The haunting of history is ever present in Barcelona. I see cities as organisms, as living creatures. To me, Madrid is a man and Barcelona is a woman. And it’s a woman who’s extremely vain.
Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Barcelona is simply beautiful. Whenever you look at it, there will be some spot that will take your breath away. And when it comes to choose where to live, there are many possible choices.
In Barcelona there are neighborhoods for all tastes. The super central, the family friendly, the bohemian, the posh … but wherever you are, you will always be close to everything. Barcelona is a big city, but not so much compared to other capitals (currently its population is around 1.7 million inhabitants).
It is relatively easy to get around with public transport which is very well organized. It is also very easy to get around by bicycle, as there are more and more bike lanes every day. You will have to buy a pair of good locks, of course, if you do not want your bike to disappear very quickly.
Going back to where to live: searching for a house from a distance is not easy. First, because the choice of where to live is very personal and second because it is difficult for owners (or agencies) to rent a house to people they have never seen before. They are also asking every day for more information (and insurances) to protect themselves in case the tenants cannot pay their rent or cause any problem.
My suggestion is to rent something temporary upon arrival and then search on site.
The most famous websites to search for a house are idealista.com, habitaclia.com, fotocasa.es… Here you can find both rooms to share with more people and entire apartments. Almost always, in the case of apartments, you will have to do the management through real estate agencies.
If, on the other hand, you are only looking for a room, you will almost always speak directly with those who will share a house.
In another post you can find a small description of some neighborhoods, so that you can have an idea. Then, of course, the choice of where to live will also depend on more factors such as, for example, the place of work or where the children’s school is.
