Culture club

Barcelona is a melting pot of different cultures, many of which are represented in the city by cultural societies that allow foreign residents and locals alike to share their customs. Although foreigners in the city are often transitory, and the associations set up to promote their cultures come and go, some societies have maintained a consistent presence over the years and organize a wealth of opportunities to get involved.

ScotCat

ScotCat is the newest society that encourages cultural exchange in the city. The Scottish-Catalan friendship association was launched in November 2017 in front of an enthusiastic audience—the majority of which seemed to represent the Catalan half of the friendship. ScotCat founder Darienne Walker led the presentation, explaining the motives for starting the group: to build bonds, encourage appreciation of Scottish culture in Catalunya and help dispel some misleading stereotypes. Following the presentation, the audience contributed a range of activity suggestions, from Scottish dancing classes and cèilidhs, to whisky tastings and even a trip to visit the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, which was designed by Catalan architectural firm EMBT. 

As the guests helped themselves to a dram of whisky and clapped along to the token bagpiper, Walker seemed impressed with the turnout, but not that surprised. “A lot of people here are attracted to Scottish culture because both Scottish and Catalan traditions are well defined,” she said. “There are some likenesses in the culture that attract Catalans to Scotland and vice versa.” Secretary Mhari Bain agreed, admitting that there is also a strong link between them because of their respective independence movements, but says it goes further: “Catalans feel a real affinity with Scotland, not only for political reasons, but also because they love the Scottish countryside, the history, the traditions. They think it’s very romantic.” And although Walker expects that they will have to address the independence issue in some way, the society is staying neutral: “We all have our personal views, but politics won’t be discussed at our events,” she confirmed. 

Instead, they will continue to import Scottish traditions, such as their upcoming Burns Night event. They also hope to hold a Highland Games event in Catalunya, complete with caber-tossing and Highland dancing, sometime in late 2018 or early 2019, and are considering seeking support from both VisitScotland and the Catalan Generalitat. “We’d love to get some castellers and traditional Catalan dancers to perform alongside the Scots,” Walker enthused, “so we can live up to both parts of our name.” 

American Society

The American Society of Barcelona was established in 1974, initially as a chamber of commerce for the United States in Barcelona. According to Victor Horcasitas, who has been the president of the society since 2005, the mission of the group is to celebrate the cultures of Catalunya, Spain and the United States. “We try to help foreigners integrate, to help them appreciate the culture and live harmoniously in our host country, within the broader English-speaking community of Barcelona,” he said, adding that club members include a wide mix of nationalities. “Around 40 percent are from the US; 20-30 percent are Catalan or Spanish, and we also have British, French, German and Dutch members.” The society also represents members from other American countries. “We have a good number of Canadians,” he said. “I, myself, am Mexican by birth, but hold dual citizenship with the United States. There are a lot of other Mexicans too, so it’s kind of like the North American society as opposed to just a United States society.”

The society hosts a happy hour event on the second Wednesday of every month, as well as up to three other monthly events that are either cultural or business-related. “We do hikes, tax and immigration seminars, wine, cheese and honey tastings, capital-raising conferences—anything that the community wants, we are happy to do,” said Horcasitas. “We currently have around 4,000 registered members, and if any one of them wants to do an event, we are very proud to champion our members’ businesses.”

What does he think is the biggest difference between Catalan and North American culture? “Americans who come here may not have realized it before, but one of the identities we have is that, fundamentally, we are capitalists, whereas there is a very strong socialist tendency in the Catalan way of doings things.”

But the similarities outweigh any cultural differences. “We all love to eat very well, and we all love networking,” he said. Recent events seem to corroborate this—the society held a full-on American Thanksgiving feast in November boasting all the traditional trimmings, including honey-glazed ham, oven-roasted turkey with stuffing, and apple, pumpkin and pecan pie.

Sociedad Suiza

This society knows how to bring out the best of their homeland to attract new members: cheese. Not only did they fill a tray with creamy bites at Barcelona’s International Community Day in October, but they also organize a bi-annual dinner centered around the indulgent death-by-cheese dish, raclette. Cheese aside, the goals of this society are to establish a meeting point and mutual support network for Swiss people living in Barcelona and surroundings, and develop positive relations between Spain and Switzerland, although you don’t need to have Swiss nationality to join. 

One of the best reasons to sign up is the restaurant located at the society’s clubhouse in Sant Gervasi (Alfons XII 95), which offers Swiss specialties such as knöpfli, spätzli, rösti and birchermüesli. Previous society events include a celebration of Switzerland’s national day on August 1st, a trip to Andorra to see the Swiss national football team play, and a castanyada-themed meal.

Instituto Italiano di Cultura

The Italian Institute of Culture in Barcelona (Passatge de Méndez Vigo 5) has been active since 1950 and is part of a global network of 83 institutes managed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Its mission is to promote Italian classical and contemporary culture around the world. A big part of this is offering language courses for all levels. The institute also organises events in collaboration with local entities and Italian artists, including exhibitions, book presentations, shows, theatrical performances, concerts, film screenings and dance performances. 

Course Coordinator Annamaria Ciaravola said that a mix of nationalities frequent the institute but the majority of alumni are formed by locals with an interest in Italian culture and understanding the language. “Some parts of Italy and Catalunya have a shared historical past,” Ciaravola said. “If we add linguistic proximity, we can affirm that Catalan culture is not particularly distant from Italian culture.”

Goethe-Institut

The Goethe-Institut is a cultural institution that represents Germany around the world, helping to promote the language, as well as international cultural exchange and cooperation. The institute in Barcelona (Roger de Flor 224) offers German-language courses and official exams, as well as an extensive library in German. It also organizes a range of cultural activities, including a film club and a book club, art exhibitions, and a happy hour in which you can test out your language skills in a relaxed environment, every Wednesday at 7pm. 

The Goethe-Institut also frequently posts job offers and has an internship program for students who are finishing their degrees. Find out about available positions on their website.

Club Escandinavo

Dating back to 1927, the Club Escandinavo de Barcelona (Tamarit 154) is a private non-profit club, whose purpose is to be a meeting place for Nordic residents in Barcelona, as well as a space for others to get to know the cultures of Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark. The society celebrates the national days and traditional holidays of these Scandinavian countries, as well as hosting conferences and book presentations related to Nordic culture, with most activities open to both members and the public. 

Past events have included a cycle of cooking workshops on how to prepare Nordic cuisine like tapas-style dishes smörgåstårta, skagenröra and gubbröra. They have also hosted a Scandinavian brunch on the beach, a traditional Finnish dinner in the spring, and a Swedish-style Christmas dinner at Ikea Gran Via. 

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

InterNations

InterNations is an association with communities in 390 cities worldwide, with a base in Barcelona that helps newcomers to settle in. The group can help answer a lot of questions about work permits, the healthcare system, expat-friendly neighborhoods and international schools in Barcelona.

Federación de Asociaciones Americanas en Catalunya

FASAMCAT is made up of cultural societies that represent South and Central American countries. It organizes the annual Vive America-America Vive event, a music and dance festival in October that celebrates Latin American cultures.

Casa Asia

This cultural center was created to promote dialogue about Asian countries in Spain, and covers civic, political, social, cultural, economic and environmental issues. It supports activities and projects that promote knowledge sharing and the development of relations between Asian and Spanish societies.