One of the big challenges in any new city is finding a group of people that share your interests and open doors to the city. If you are staying for a short time, you may just find a friendly bar where lots of foreigners go and take things from there. But this is not the best option if you want to learn the language and meet people who are from Barcelona or living long-term in the city.
Work is often the first source of community. If you are working remotely, you probably won’t have local colleagues, so look for a Meet-up group or Community that hosts events that you want to attend.
Tech Barcelona
A leading organisation in the development of the Technology community through the development of office spaces in Pier 1 and Pier 3, the Tech Spirit conference and regular events.
The Palau de Mar is a former port warehouse, built in 1890, which was refurbished as office space when the city was transformed by the 1992 Olympic Games. Since 2016 it has been Tech Barcelona’s emblematic headquarters. The 11,000 m2 building houses startups, corporations, incubators, investors and institutions.
https://techbarcelona.com/en/urban-tech-campus/
Get the Tech news
Sign up for the Barcinno weekly newsletter and get the latest on the tech world every Monday morning.
Follow ITNIG and its weekly podcast. You may also want to attend one of their pitch nights. (in Spanish)
MOB or Makers of Barcelona regularly invite speakers and host events.
- Sign up for IESE, Esade or EADA newsletters to connect with the leading business schools.
- Follow local companies on Linkedin
- Map out the events and meetings to be held in Barcelona over the next 6 months
- Check out the summer courses on offer
Other communities
- Join a sports team – or learn something new, like sailing a Pati Catala.
- Head to the mountains, where you can find space and learn about the best excursions.
- Activities bring people together and when you are new to a place, activities help you find your place.
Support networks
Most people arrive in Barcelona with a few contacts. Friends who have already moved to the city, work colleagues or someone in their extended circle who knows someone.
If you like to meet people from your own country, check to see if there is active facebook group, or better still, a bar/cafe that is run by someone from your country. This is often the first place you will call home.
If you want to avoid the ex-pat trap, then try to find like-minded people through activities and avoid the most obvious hangouts, at least for a period. Work on your Spanish, and then sign up to learn something in Spanish where you can meet local people. This is my preferred strategy, but everyone is different.