Pros and Cons of Living in Barcelona: An Expat’s Honest Review

Are you curious about the real pros and cons of living in Barcelona as an expat?

Maybe you’re dreaming of starting a new life in this Mediterranean city but wondering whether Barcelona is the best fit for you.

From its sunny climate and world-famous architecture to everyday challenges like bureaucracy and finding an affordable apartment, living in Barcelona as an expat comes with both advantages and disadvantages that you should be aware of before you move.

After spending two and a half years living and working in Barcelona with my husband and dog, we decided that the Catalan capital wasn’t a fit for us. We packed up our things and moved to the suburbs of Madrid.

Our move made me think that maybe our experiences of living in Barcelona as a 30-something-year-old couple could help some of you looking to move to Barcelona.

So, I decided to put together everything I learned over the last two and a half years about the pros and cons of living in Barcelona as a foreigner.

This is a very personal post sharing my own experiences with everyday life in Barcelona and adapting to Catalan culture.

Barcelona isn’t my first time living abroad. Before moving here, I lived in Buenos Aires (Argentina) for seven years, as well as living in Sweden, Cuba, and Southern Spain.

All these experiences have shaped my perspective on what it’s really like to be an expat in Barcelona.

Your experience of Barcelona may be very different—and that’s perfectly okay!

My aim isn’t to criticize but to offer an honest look at both the pros and cons of living in Barcelona as an expat, so you can make an informed decision about your own expat journey. If you disagree with something I share or have questions about living in Barcelona, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Let’s get under the skin of the real pros and cons of living in Barcelona as an expat!

An Expat’s Honest Pros and Cons of Expat Life in Barcelona

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Barcelona Expat Life: Pros and Cons

Barcelona is one of the most popular European cities among expats, digital nomads, and other adventurous souls.

In 2025, 26.4% of Barcelona residents were foreign nationals, meaning that there were nearly 460,000 foreigners living in Barcelona, which was a new record for Barcelona.

Between 2023 and 2025, my husband and I were part of the statistics of foreign nationals in Barcelona; I as a Danish national (as you properly know by now) and he as an Argentine national.

But after two and a half years of living in Barcelona, we decided to leave. And I left the city with mixed feelings.

On the one hand, I met great people and had great experiences with them, got into hiking with my dog, Baloo, improved my yoga skills, and got my first official corporate promotion.

On the other hand, I sit back with a feeling that Barcelona wasn’t really a city for me. The cost of living in Barcelona doesn’t seem to align with the quality you get, and some locals’ pride in their Catalan language and culture seems to overshadow the common coexistence and respectful treatment of other people.

Your experience of living in Barcelona might be very different, and you might enjoy and prioritize other aspects than me. But here I wanted to share my experiences of the pros and cons of living in Barcelona as an expat.

The Benefits of Living in Barcelona

Let’s first look at the benefits of living in Barcelona as a foreigner, in my opinion!

Mild Mediterranean Climate

Barcelona’s Mediterranean weather is one of the biggest benefits of living in Barcelona as an expat.

With mild winters and warm, sunny summers, the city offers a pleasant climate year-round. Even during the colder months, temperatures rarely drop below 10°C (50°F).

Throughout the year, you will have plenty of days of sunshine, perfect for outdoor activities. Whether it’s sunbathing on one of Barcelona’s many beaches, enjoying a walk in the city’s numerous parks, or going for a hike in the Collserola Natural Park.

Barcelona’s balanced climate also means plenty of opportunities for enjoying Barcelona’s culture and outdoor social life.

Sea & Mountains Nearby

Barcelona is nestled between the sea and the mountains, and one of my favorite parts about living in Barcelona was the beautiful outdoor scenery available within reach of the city.

On the one hand, Barcelona’s location by the Mediterranean Sea, with over 2.8 miles (4.5 kilometers) of coastline and beaches, makes the city a perfect sunbathing and water sports.

Among the most popular beaches in Barcelona are the Barceloneta Beach, Bogatell Beach, Nova Icária, and Marbell Beach. All Barcelona’s beaches are easily accessible by public transport or a short bike ride.

I didn’t end up using the beach in Barcelona as much as I thought I would before moving there. Mainly because we were living on the opposite end of the city from the beach, but also because the beaches are very popular and quickly get very crowded.

My favorite part about living in Barcelona was hiking in the Collserola Mountains!

The Collserola Natural Park is a huge natural park surrounding Barcelona and offering stunning views over the city. There is an extensive network of hiking trails throughout the Collserola Park, and the area is just a short metro ride away from the city center.

