Irish/Aussie in Madrid here. I moved from Sydney a few years to take up a gig at Cabify. As has been mentioned here, you'll take a pay cut compared to the big European capitals, but cost of living probably balances it out.
Foreigners will probably be more familiar with Barcelona, but I find that Madrid is generally more welcoming. Most people who live in Madrid, although they may be Spanish, are not from in Madrid and so you'll find that most people are in a situation not too different from your own. The food is great, nightlife and culture some of the best you'll find in the world and you're well connected with budget airlines and high speed trains.
If you're at one of the more well known tech companies in Madrid you'll have no problem getting by with limited Spanish. Most work and all documentation is of course in English. You might just find the after-work/socialising sessions are where you'll most suffer not being a native speaker - but of course it's only a matter of time before you'll improve. Outside of work, with basic Spanish you'll get by, but it will be much easier and more enjoyable when you're comfortable cracking jokes in Spanish over a few "cañas".
The sector is definitely growing due to a few recent success stories and although the sector is not huge, there seems to be a solid amount of available venture funding, appetite for risk and I think it will only continue to grow as companies like ours put the city on the "tech" map.
Cool that you are hiring. I once applied. Did an interview and a code challenge and after that no one told me anything. No feedback on the challenge. Nothing.
:-( Sorry about that. We were going through a pretty crazy growth period so our recruiting and HR practices were not where they should be. I'd like to think we've improved quite a bit now with a bigger team and a dedicated recruiting/HR person for our team. If you want to reach out (@davepsmyth) I can give you some feedback and an update on the team/roles.
Foreigners will probably be more familiar with Barcelona, but I find that Madrid is generally more welcoming. Most people who live in Madrid, although they may be Spanish, are not from in Madrid and so you'll find that most people are in a situation not too different from your own. The food is great, nightlife and culture some of the best you'll find in the world and you're well connected with budget airlines and high speed trains.
If you're at one of the more well known tech companies in Madrid you'll have no problem getting by with limited Spanish. Most work and all documentation is of course in English. You might just find the after-work/socialising sessions are where you'll most suffer not being a native speaker - but of course it's only a matter of time before you'll improve. Outside of work, with basic Spanish you'll get by, but it will be much easier and more enjoyable when you're comfortable cracking jokes in Spanish over a few "cañas".
The sector is definitely growing due to a few recent success stories and although the sector is not huge, there seems to be a solid amount of available venture funding, appetite for risk and I think it will only continue to grow as companies like ours put the city on the "tech" map.
We're hiring if you're interested :-) https://cabify.com/jobs