live-in housekeepers, nannies and couples for villas and masías
On the Costa Brava and in the Empordà we select live-in staff only — housekeepers, nannies, cooks, domestic couples and estate caretakers — year-round or for the season. In-depth interviews, references verified with previous employers and the first candidates in under 3 hours.
Placement agency licensed by the SNE, no. 1300000318
4.8 · 79 Google reviews
One-off fee · 6-month guarantee
DOMESTIC STAFF IN COSTA BRAVA
Live-in staff on the Costa Brava and in the Empordà: from the villa above the cove to the masía
The Costa Brava is not one place. There are the villas above the coves of Begur, Aiguablava, Llafranc and Calella de Palafrugell; the long-established summer houses of S'Agaró and Platja d'Aro; the Cadaqués of Barcelona and French families; and, inland, the restored masías of the Baix and Alt Empordà, with hectares of holm oaks, a pool and often horses. Each of those homes needs different staff, which is why we don't apply a city template here.
Whoever buys or inherits a house on this coast usually lives in Barcelona, Paris, Geneva or London and uses it at Easter, on long weekends and for the whole summer. That creates two needs the local market rarely meets: someone trustworthy to look after the house the rest of the year, and a team that runs at full capacity when the family and their guests are in residence.
Here we select live-in staff and nothing else: people who live at the house. Housekeepers, nannies, cooks, domestic couples and estate caretakers, on permanent or seasonal contracts. We don't cover live-out or hourly work in the province of Girona, and that isn't a gap: it follows from candidates coming from elsewhere and settling on the property. Before we put anyone forward we build a clear picture of each home: how many months it is lived in, how many guest rooms it has, whether there is a garden, vegetable patch or pool and which languages are spoken in it.
Our Barcelona office is little more than an hour and a half from Begur: we interview candidates there, introduce the shortlist there and can hold the family interview there without waiting for the house to be opened. We don't have an office in Girona, and we say so plainly; what we do have is a pool of candidates willing to move to the coast with the job, for the season or for good. The first of them reach your portal in under 3 hours, and the very specific briefs can take up to 48 hours.
We work on success: you only pay if you hire.No cost until the selection is complete. Replacement guarantee included.
Live-in staff across the Costa Brava and the Empordà
Begur
Cadaqués
S'Agaró
Platja d'Aro
Llafranc
Calella de Palafrugell
Empordà
Pals
Palamós
Roses
Lloret de Mar
Tossa de Mar
Girona
L'Escala
Sa Riera
Aiguablava
Tamariu
+ the whole province of Girona
AREAS OF COSTA BRAVA
Where we work in Costa Brava
Begur
One of the municipalities with the most high-end villas on the coast: Sa Riera, Sa Tuna, Aiguablava and the houses perched over the sea on Cap de Begur. French, Swiss and Barcelona owners ask for seasonal housekeepers, cooks and couples for homes with pools and terraced gardens.
Cadaqués
The whitewashed village on Cap de Creus, hard to reach and impossible to park in during August, where houses are inherited more often than bought. Barcelona and southern-French families look for staff who know the village or are willing to settle there for the whole season.
S'Agaró
The historic development between Sant Feliu de Guíxols and Castell-Platja d'Aro, with its 1930s villas and coastal path, keeps a discreet, long-established family profile. The norm here is a trusted year-round live-in housekeeper with extra staff in summer.
Platja d'Aro
The shopping and leisure hub of the coast, with the Mas Nou, Politur and golf-course developments. Second homes of families from Barcelona and northern Europe: the brief is a seasonal live-in housekeeper who opens the house, takes on the cooking and the August laundry and shuts it in October, with a nanny for the holiday weeks.
Llafranc
Palafrugell's bay under the Sant Sebastià lighthouse, with the houses stepping down between Calella de Palafrugell and Tamariu. Families who have summered in the same house for generations and value stability: they want someone who comes back every year.