I lived in Horta, a neighborhood on the edge of Barcelona towards the Collserola Mountains, and I would go there with my dog, Baloo, several times a week.

An Active International Expat Community

One of the great advantages of living in Barcelona as an expat is, for sure, the many networking opportunities and social events geared towards expats.

Coming from Buenos Aires, where the expat community is relatively small, I was impressed with the larger and very active expat community in Barcelona.

Various groups and organizations in Barcelona focus on helping expats settle and meet like-minded people, including Internations, Meetup groups, language exchange events, and various Facebook community pages such as Barcelona Expats.

Barcelona’s City Council has even established a special agency focused on supporting the expat community in Barcelona, called Barcelona International Welcome. Their website has valuable guides on how to get started on your expat life in Barcelona.

Once a year, Barcelona International Welcome even hosts a special event for the city’s many international residents called Barcelona International Community Day.

The Barcelona International Community Day is a whole-day conference with workshops, presentations, and booths all geared towards the expat community in Barcelona. I went to the Community Day in 2024, and it’s a nice place to get information about social groups and NGOs to join in Barcelona, but it’s not the best place to go for socializing and meeting new people.

Here are some Barcelona expat resources to help you get started:

• Barcelona International Welcome
• Barcelona Expat Life
• Barcelona Metropolitan
• Barcelona Expats
• Barcelona Secreta

Easy-to-Use Public Transport System 

Barcelona’s easy-to-use public transport system is another great benefit of living in Barcelona.

Barcelona offers a comprehensive network of buses, trams, and metro lines connecting all parts of the city at an affordable price.

The metro system, in particular, is very efficient and runs with great frequency (around every 3 minutes a new train comes), and punctuality.

The metro starts running from early morning until late at night. On weekends, the metro even runs throughout the night.

Barcelona’s transport system is also budget-friendly, with options for unlimited travel through monthly tickets for around 20 euros. Each month, I would buy the monthly unlimited ticket, so I would not have to worry about jumping on a bus for just two stops or taking the metro back and forth to the office.

With the monthly tickets, you can even do a quick day trip to Castelldefels to enjoy the beautiful beaches at Platja Castelldefells.

Barcelona also offers a bike-sharing program, Smou, and bike lanes in some parts of the city. Biking is not as popular or widespread in Barcelona as I’m used to from Copenhagen.

Local Healthcare System

Barcelona offers both public and private healthcare for residents. And one thing I appreciated about living in Barcelona was how well, especially the private healthcare system, worked.

There are several private healthcare providers in Barcelona offering different coverage plans and support. With private healthcare, you can get doctor appointments at their clinics or go to one of their associated clinics and hospitals.

Hospital Quironsalud and Teknon Medical Centre are among the best private hospitals in Barcelona, and they offer premium services and shorter wait times than most other hospitals and clinics.

I mostly used Quironsalud with my private insurance, DKV, which I got as part of the healthcare plan with my Spanish job. I prefer Quionsalud because I can reserve the doctor’s appointments directly through their app without having to phone them (I hate phone calls and especially phone calls in Spanish), and their service is generally good and professional.

If you want the flexibility to pick exactly which doctors, specialists, or clinics you go to in Barcelona, SafetyWing’s Nomad Insurance is a great option. With the Complete Nomad Insurance, you can see any local provider you like.

The public Catalan healthcare system, CatSalut, provides residents access to a wide range of services from primary care and routine check-ups to specialist treatments. For routine check-ups, vaccinations, blood tests, etc., there are local health centres, called CAPs, in all neighborhoods throughout the city.

Once you are registered in the public healthcare system, you can attend any doctor for free or at a very low cost. However, waiting times in CatSalut can be very long, and it can be really difficult to reschedule an appointment.

Personally, I had my own hiccups with the public healthcare system in Barcelona when I broke my finger. They sent me back and forth between different clinics and made me wait for almost two hours after taking my X-ray to give me the diagnosis of what was happening.

After the two frustrating hours of waiting and an ill-tempered doctor in the public healthcare system, I went to the emergency room at Hospital Quironsalud and was sorted out in 30 minutes.

If I didn’t have the private insurance through my job, I would choose SafetyWing’s Complete Nomad Insurance as my travel and healthcare insurance for living in Barcelona, so make sure I could go to Quironsalud or any of the other private healthcare offerings in Barcelona.

World-Class Architecture

One of the absolute benefits of living in Barcelona as an expat is being surrounded by incredible architecture every single day.

