moving to Barcelona!

sarrayandow

New member

Member since 25 February 2017

sarrayandow

27 February 2017 18:02:20

sarrayandow

27 February 2017 18:02:20

Hello everyone,

I am moving from United States to Barcelona for a year or so. I am going to get certified through TEFL then try to get a job. I am bringing my two daughters, ages 5, and 13. I want to enroll them in a free public school so if anyone has information on that I would greatly appreciate it! Also, I need to find an apartment. Not sure if I should wait to get there. I am just worried that once I get there I won't be able to communicate enough to secure an apartment. I know there are scams so i won't send money before seeing it. I was checking real-estate companies but they are probably more expensive? Also, we need health insurance which i know we can get for free once I am hired but until then we need something. Lastly, we need our Visa's. I know we can get the 90 days but I don't know if I can enroll the kids in school with that? Once I am hired ill be able to get a work Visa but just worried about the school situation. Any information is greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks,
Sarra

alanurquhart

New member

Member since 28 February 2017

alanurquhart

28 February 2017 14:02:47

alanurquhart

28 February 2017 14:02:47

We just moved to Barcelona a few weeks ago. We hired the services of "Just Landed BCN'. Andries and Nikoleta were so helpful and took all the stress away. They do all the communication in Spanish with landlords, estate agents, electricity companies etc to help get you set up with your accommodation. They also helped us with our NIE number, health insurance, accountants, and setting up a bank account.
He has a lot of Americans coming over at the moment. Check out the website and make contact.
I hope it all goes well.

sarrayandow

New member

Member since 25 February 2017

sarrayandow

02 March 2017 03:25:26

sarrayandow

02 March 2017 03:25:26

Thank you!!

jldbcn

Member

Member since 05 March 2017

jldbcn

05 March 2017 00:51:01

jldbcn

05 March 2017 00:51:01

Hi Sarra,

I live in Barcelona so I think I can help.

Schools:
* Public schools are usually good in middle-class neighbourhoods in Barcelona (like eixample, gracia..)
* Please notice that if your kids are 5 and 13 they will go to different schools (primary and secondary schools)
* I'd recommend you to apply for a school when you are here, you will get more chances to get allocated in your desired ones if you do the "normal" process.

Rent:
* Prices are very high, a 3 bed flat is like 1200euros

Where to live.
* San cugat is nice, but very expensive and not close to Barcelona
* Barcelona is a nice city to live but a bit crowded

Language.
* The language for education in Barcelona is Catalan. Your kids will learn Catalan in the school (and some Spanish), don't worry about that because Spanish is very used in the normal life in Barcelona.
* A lot of people speaks english and there is a lot of people from english-speaking countries living here (in my kids school there are like 3 families per class)

Please, don't hesitate to update this post with any additional question or contact me via private message.

RTSpain

Member

Member since 06 March 2017

RTSpain

06 March 2017 10:33:46

RTSpain

06 March 2017 10:33:46

Hi Sarra,
I moved to Madrid last year with my son. I fully understand your concerns about the school and the housing.
After getting crazy with all paperwork I finally hired the services of de agency Spain in the Bag.
They organized everything very fast, even the Visa. We also book a temporary apartment through them, so this gave us time enough to find the good one once we were here. They also helped me with the school and the paperwork to become a self-employed.

I tried to do everything by myself but I was overwhelmed with all the paperwork.

Good luck!