Calella de Palafrugell
The fishermen's houses and villas of Port Bo, El Golfet and El Canadell, home of the Cantada d'Havaneres. Medium-sized houses, intensely lived in during July and August, where families ask for live-in cooks and nannies who move in with them to look after children and grandchildren at once.
Empordà
From the Baix Empordà of Pals, Peratallada and Palau-sator to the Alt Empordà of Peralada and Figueres: restored masías with land, vineyards, stables and a pool. What these estates need is a couple living on the property all year, the traditional masovers, with their own house and responsibility for the grounds.
The season begins at Easter, when the houses are opened, continues through the long weekends of May and June and explodes in July and August, when the coast's population multiplies. September and October are the long, unhurried months, with fine weather and fewer people, and by November most villas are shut until spring. We fit the contract to that calendar: seasonal staff with agreed dates, or a permanent role reinforced in summer.
With the owners away, the house needs airing, damp control, garden and pool care; with them in residence it needs daily cooking, guests, children and intensive cleaning. Many families cover the first with a couple living on the property and the second with staff who come up from Barcelona for the summer. We define both phases in the role so there are no surprises on either side.
Life on the Costa Brava runs in Catalan and Spanish, and in many homes in French too, given how close the border is and how many owners here are French or Swiss. Some households run in English. We select candidates with the language spoken in the house, and for francophone families we have candidates who have already worked in France or in French households.
DOMESTIC COUPLES
Couples and domestic couples in Costa Brava
The masías of the Empordà and the large villas of Begur or S'Agaró are the natural home of the domestic couple: one partner runs the house, kitchen and laundry; the other the garden, pool, maintenance, the animals if there are any and the errands. They live in the masovers' house or a separate apartment and are the ones who welcome the owners at Easter with everything ready.
We select couples with experience on estates and in seasonal homes, verified references and, when the family asks, Catalan or French. If the property mainly needs supervision and land management we look for caretaker couples; if it needs family service in summer, a live-in domestic couple.
Maids & Co sélectionne du personnel de maison pour les villas et les masies de la Costa Brava et de l'Empordà : employées de maison logées, gouvernantes, cuisinières, nounous et couples de gardiens pour Begur, Cadaqués, Llafranc, S'Agaró, Platja d'Aro et l'arrière-pays. Chaque candidate est reçue en entretien approfondi et ses références sont vérifiées auprès de ses anciens employeurs.
Nous accompagnons de nombreuses familles françaises et suisses qui possèdent une résidence secondaire sur la côte : ouverture de la maison à Pâques, personnel saisonnier de juillet à septembre, couple de gardiens à l'année pour les masies avec terrain. Nous proposons des candidates francophones lorsque la maison le demande, et nous vous conseillons sur le contrat espagnol ainsi que sur l'affiliation à la Sécurité sociale, obligatoire dès la première heure.
Notre agence de placement est agréée au Système national de l'emploi espagnol (SNE), licence nº 1300000318. Aucuns frais pendant la recherche : vous ne réglez qu'un honoraire unique à l'embauche, égal à un mois de salaire (hors TVA), avec une garantie de six mois et le remboursement de 50 % des honoraires si le premier mois ne vous convient pas. Nous couvrons la Costa Brava depuis notre bureau de Barcelone et nous nous rendons sur place chaque fois que c'est nécessaire. Nous n'avons pas de bureau à Gérone.
How you hire domestic staff in Costa Brava with Maids & Co
A clear process from start to finish, with a single point of contact who knows your home.
1
Tell us what you need
A five-minute brief by phone, WhatsApp or the form: duties, schedule, area and salary. We define the exact profile with you.
2
Profiles in under 3 hours
The first matching profiles reach your client portal: in-depth interview done and references checked with their previous employers.
3
Interviews and a 2-day trial
Schedule in-person or video interviews from the portal and, if you wish, try the candidate at home for two days before deciding.
