offer you?

In the vast majority of cases, not a classic temporary contract but a contrato fijo-discontinuo, a permanent seasonal contract. Under Spain's 2021 labour reform (Law 32/2021), any job that recurs at the same time each year, such as summer hospitality or catering, must legally run on this open-ended arrangement. The employment relationship never officially ends: your pay and social contributions only run during the active periods. When the season closes you are not fired, you move into an inactive period, and the employer is legally obliged to call you back (the llamamiento) the following season if the role still exists.

Here is what that means for your wallet: a fijo-discontinuo carries no end-of-contract payout. That compensation applies only to the rare genuine temporary contracts (covering a specific absence, or a one-off, non-recurring spike in workload). Under article 49.1.c of the Workers' Statute, those pay 12 days of salary per year worked, prorated for contracts shorter than a year and subject to Spanish income tax (IRPF). So if you are offered a fijo-discontinuo for the season, it is not a lesser deal: it is now the legal norm for the sector, with the built-in advantage of an automatic recall the next year.

How much does hospitality pay in Alicante province in 2026?

Two floors stack on top of each other. First, the national minimum wage (SMI), set by Royal Decree 126/2026 of 18 February 2026 and published in the official gazette (BOE) on 19 February 2026: 1,221 euros gross per month across 14 payments (40.70 euros a day) for a full-time role. Second, and this is what really counts on the ground, the Alicante province hospitality collective agreement (2023 to 2026), whose 2026 pay tables were registered on 14 January 2026 and published in the provincial gazette (BOP Alicante no. 29 of 12 February 2026, a 2% rise on 2025). It sets base salaries above the SMI, tiered by level and group. A waiter or waitress (camarero/a, level 4) earns a base of 1,314.25 to 1,461.45 euros a month depending on group. One Alicante quirk: a fixed extra bonus in October of 1,211.59 euros, on top of the usual July and December ones, which not every Spanish agreement includes.

Watch one trap: the neighbouring Valencia province agreement spreads pay over 15 payments and shows different figures (roughly 1,100 to 1,415 euros depending on the source). Never take a payslip you spotted on a forum at face value without knowing which province it comes from, because Alicante and Valencia each have their own agreement.

Where should you actually look for summer tourism work?

Four channels complement each other, and none is enough on its own:

• Turijobs: the specialist portal for tourism, hotels and catering in Spain, heavily used by the big Benidorm hotel chains and coastal resorts to hire receptionists, housekeepers, cooks and waiting staff.
• InfoJobs: a general job board, but with a large volume of "turismo y restauración" listings you can filter by town (Benidorm, Torrevieja, Alicante, Dénia).
• SEPE (the public employment service): registering matters if you want to claim unemployment rights later, with offices in Benidorm (Av. de l'Aigüera, 8) and Torrevieja (C/ Galeón, 6), both on reduced summer hours (8.30 to 15.00) from 15 June to 15 September.
• Temp agencies (ETT) such as Adecco and Randstad: they also place seasonal hospitality and retail staff, a useful complement to direct applications. To show the scale of summer hiring on the coast, Mercadona recruited this summer in Torrevieja for its supermarkets (checkout, shelves, cleaning) on 15, 20 or 40 hour contracts and up to 1,734 euros gross a month full time. That is not hospitality in the strict sense, but it illustrates the same mass seasonal recruitment along the coast.

Do not underrate the walk-in application. Benidorm hotels and seafront restaurants in Jávea or Altea also hire in person, especially in June ahead of the July and August peak. Turning up with a printed CV, in Spanish if you can, still works remarkably well in this sector.

Which documents do you need before signing a seasonal contract?

Two are non-negotiable, and they are far easier to arrange before the summer rush than during it:

1. The NIE (foreigner identification number): the tax number without which no Spanish employer can legally register you. Appointment waits stretch out in peak tourist season, so plan ahead: see our step-by-step guide to getting your NIE on the Costa Blanca.
2. The social security affiliation number (número de afiliación, or NUSS): as an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen you can request it at the Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social with your passport or ID card, even before the NIE comes through. In practice, most employers prefer the NIE to be in hand first to avoid administrative back-and-forth. Your future employer, not you, formally files the alta (the hiring declaration) once the contract is signed.

These two documents are about being payable, not about being allowed to work: your right to work depends on your nationality (see the section above). For EU, EEA and Swiss citizens the only real bottleneck is a NIE obtained too late to be ready by 1 July.

Frequently asked questions about seasonal work on the Costa Blanca

Do you need to speak Spanish to work in hospitality over the summer?
Not everywhere, especially in Benidorm or on the northern coast where English often dominates the clientele, but a basic level of Castilian Spanish is a genuine hiring advantage. Most Turijobs and InfoJobs listings flag it as a plus, or a requirement for roles serving Spanish customers.

Is a fijo-discontinuo more precarious than a normal fixed-term contract?
No, the opposite on paper: it is an open-ended contract with a legal duty to recall you next year if the role survives, whereas a classic temporary contract simply stops on its set date. During the inactive off-season, though, you receive neither pay nor contributions, so you need to plan for those months.

Can you hold two seasonal jobs across different periods?
Nothing prevents it as long as the contracts do not overlap and each is properly declared. It is common on the Costa Blanca, where some seasonal workers pair summer catering with a different line of work for the rest of the year.

What if an employer does not honour the collective agreement?
Sector unions (such as the hospitality federations of CCOO or UGT in the Comunitat Valenciana) publish up-to-date pay tables and can advise if your payslip looks wrong. Never sign a contract without keeping your own copy.

Sources: Royal Decree 126/2026 of 18 February 2026 setting the SMI (BOE-A-2026-3815, boe.es), 2026 pay tables of the Alicante province hospitality collective agreement (BOP Alicante no. 29 of 12 February 2026, via qamarero.com and turnozo.com), Law 32/2021 labour reform on the fijo-discontinuo (analysis by Factorial, Tourinews, Coverflex), article 49.1.c of the Workers' Statute on temporary-contract severance (finiquitojusto.com, micalculadorafiniquito.es), SEPE Benidorm and Torrevieja office details and hours (sepeoficinas.es, sepecitas.es), EU social security affiliation procedure (blogextranjeriaprogestion.org), Turijobs and InfoJobs listings and data, Mercadona summer campaign in Torrevieja (diariodelavega.com). Figures recorded in July 2026 and liable to change from one year to the next.

Information verified in August 2026. The Daily Costa Blanca is an AI-assisted publication with human review.