Dear Tony
There´s LOTS of info. about teaching English in Spain, immigration, settling in, etc. at
http://www.multimadrid.com. It is Madrid-centric, but you will find plenty to keep you occupied and informed. You don´t say where you are coming from... are you an EU citizen, American, Antipodian, or "Other?" Requirements vary widely, depending on where you´re coming from; opportunities vary widely depending on where you want to go.
The language school in Ponferrada is ambitious, if nothing else. I cannot speak for its programs, students, rep, etc., but I know the school director was over at the Ponferrada pilgrim hostel a couple of weeks ago -- he´d heard there was an American native speaker hospitalera there (moi) and he wanted to see if I´d come over to the school and chat for a while with the students, to get them accustomed to the accent and approach and culture. I found him very charming and student-oriented... and I noticed also that he made no mention of what was in it for me. Evidently, as a volunteer hospitalero, I was also, perhaps, a volunteer Bonus Teacher for the language school. I was supposed to just go over there and chatter for free!
Well, I suppose that would be fine for many people, but after a "Journada Mexicana" at the albergue, I wasn´t in the market for more "volunteer opportunities!" (I´ve mentioned in the past some of this subtle, polite, camino-flavored exploitation going on with private enterprise happily using volunteer labor, and pocketing the wages that could´ve/should´ve been paid.) Don´t be exploited, even by NICE people.
By all means check it out, but be careful and state your expectations right up front. You don´t want to make all the travel and adjustments and find out you´re an unwitting volunteer.
Rebekah (aka Commie Pinko)
