Looking for information on Barcelona? Accommodation? Work? Good places to eat? Help with bureacracy?

Forget the guide books! No one knows Barcelona better than the locals themselves. Come to one of our intercambios and get the information you need from the locals directly...

...or consult our "Living in Barcelona guide" This guide is designed to help fast-track new and not so new locals' to better integrate into this fabulous city. Still work in progress...seems never ending...but a good bit done.

Barcelona orientieering: These basics will help you get started.
Barcelona's 10 districts and its Barrios: Not for tourists. The real thing...for locals (Work in progress)
Budget Hotels: If you're passing through, here is The Guardian newspaper's listing Barcelona's Top 10 Budget Hotels.
Housing market an introduction to the housing market in Spain
Finding a room to rent Useful links
Finding a flat to rent, Useful links
Good questions to ask over the phone and when you go and visit.
Glossary of housing terms (Spanish English): The vocabulary you need to make those calls and understand those advertisements.
Spain's grim reality: Guardian 2008 article reflecting the grim reality of Spain's, young and educated.
Finding work in Barcelona: How to do it and where to look.
Spanish CV, cover letters & more Download CVs, cover letters samples, see, tips and tricks on writing CVs in Spanish, the differences between English and Spanish CVs and more
Job portals:.The best places to look for work on the net.
Teaching English in Barcelona: What you should know, questions to ask a potential employer, going rates etc.
Understanding your payslip (Spanish jargon translated into English). Can you tell if they made a mistake?
Social security: Want to know your contributions, the working calendar etc in ENGLISH? Click on the link!
There is no shortage of food places in Barcelona. Most of them are good, but others are excellent. We go one step more, with the help of our members, we have compiled a list of great and reasonably prices restaurants where locals go. Not tourist traps, the real thing. Some you will know, some you won't.
Cafe guide: Coming soon
Restaurant guide: Our members and I have compiled a list of fantastic restaurants in Barcelona, in the cheap to moderate price range.
Drink Barcelona: A great blog to Barcelona's best bars!
Vegetarian Barcelona: Everything a Vegetarian in Barcelona would want to know!
Barcelona orientieering: These basics will help you a wee bit.
Barcelona's 10 districts and its Barrios: Not for tourists. The real thing...for locals (Work in progress)
Budget Hotels: If you're passing through, here is The Guardian newspaper's listing of Barcelona's Top 10 Budget Hotels.
In English Please!: Movie theatres in orginal version, English bookshops and more.
Catalunya's health system: Cat Salut, what's free?, making an appointment online
Barcelona´s public transport: Saving money and getting there hassle free.
NOTE: For links to sites for those studying Spanish as a foreign languages, refer to our Learning Spanish guide


Spanish for foreigners schools: Things to look out for
FREE English classes (private initiative): Tell your non-English speaking friends!
FREE computer courses: Cibernàrium is a huge, government funded computer training space offering a vast array of short intensive computer related modules (between 1 and 4 hours) for FREE!!!! Everything from Photoshop, Flash, creating a website, a blog, CRM, Linux and more!
Thinking about taking a TEFL course? Want to teach English in Spain. You'll need a qualification. What you should know  
A brighter place: Is a web portal for students looking to study abroad given from a student's perspective

 
Immigration hotline: In March 2006, the Generalitat added a new service to its 012 hotline: "The immigartion hotline".
Visas: Who needs one?
Residency & NIE: How to get a NIE (fiscal ID number) and other documents to reside in Spain.
Download your NIE application form (EX14) form (PDF) for EU residents looking to work in Spain.
Opening a Spanish bank account: How to do it, what to bring & prepare for.
Reporting stolen documents Disaster struck...now what do you do? 

Loquo: : Barcelona's #1 classifieds site for everything from finding or offering: work, housing, buy & sell and just about everything else!

www.bcn.cat : Barcelona's official government website with all sort of information. "What's on calendar", municipal stuff, maps etc...Hint: The Spanish / Catalan versions are more complete than their English counterpart.

www.gencat.cat: Catalunya's official government website in English.

Scams & con artists of Barcelona A wittily written page with some scary information about street scams, how to prevent pickpocketing, etc. Written by an expat. The page loaded strangely...unformatted when I tried this link, but the info on it is still worth reading

Public Transport network The essential guide to getting around Barcelona by metro, FGC, bus, tram or bicing (Barcelona's public bicycle scheme)

Yellow Pages More than just a phone directory. Invaluable for finding all kinds of services, by category, name, or location, linked to maps.

Library network You'll be amazed and just how much is going on at your local library...check it out if it is only for the FREE WI-FI. Barcelona’s libraries are amazing and anyone can get a card. I check out DVDs and music CD’s all the time. It’s free!

Renfe trains The much maligned national railway system has a good website. Renfe is for national and international train travel. Click on the Cercanias link for train travel to Barcelona's outskirts, such as Sitges, Figueres (Dali's home town) etc.

Art Fanatics: This website aims to promote strugglings artists in Barcelona.

http://www.donquijote.org/spanishlanguage/ You may already have this, but registration is free and they have ever-changing language games and lessons, and a verb conjugator.

http://www.extraguide.com/ This is a general expat guide geared toward English and German speakers.

Absentee voting (USA) if you want to vote for November 4th, 2008 General Election go to this website to obtain absentee ballots while in Spain.

USA consulate general Website of the American Consulate General in Barcelona.