LIVING

Comments

• Barcelona is a paradise to live if you are a good worker

  I'm chilean and here in Barcelona you can find all things to have a good life. If you have a good education you can find a good job. The local people don't speaks fluent English so if you learn Spanish or Catalan could be easy get a good job.
  
  In my case I came from Chile and after 6 years working in a consultory I opened my own PR Agency. Now im working for clients that want to introduce their products/services in Spain.
  
  Moreover, the time in Barcelona is perfect. You can spend a lot of time outside, and eat in some terraces across all the city.
  
  The healthy system is quite slow. So, you have to get some private insurance for some non important sickness. If you have some big healthy problem the public system is ok.
  
  Barcelona has a incredible cultural offers. Theatre, cinema, art and design...and good football too. Is a perfect city to practice sport..beaches, parks..etc.
  
  Finally, I think that if you go to somewhere thinking that you want to live like a "extended holidays" it is impossible to integrate into local society, be composed of local society and success. A lot of my friend are English. Many of them have lived in Barcelona for over 5 years and still do not speak Castilian or Catalan. Sorry for my English but I least I try to communicate my ideas in the lenguage of my friends.

  Posted by Claudio January 24, 2012 17:29:10

• to stay or go

  I've been here ten years and am always mulling over whether to go or stay. I speak good Catalan and have lots of local friends, but I feel like I will never really belong. Tommy, you're so right - you can't guarantee anything back home either. I would probably spend my life dreaming of a place in the sun if I lived in the UK! Perhaps the grass is just always greener...

  Posted by louie January 24, 2012 13:09:36

• Barcelona as an "extended holiday"

  The stories are similar - after some time in Barcelona which can extend until years, you suddenly appreciate the good things back in your homecountry. Spain is really nice for an "extended holiday" as some people in the story put it, but when it comes to basic living conditions like salary, education, living standard and last but not least the ever present language discussion in Catalonia, most of the European countries offer much better conditions. The Mediterranean lifestyle is great, but the rest has to be competitive as well.

  Posted by gorecki January 24, 2012 01:00:53

• Saying adeu for good

  It is a shame that so many people come and go here in Barcelona, Me and my wife are constantly losing good friends who decide to leave for 1 reason to another and we are always meeting new people! So to have any real base of friends is difficult, there is definatly a lot of compromising and agjusting to get by and live here. You have to accept that you wont have all your friens and family or nearest and dearest on your doorstep, the question is wether you can live with that or not! But even in the UK you cannot guarantee that somone who you love dearly may move on themselves to start another life elsewhere so you just have to look at what best suits you!

  Posted by Tommy January 23, 2012 13:06:27