About Non-Profits and NGOs

This section describes non-profits and non-governmental organizations, what they do and what types of jobs or volunteer opportunities may exist for foreign workers.

Below is a brief excerpt from this section:

Spain has around 100,000 non-profits (OSAL or Organizaciones Sin Ánimo de Lucro/Organizaciones Sin Fines de Lucro), associations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), according to recent research by the Aquae Foundation. Most of these organizations focus on social issues, social inclusion and health care, and they count over 3 million volunteers. 

Other defining characteristics of the non-profit sector (also known as tercer sector or third sector):

• More than half of the country’s non-profits were founded in the last two decades.
• Most jobs in this sector offer temporary and part-time contracts.
• Around 3.2% of Spain’s active population works for a non-profit.
• Funding comes from autonomous regional governments, internal organizational activity and private sources.

Almost all of Spain’s cities have non-profit organizations and NGOs, but the largest organizations with international reach are usually based in the main cities of Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Seville and Valencia.

This is just a brief sample of the extensive information in the GoinGlobal Spain Career Guide, which is carefully researched and regularly updated by local career experts.