Domestic cleaner and social media creator Cristina Simón speaks out about the demands of household work in Spain and the stereotypes surrounding it. With a university degree and a growing social media presence, she draws attention to the low value often placed on the job. “Sometimes people offer me 10 euros an hour as if they’re doing me a favor,” she says, voicing a frustration shared by many in her field.
Domestic workers keep Spanish households running, handling cleaning and care alongside ironing, organizing and other impressive tasks. Yet, as Simón points out, their work is often dismissed as unskilled or secondary. Each home brings different demands, calling for planning and time management as well as knowledge of cleaning products and techniques. The physical toll can be large: workers may spend hours on their feet, lifting heavy objects or moving furniture. Spain’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health identifies domestic, cleaning and home-care work among feminized occupations particularly exposed to ergonomic and psychosocial risks, including strain from repetitive movements and forced postures.
Beyond Cleaning: Pressure and Prejudice
Simón describes a quiet pressure that many cleaners experience. Some clients monitor every move, time how long each room takes or leave small tests to check whether a particular area has been cleaned. Such practices, she says, can encourage mistrust and strain the working relationship.
The emotional demands are just as real. Domestic workers may listen to personal problems and support older clients, becoming a steady presence in a household. “I’m a cleaner, but sometimes I’m also a psychologist,” Simón remarks, drawing attention to emotional labor that often goes unrecognized. For live-in workers, the boundary between work, availability and private time can be especially difficult to maintain. Lucero Toapanta of Asociación Movilidad Humana has described how long hours and required availability can bring the effective hourly value of some live-in arrangements below four euros.
Legal Progress, Social Lag
Spain’s Royal Decree-Law 16/2022 brought a major change to the legal position of domestic workers. It extended unemployment protection and required employers to make Social Security contributions, addressing a longstanding gap that had left household workers with weaker protections than most employees. Spain also ratified the International Labour Organization’s Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), in 2022. The reform strengthened formal rights, but enforcement and equal access to social protection remain ongoing concerns.
The gap between legal recognition and day-to-day treatment remains impressive. The International Labour Organization tracks domestic work through indicators of employment and informality, alongside measures of wages, working time and social protection. In Spain, the sector is heavily feminized and covers cleaning and care, as well as household maintenance and assistance for older people. An estimate cited by Cadena SER Galicia put the number of people working in the sector at approximately 565,718. Asociación Movilidad Humana has called for stronger inspection and better information for workers and employers, alongside professional recognition, occupational-health protection and equal access to social-security and retirement rights. Its representative Lucero Toapanta has urged “full equality of labour rights” and stronger inspection to combat informal employment.
Despite legal progress, Simón argues that changes in the law have not erased social stigma. “I’m a cleaner, but I also studied at university,” she says, challenging the idea that a person’s worth is determined by their job title. Workers may still face tight schedules and low pay, as well as a lack of respect for the importance of their work. Toapanta has described the ratification of Convention No. 189 as a historic key stage, while stressing that impressive issues remain unresolved.
Simón’s message resonates with domestic workers who recognize their own experiences in her story. As Spain’s population ages and more households rely on paid care and domestic support, the sector remains basic to everyday life. Its challenges extend beyond pay to working time and informality, as well as physical and emotional demands and the practical enforcement of employment rights. Recognition of domestic work as employment has advanced; securing equal protection and social value remains an ongoing task.
