Two weeks ago I found out I was accepted as a web developer for a position in Barcelona. I was first contacted by Ania, the HR manager, in July, via LinkedIn. I submitted my resume without expecting much from it. Then at the start of September I got a call to schedule an interview. Several discussions later I received the official job offer.
Then came the frantic run to prepare for the relocation. I started looking online for information about moving to Barcelona. This website was a godsent -
http://www.movingtobarcelona.com/. The owner, Georgia Davey, pot together everything one needs to know when moving to this large city.
One thing one needs to pay attention to is that in Barcelona rent is the main expense. The prices can be quite steep at times, depending on the location and of how good the flat looks. Also, one needs to be prepared with 4 months rent up-front, because the agency usually takes one month worth as commission and another two are usually required as deposit. There is also the cheaper solution of sharing an apartment with other persons, by renting a single room. There are a lot of places where you can find classifieds for rooms in shared apartments. I've seen the entire range of options, from a small closet of 3 square meters for 200 euro per month, to some very modern looking apartments, with top quality furnishing and facilities. From what I have heard, it is safer to go with an offer from an agency, even if it is more expensive, but you get some extra security, especially if you're trying to reserve the room from abroad. Still, it is worth to research the agency a bit too, look online for impressions people had. Usually the bad deals will have plenty of online warning about them.
Because I could not find anything suitable from the agencies, I decided to go with another option, that was recommended by Georgia on her website (see above). I contacted Ari Chazan, the owner of a nice apartment in the old city of Barcelona, very close both to the touristic harbor and the renown street La Rambla. The selling point that sealed the deal for me was that each room had its own bathroom, with sink, toilet and shower. For more details, you can check his website:
http://www.barcelonaapart.com/.
I got room #1 for 420euro/month + 2 months deposit and 50euro/month for utilities. It's small, but nice, with its own mini balcony (actually a door with a rail in front of it and a 15cm ledge, like all the old building around). I can consider that I have my own cabin on a cruise ship.
We settled the details by phone then I did a wire transfer with the money - while praying that I do not fall prey to some elaborate scam. Reality showed me so far that Ari is a trustworthy person, but one can not stop having such thoughts when taking such a large step into the unknown.
Finally the time came to start my voyage. First, there was a 7h long trip by bus from Iasi to Bucharest. Then, at the airport, we got told that the plane will be delayed by 30 minutes. The actual delay time was a bit more than one hour. The second surprise came once on air, when the crew announced us we'll have to make a stop to Sibiu, for refueling. It seems that somehow Blue Air did not secure the proper amount of fuel for their flight on the Baneasa Airport. Another hour wasted with the flight to Sibiu and the refueling. -1000 DKP for Blue Air.
Therefore I arrived pretty late in Barcelona - around 10 PM local time. Ari was nice enough to meet me close to the apartment and presented me the room and the keys. I dropped like a stone, without even unpacking.
Next day I started wandering around: La Rambla, Placa Cataluna, Mercat de St. Antoni. Here on Sunday morning there a huge market for anything collectible: books new and old, vinyl records, video games, coins, trading cards, comics and stuff like that. The down side to it is that 99% of the stuff is in Spanish or Catalan.
A word of advice: on Sunday the only places that are open are restaurants (not all of them), small food stores (also not all), pubs and souvenir shops. The only exception I could find was the mall at Mare Magnum, where I managed to find an Orange shop to by a pre-payed card and phone.
On Monday there was the first day at the office, with introductions, account setup, computer configuring and all the stuff that happens when a new guy comes to a company. Commuting takes about 1 hour each way, no matter the route I choose (metro + bus or metro + train).
Today I had my first touch with Spanish bureaucracy and I came out the looser. After 1 hour of standing in queue, I was told by the clerk at the office that I must go to the Central Police Station, with a different application form. Once I finally got there, I found that the line was full for the day and all the order numbers were given. So I have to start again tomorrow. Hopefully I'll manage to complete all the paperwork and be done with it.
Until next time,
Adrian signing off.