Barcelona is famous for its Catalan Modernista style, with Antoni Gaudí’s work stealing the show. Having landmarks like the Sagrada Familia and Park Güell within reach whenever you want is definitely a benefit if you like art and culture.

For Park Güell, if you register as a Barcelona resident (what is called empadronamiento), you even have the chance to visit Park Güell for free, as well as before and after regular opening hours.

All you need to do is register for the local program, Guadir Mes (“Save more” in Catalan), which offers discounts on entrances to some of Barcelona’s many important landmarks and tourist attractions — including Park Güell for free!

Guadir Mes is a little local perk I loved taking advantage of!

What I appreciated most was being able to experience these places without feeling rushed. You can pop by at different times of day, soak up the atmosphere when the crowds thin out, or catch seasonal events such as Christmas markets in front of Sagrada Familia, to see a new side of the city and its iconic sites.

Beyond the big names, Barcelona’s architectural beauty spills into everyday life. Just wandering through neighborhoods like L’Eixample and Gràcia, you’ll find gorgeous residential buildings with intricate facades and hidden courtyards.

For me, discovering Barcelona’s hidden gems was one of those everyday joys that made living in Barcelona feel special.

Dog-Friendly City

One of the big benefits of living in Barcelona for me was how dog-friendly the city is overall.

Coming from living in Buenos Aires, where dogs are super popular, but Buenos Aires as a city isn’t super dog-friendly, Barcelona was a completely different experience.

In Barcelona, you will find plenty of green spaces and designated dog parks where pups can run off-leash and socialize. Ciutadella Park, Montjuïc, and Collserola Park are some of the popular spots where many locals bring their dogs for a walk or a play session. Collserola Park was by far my favorite place to take Baloo for hikes, but our neighborhood also had nice parks like the Turó de la Peira park, perfect for walks and dog socialization.

Dogs are even allowed in Barcelona’s iconic Park Güell – as long as they don’t enter the Monumental Zone.

If you want to head to the beach, Barcelona even has a dedicated dog beach at Playa de Llevant. The dog beach is an enclosed area of the beach, open to dogs during the warmer months. It’s fully equipped with showers, drinking fountains, and space for them to play in the sand and water.

Taking your dog on public transport in Barcelona is also quite straightforward. In the metro, dogs are allowed as long as you follow a few basic rules: they must wear a muzzle and must be on a leash. During rush hour (7 – 9:30 a.m. and 5 – 7 p.m. on weekdays), dogs are not permitted in the metro in Barcelona.

Dogs are also allowed on the short-distance regional trains (Rodalies Cercania), which allows you to take your dog with you on day trips and weekend adventures. My dog, Baloo, has, for example, been on a day trip to Blanes, a weekend trip to Sitges, and a hike between Vilanova i la Geltrú and Sitges.

In Barcelona, there are also several dog-friendly cafées, ice cream shops, and most local tapas restaurants allow dogs on their outdoor seating.

The overall dog-friendly and welcoming attitude toward dogs in Barcelona was one of the great benefits of living in Barcelona for me, because it makes day-to-day life more enjoyable when you have options to bring your doggo without needing a car.

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The Disadvantages of Living in Barcelona

Now let’s take a closer look at the disadvantages of living in Barcelona as a foreigner – again, completely my own subjective opinions!

The Cost of Living in Barcelona

One phrase my husband and I kept repeating during our time living in Barcelona was; Barcelona es caro por lo que es, which means Barcelona is expensive for what it is.

In many cases, you end up paying a premium simply because you’re in Barcelona, even when the quality doesn’t quite match the price.

Rents are high, yet so many apartments feel poorly maintained. Restaurants can be surprisingly expensive, but the service often leaves a lot to be desired. I know I’m generalizing, but you get the idea.

One of the major disadvantages of living in Barcelona is definitely the high cost of living, especially when it comes to housing and rental prices.

Over the past few years, the rise of Airbnb and other short-term rental platforms has made the situation even worse. Many property owners prefer to rent to tourists, which is more profitable, rather than offering long-term leases to residents. This has squeezed the supply of available apartments and driven up prices for everyone trying to find a permanent place to live.

Because the market is so competitive, it can feel almost impossible to find reasonably priced rentals in the central neighborhoods.

Barcelona is undoubtedly a wonderful place to visit for a few days or a week, but when you try to settle down long-term, the costs start to feel out of proportion to what you’re actually getting. At least, that was our experience.

The Humidity

One of the big disadvantages of living in Barcelona is the humidity, which can be quite challenging.

