Living in Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona, the majestic capital of Catalonian Spain, has become one of the most desirable addresses to live in Europe; with a vast wealth of culture and history and its reputation as one of Spain’s most cultured cities, we take a closer look at the lifestyle on offer in the city of Barcelona.

Barcelona is a modern dynamic and vibrant city, very different in many ways to the cities and towns of the southern regions of Spain - with its own language, culture and at times a somewhat turbulent history.

The Catalonians are proud of a capital city that in many ways represents the very best aspects of European city life, with fine restaurants, enthralling museums and non-stop nightlife there’s never an opportunity for anyone living in Barcelona to become bored! 

Barcelona rises on a gentle plain away from the coast towards beautiful wooded hills. Its fine architecture is centred around its medieval core with many fine examples of Gothic construction for example.  As you move away from medieval core you will find ever more fascinating architecture such as the Antoni Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia Church a true Modernista feast of fine architecture.

Many people are choosing to relocate their businesses to Barcelona and there is already a huge foreign community including many British and Irish expatriates.  Like any major city, good value, quality rental property can be difficult to find.  Property prices in Barcelona tend to be among the highest in Spain, however when compared more fairly with other leading cosmopolitan European cities such as Paris or London property prices do fall into the right perspective.

There are many advantages in choosing to live in a dynamic and lively city like Barcelona; the infrastructure is perfectly developed for modern commerce with state of the art communication systems in place and high speed internet access available in the main commercial districts.  The huge expatriate community makes it one of the easiest cities in Europe for a foreigner to settle into. 

Being located on the coast many people choose Barcelona as a second home for holidays, buying one of the many apartments located on or near to the beaches.

There’s no better place to absorb the Barcelona lifestyle than with a visit to the famous Ramblas or La Rambla (pictured), a broad tree lined pedestrian boulevard about 1km long located in the old town.  It’s the perfect place to sit and while away the day whilst enjoying the huge variety of mouth watering foods on offer - just relax, take in the atmosphere and watch the world walk by!  The street of La Rambla doesn’t slow down when the sun goes down, with bars and cafes filling the night air with music and fine aromas while buskers, jugglers and other street performers cheerfully entertain the passers by.

If a cosmopolitan, European lifestyle with sunshine and all of the advantages of modern commerce appeal, Barcelona may well be the city that you’ve been searching for.