Our guide was written by Imogen Moore and Aarthi Rajaraman and last published on Sunday 12th December 2010.
Living in Barcelona, Spain, can quite often make any expat feel as though they have stepped onto another planet. It is therefore important that you arrive with as much useful information as you can. The Expat guide to living in Barcelona, brought to you by the team at Expat Info Desk, is packed with tips for dealing with the infamously complicated Spanish bureaucracy, where to find the best food and drink (and how to order it), where to live, how to get around and the best places to take the kids.
Expat Info Desk recognize that relocating to Barcelona can be like falling down a Gaudi-designed rabbit hole. In Spain, you need two things to settle in effectively: patience and knowledge. We can´t help you with the patience but we can offer all of the knowledge you will need.
This relocation guide is the result of hard-won personal experience in dealing with visas and residency, apartment-hunting, car buying, schools, language barriers and more mundane but necessary activities like grocery shopping and getting around. In other words, it is the helping hand that everybody needs when moving overseas. Enjoy Barcelona with us, and the incredible surrounding areas that make up Catalunya - arguably the most beautiful region of Spain.
The Expat Info Desk guide to living in Barcelona contains a wide range of information including the following-
Spanish bureaucracy is notorious. Our expat guide to living in Barcelona provides an unrivalled wealth of information on how you can legally obtain the right visas for your needs. We provide guidance on tackling the red tape and arm you with all the facts and information you need to stay stress free in this often challenging environment.
The relocation guide to Barcelona contains comprehensive information about where to live in Barcelona. Including detailed information about popular expat areas, property prices, proximity to facilities and transport links. We pass on information about our own personal experiences so that you can benefit firsthand when moving overseas.
This international relocation guide contains coverage of every aspect of living in Barcelona in a practical and straightforward style. We explain all areas of everyday life and share our own experiences of areas such as banking, television, transport, utilities and shopping. Use our insider tips to ask the right questions and make the right decisions.
The Expat Info Guide to living in Barcelona is packed with information about where to go to let your hair down. We provide candid listings of places to dance, eat, drink and sweat and give you insider information about some of Barcelona’s hidden gems.
Don’t let living overseas in Barcelona turn into a nightmare, make sure you are thoroughly informed on everything you need to know about health and safety. Our comprehensive guide is packed full of information about areas and practices to avoid, how to access medical care and health provisions and help when you need it.
Our expat guide contains vital information that can help you to avoid insulting the locals and familiarize yourself with common traditions and customs. Our advice can help you to get the most out of your experiences abroad by truly understanding the culture within which you are living.
Many people are seduced by the weather and lifestyle on offer in Spain but getting accurate and real information before you go is crucial. Our guides are written by real expats who have first hand experience of living and working in Barcelona. You name it, we’ve been through it, and we are now able to share our valuable insights and experience with you in order to ensure that you can avoid making the same mistakes that other expats make when they first move to Spain.
Our guide was written by Imogen Moore and Aarthi Rajaraman and last published on Sunday 12th December 2010.
| 01 | Get a bank account: This will be the first thing most utility providers, telecom connectors and employers will require. |
| 02 | Get your NIE: This is a ´foreigners number´ and will probably be the second thing that utility providers will request. |
| 03 | The government offers free Catalan lessons to foreigners, in order to promote this rare and unusual language, so take advantage of it. |
| 04 | Agents in Spain can ask for up to nine months worth of rent as a deposit, ensure you have sufficient funds to pay this. |
| 05 | Spain is notoriously bureaucratic, allow between three and ten times as much time as you normally would for administration tasks. |
Barcelona’s most popular tourist attraction, FC Barcelona Stadium, is also the biggest stadium in the world, with a capacity for 100,000 people.