During the summer, the humidity can climb upwards of 70%, making 30 degrees (86 Fahrenheit) feel a lot worse and a lot stickier than in drier climates.

The high humidity in the summer can make simple tasks like walking to the store or commuting to work quite a sticky and exhausting experience.

Many older apartments, in particular, may lack central air conditioning, which will make you seriously consider investing in portable AC units or fans to fight the sticky, warm feeling.

Coming from Buenos Aires, where the summers are also hot and humid, I honestly didn’t think that the humidity in Barcelona would bother me so much… But the humidity in Barcelona hit me a lot more than in Buenos Aires!

During the winter months, the humidity has the opposite effect and can make the mild temperatures feel a lot chillier than expected. For me, the humidity in the winter wasn’t as bad as the humidity in the summer.

A thing to take into consideration when choosing a place to live is that the dampness and humidity can seep into buildings, leading to potential issues with mold and damp walls, especially in older rental properties.

Sundays in Barcelona

One of the little everyday disadvantages of living in Barcelona is that most stores are closed on Sundays.

If you forget to do your shopping on Saturday, you’ll quickly find yourself with very limited options. Usually, it is just small convenience stores or a handful of shops in tourist areas that will be open.

At first, this weekly shutdown felt pretty inconvenient, especially because we were used to doing our weekly grocery shopping in Buenos Aires during the weekend.

If you’re used to having supermarkets open seven days a week, the closure on Sundays can take some getting used to.

However, during the summer, in some neighborhoods of Barcelona, stores keep open – properly because they expect the extra income from tourists during peak season.

Barcelona Sometimes Feels Small

This one is a very personal disadvantage of living in Barcelona, but after a while, the city started to feel a bit small to me.

I’ll admit I might have been spoiled after living in Buenos Aires for seven years. With 3 million people just in the metropolitan area (and another 12 million in the province), Buenos Aires completely reshaped my idea of what a big city feels like.

When I first arrived in Barcelona, it did feel large and exciting. The wide avenues, Las Ramblas buzzing with life, the gorgeous Modernista architecture, and the large green spaces all gave me that big-city energy I was craving.

But after about a year, I started to notice how compact everything really is. Most restaurants, bars, and cafés are clustered in the same neighborhoods, and it didn’t take long before I felt like I’d seen and tried almost everything nearby.

Of course, this is a very subjective experience, and you might feel completely different depending on where you’re coming from and what you’re looking for in a city.

Two Official Languages & Language Barriers

The strong presence of Catalan seems to be one of the biggest surprises for most expats moving to Barcelona, and for many, Barcelona’s two official languages (Spanish and Catalan) also seem to turn into a source of frustration and disadvantage of living in Barcelona.

In some way, this is also what happened for my husband and me. We did know that Catalan was an official language in Catalonia and Barcelona, but we didn’t anticipate just HOW big a role Catalan plays in everyday life in Barcelona.

Catalan is a completely different language from Spanish, even though there are some similarities. In my opinion, Catalan sounds a bit like if Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian had a baby.

For a lot of people in Catalonia and Barcelona, the Catalan language is an essential part of their cultural heritage and something they feel very strongly about.

During the Spanish Civil War and the military dictatorship of Francisco Franco, the Catalan language was prohibited, and locals had to hide their language in the public space. However, after the return to democracy in 1975, the use of Catalan as an official language was reestablished. In 1979, Catalan was recognized as the official language in Catalonia alongside Spanish.

While most locals speak both Catalan and Spanish, many shops and supermarkets will have their signs in both languages, or only in Catalan. In public transportation like city buses and the metro, you are also likely to hear both Spanish and Catalan, and only sometimes English.

In more local neighborhoods of Barcelona, there is a strong emphasis on speaking Catalan. In my experience and from talking with other expats, the emphasis on Catalan changes a lot from neighborhood to neighborhood.

In some neighborhoods, locals respond exclusively in Catalan and almost seem to get offended if foreigners don’t answer in Catalan. Where, in Horta, where we lived, there was a relatively more relaxed attitude towards Catalan. We lived in an apartment complex with only Catalan neighbors, and even though some might approach us in Catalan, everybody would switch to Spanish when speaking with us.

One thing that frustrated me while living in Barcelona was how stubborn locals can be around the Catalan language and how its use almost becomes a political statement against foreigners.

For example, one time I was buying a gift for a friend of mine in a bookstore in El Born, and I approached the cashier in loud and clear Spanish. At first, he responded to me in Spanish. Suddenly, halfway through the interaction, he changed to Catalan when telling me the price and asking if I needed a bag. For the first part, I got it, but with the bag-thing, he lost me, and I had to ask him if he could repeat in Spanish.