4
Contract and Social Security registration
You only pay when you hire. We advise you on the terms and, if you prefer, our labour team handles the contract and the registration.
WHAT THE FEE INCLUDES
What's included and what we never charge
What's included
Selection with an in-depth interview of every candidate
References verified directly with previous employers
Advice on the contract and Social Security registration
Free replacement during the first 6 months
Support until onboarding, plus your client portal
What we never charge
The search: you pay nothing until you hire
Monthly or sign-up fees
Lock-in or commitment of any kind
FEES & GUARANTEE
One-off fee and a 6-month guarantee
You pay nothing during the search. Only once you take the person on and you're happy do you pay a single fee: the equivalent of one month of the agreed salary, plus VAT. No subscriptions or lock-in.
Other domestic services in Costa BravaSeasonal cooks, caretaker couples and masovers, housekeepers who run the home, gardeners and drivers living on the property.
COSTS & SALARIES IN COSTA BRAVA
Live-in staff in Costa Brava: salary and monthly cost
Live-in staff in Costa Brava: salary and monthly cost
Type
Market salary (2026)
Estimated total cost
Live-in housekeeper
€1,500 – €2,500/month
+ employer's Social Security (≈ 22%)
Indicative 2026 market figures for Costa Brava based on the current minimum wage (RD 126/2026). The real cost depends on the hours, location and each home's needs. At Maids & Co you pay no agency fee until the selection is complete.
Clients who hire domestic staff with Maids & Co in Costa Brava
★★★★★
“Maids and co is the best agency we have dealt with. We contacted them on Sunday and they replied the same day. We had an initial chat regarding our requirements and after a few days they sent us 3 suitable Curricula. All the candidates were…”
Hiring domestic staff in Costa Brava: what you need to know
The whole Girona coast and the Empordà: Begur, Sa Riera, Aiguablava, Tamariu, Llafranc, Calella de Palafrugell, Palamós, S'Agaró, Platja d'Aro, Tossa, Lloret, L'Escala, Roses and Cadaqués, plus the masías of the Baix and Alt Empordà (Pals, Peratallada, Peralada) and the city of Girona itself.
Yes. Many families ask us for a live-in housekeeper, a cook or a nanny from July to September, with fixed dates and accommodation at the house. We also fill the year-round role for those who live on the coast or want the house looked after in winter.
Yes, it's one of our specialities: domestic or caretaker couples, the traditional masovers, who live on the estate, look after the house, the land and the animals and welcome the family when they arrive. We explain how we work on our caretaker-couples page.
Yes. We select Catalan-speaking candidates for local families and French- or English-speaking ones for the French, Swiss and British owners of Begur, Cadaqués and the Empordà. Tell us the language of the house and we filter on it from the first profile.
Yes, that's the norm in the Costa Brava's seasonal homes, where finding accommodation in summer is very hard. The live-in has her own room or a staff apartment, and we help you set hours and rest periods so living together works.
The first verified candidates reach your client portal in under 3 hours, and very specific roles can take up to 48 hours. For seasonal work we recommend closing the selection in spring: candidates in Barcelona and Girona commit their summer well in advance.
Only those who live at the house: live-in housekeeper, live-in nanny, live-in cook, live-in carer, a housekeeper who runs the home, a domestic couple and caretakers or masovers for the masía. We don't cover live-out or hourly work in the province of Girona; if your house in Platja d'Aro needs two mornings of cleaning, we save you the call.
As a national guide, between €1,500 and €2,500 gross per month, plus the family's Social Security contributions. The exact figure comes with the quote: here it moves with the size of the house, the August guests, the languages and whether the post is seasonal or year-round.
The family does, as the employer, including on a seasonal contract. We advise you on the contract and the registration and, if you prefer, our employment team handles all the paperwork for you.
No. We cover the Costa Brava from our Barcelona office: we select from there and support you remotely, travelling when it's needed. Family interviews take place by video call, in Barcelona or at the house itself.
