Top 10 Tips to Know Before Moving to Barcelona, by Maya

Moving to Barcelona? The Catalan Capital is one of the best cities to live and work in Europe, owing to its sunny beaches, rolling hills, striking architecture, and neighbourhoods brimming with culture and cuisine.  Nevertheless, expats could face a challenging task when it comes to settling in. Here are 10 tips to help you relocate and settle in with ease.

1. Getting your NIE/TIE/Foreigner’s Identification Number

Stay on top of your paperwork. Documentation takes a while to process and if you’re coming from a country out of the EU, you’re most likely going to have to endure long wait times to get appointments and to get all the paperwork sorted. Everyone’s got their own sources of information so branch out and acquire as much information you can about it. And if you’re moving to study, don’t forget to ask your school if they have visa/relocation services as well.

2. Finding the Right Place to Live

Finding the right people to live with can be challenging at first. If you’re coming to Barcelona as a student, check if your school provides accommodation services. You can also browse through Facebook groups or apps like Badi and Idealista. Whether you choose the family-friendly neighbourhood of Gracia or the bustling Gothic quarter, the process becomes easier once you narrow down your favourite neighbourhoods.

Make sure the place that you rent also provides you with an Empadronamiento. Getting an Empadronamiento means registering yourself as a resident in the city and this indicates where you live. It’s also crucial to have one to be able to apply for your NIE or Foreigner’s Identification Number.

3. Learning Catalan

Knowing Spanish will help you get around the city and English is spoken widely amongst the expats but picking up a bit of Catalan can help integrate with the locals even more and can certainly open more doors!

4. Safety in Barcelona

Barcelona is considered a safe city for tourists and residents alike and violent crimes aren’t commonplace. Having said that be wary of your surroundings. Pickpocketing is recurrent in certain areas of the city. So be sure to never keep your wallet or phone in your back pocket or leave your belongings unattended. Be extra wary when using public transport or when at the beach. Ensure that your bag/backpacks are always zipped up. And if possible, wear your backpack on your front in crowded or touristy areas.

5. Transportation

There are enough modes of transport like buses, trams, trains, and metros running quite late into the night that you won’t have to worry about their schedules in most cases. A ticket that can be easily bought from any metro station which can be found almost around every couple of blocks in the city, can be used on almost any of the means of transport mentioned above.

6. Don’t like public transport?

Bicycles and scooters to your rescue. In addition to the means of public transport, if you’re a resident you can also use the public bicycles that can be rented by the minute. One of the ways you can enjoy this service is by getting registered on a bicycle-sharing app called Smou and you can reserve and take the bikes just with a push of a button on your phone. And for those who wish to get around the city faster, can opt for Yego, a self-service electric scooter rental.

7. Vegan in a Seaside Town?

If ever there was a cuisine made for snacking it has to be the Spanish cuisine. With a multitude of tapas to choose from every bar and restaurant around the corner and across the street, you will never run out of options when it comes to eating out. Though the local cuisine is a little meat/seafood-heavy, the booming plant-based diet culture and the increasing popularity of diverse menus certainly plays in favour of the vegan or the vegetarian. Not to mention the variety of organic and vegans stores for those who wish to cook up a nutritious meal for themselves.

8. Time to Party!

Speaking of festivals, living in Barcelona can often trick you into thinking it’s one big party. With the city beaming under the sun almost throughout the year and the Catalans knowing how to throw a good fiesta, one would be remiss to not keep track of them. From the neighbourhood block parties in the summer to the long-standing traditions like correfocs (fire runs) and castells (human towers), let’s just say the locals know how to celebrate. The crown jewel of these festivals has got to be Sant Joan which falls on the 23^rd/24^th of June. With bonfires at the beach and a night filled with endless fireworks, celebrating Sant Joan and the summer solstice in Barcelona must be on your to-do list!

9. Day trips have never been more tempting…

Find yourself with a long weekend to spare? Don’t miss out on incredible day trips you can make from Barcelona. Whether you prefer the ocean or the mountains, there’s a city close by to satisfy all your travel desires. Fan of Game of Thrones? Head out to Girona where you can find incredible castles where the show was shot and the quaint old town and Arab baths. Wish to sit by the sea with a good book on a warm summer’s day? Sitges, Tarragona, and a plethora of cities just a train ride away come to mind. These mind-blowing cities also host a variety of unmissable events, namely the Carnival in March, the Sitges Film Festival, and many more.

Trainline

10. Visca Barça!

Whether or not you like team sports and/or football/soccer, your time in Barcelona will certainly be deemed incomplete without a trip to watch a match at the legendary Camp Nou. Located right in the city, the stadium has been set foot upon by the likes of all-time greats like Messi, Ronaldinho, and Andres Iniesta to name a few. Fans from all over the world visit Barcelona to enthral themselves in the largest stadium in Spain and Europe; a stadium that can hold over 99,000 spectators. And say you’re not a football aficionado, then you could enjoy one of the many tours and immersive experiences of Camp Nou Stadium and Museum as well.

By Maya Dileep Kumar