“I received a warm welcome on my first day at work and immediately felt integrated.”
Preparation for Barcelona
As part of my studies at the FHDW, I completed an internship abroad in Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, at the Spanish branch of itelligence AG. I applied for Erasmus+ in advance so that nothing stood in the way of the internship. All I had to do was take care of insurance (DAAD) and book an apartment and flight.
Uniplaces or Spotahome are helpful websites for finding accommodation in advance, allowing you to easily book apartments or shared rooms for a shorter stay. As I had never been to Barcelona before, I opted for a small shared room in a side street of La Rambla, the famous promenade, and found myself in the middle of the old town. Although I had to sleep with earplugs at night, I was happy to experience life in the city center.
itelligence Spain - I felt very welcome from day one
The headquarters of itelligence in Barcelona is centrally located on the 19th floor of an office building with a view over the whole city. I received a warm welcome on my first day at work and immediately felt integrated, as the atmosphere among colleagues is very friendly. I supported the international team of the Shared Service Center, which is responsible for customers in Spain, England, France and Benelux.
Small talk is very important when dealing with colleagues, so you often meet in the kitchen for a coffee during the day. In general, there is a relaxed and sometimes loud atmosphere in the company. The Spanish colleagues are very open and inclusive, so you have lunch together or a barbecue at the weekend.
As itelligence is an SAP partner, I worked a lot with SAP and had various tasks in the area of Finance & Controlling. Especially at the beginning of the internship, switching between German, English, Spanish and French caused some confusion. I also realized relatively quickly that the difference between Spanish (Castellano) and the official language Catalán is greater than I thought. However, as soon as you realize that you don’t speak Catalán, you usually switch to Castellano.
Never a dull moment in Barcelona
During my free time, I was able to explore Barcelona perfectly, as you can reach many places on foot and there is also a good public transport network. For young people up to the age of 25, the T-Jove ticket is worth €105 and is valid for an unlimited 90 days. After a few weeks, I had a good overview of the city with the different neighborhoods and had visited the most famous places (Parque Güell, Bunkers del Carmel, Sagrada Familia, Barceloneta, Montjuïc …). As there is no shortage of cafés, restaurants, stores or bars in Barcelona, you discover something new every day. This allowed me to get to know the city better and better.
As Barcelona is a university city and generally a popular Erasmus destination, there are daily events, meetings, parties or trips where you can simply meet new people. Barcelona is known for its loud nightlife and I also noticed that the metro is often more crowded at midnight on a Saturday than in the afternoon during the week …
To experience more of the Spanish lifestyle, it’s worth taking part in national holidays such as Sant Jordi or Sant Joan, when the city is even more crowded. Apart from that, you can always find small festivals or street artists in squares when walking through the individual districts, so it never gets boring! Especially because the people of Barcelona are noisy.
Eating in Barcelona
In terms of food, you can find typical Spanish cuisine in Barcelona with tapas, paella or sangria on every corner. It is particularly worthwhile to go out for lunch, as almost every restaurant offers inexpensive menus with several courses. Otherwise, the cost of rent and food is somewhat cheaper than in Germany, especially fruit and vegetables.
Travel highly recommended
What I can highly recommend is traveling from Barcelona. Many cities in Spain (Valencia, Madrid, Seville or Málaga) are easy to reach by train or cheap flights, as are the south of France and North Africa. In the immediate vicinity of Barcelona, cities such as Sitges or Girona are well worth a day trip.
In four months, I found my way around the city well and was able to experience a lot. J Barcelona is always worth a visit, as the city has something for everyone!