It seemed like an unnecessary act of trying to make me look or feel stupid to switch to Catalan halfway through the simple purchase of a gift. And this is just one of many examples of how Catalan has been more of a political statement of “you are not one of us” than an actual language barrier (remember the first part of my conversation with this guy was in Spanish).

Compared to living in Buenos Aires, where English is a lot less common, but there is an openness towards foreigners trying out their Spanish, the forceful use of Catalan was the biggest cultural shock I experienced living in Barcelona as a foreigner.

The Catalan language is a very sensitive topic among locals and foreigners when living in Barcelona, and you have to be careful about who you discuss this with. Some locals were relaxed around the topic and would tell me, “Why care about learning Catalan when you speak both Spanish and English?”. While others would be offered that I preferred to speak in Spanish with them.

I deeply respect that the Catalan people wish to use and promote their language. But sometimes, this promotion comes across in an unnecessarily hostile and unfriendly way to foreigners who just want to get by.

As a non-native Spanish speaker, it has been hard to pick up on Catalan. To be honest with you, I didn’t put too much effort into actively studying Catalan either. When we moved to Barcelona, I was doing Catalan with Duolingo and learn a bit of the basics. However, with other responsibilities such as work, my dog, and, of course, the blog, Catalan faded in the background.

So, you should keep in mind that Catalan might affect your experience of living in Barcelona as a foreigner. 

Bureaucracy

One of the disadvantages of living in Barcelona that many expats complain about is the time and patience you need to deal with local bureaucracy. Whether you’re applying for your NIE (foreigner identification number), registering your address (empadronamiento), setting up health coverage, or renewing documents, expect the process to be slower and more complicated than you might hope.

However, as I came from living in Buenos Aires, the bureaucracy in Barcelona wasn’t that much of a surprise or cultural shock. It felt more like business as usual.

Indeed, appointments often need to be booked weeks in advance, especially for the NIE. And it’s not unusual to be sent from one office to another because you’re missing a paper or a signature you didn’t even know you needed (but this happens in Argentina, too).

Expats’ struggles with local bureaucracy are a common experience across much of Spain, not just Barcelona.

With a bit of patience, a lot of persistence, and maybe a Spanish-speaking friend to help (if you don’t speak Spanish yourself), you’ll eventually get everything sorted out.

Overtourism

When living in Barcelona full-time, you start to realize how real the city’s struggle with overtourism is.

During peak tourist seasons, particularly in the summer, certain neighborhoods like the Gothic Quarter, El Born, and the seaside area of Barceloneta get incredibly crowded.

In public transportation, it can be hard to get on your daily commute during peak season, especially close to the main tourist attractions as Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, and Casa Batlló.

When I needed to go to the office in Barcelona, I would take the green L3 line and get off at the metro stop of Passeig de Gracia. During the summer months, it could be quite a challenge to get through the large crowds in front of Casa Batlló.

Overtourism has also had a significant impact on housing availability and prices. Short-term vacation rentals have surged, making it more difficult to find affordable long-term housing.

Making Friends in Barcelona

One potential disadvantage of living in Barcelona is that it can feel like a very transient place, where people are always coming and going.

Barcelona is infamous for its big exchange student scene, with students arriving for a semester or a year and then moving on again.

On top of that, Barcelona seems to have a way of wearing people out or inspiring them to leave after a few years, which was ultimately the case for us, too.

Before moving here, I honestly hadn’t given much thought to this aspect of social life. Maybe because, after living abroad several times already, making new connections usually wasn’t something I struggled with.

Interestingly, my own experience didn’t match the stereotype that Barcelona is a city where it’s hard to make lasting friendships. In just two years, I built a great circle of friends through work, got to know neighbors, and even started growing a professional network.

So while the sometimes short-term nature of expat life can be a disadvantage of living in Barcelona, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll end up feeling isolated. With a bit of effort and openness, you can still find your people here.

Pickpocketing

Another well-known disadvantage of living in Barcelona is the constant issue of pickpocketing. Unfortunately, the city has a reputation for being one of the pickpocket capitals of Europe, especially in busy tourist areas like La Rambla, the metro, and the beaches.

I personally never had my wallet stolen, but I know several friends and colleagues who lost phones or bags within seconds of letting their guard down. So, locals and long-term expats aren’t immune to being targeted by pickpockets.

What most of my friends in Barcelona do is simply stay away from the busy tourist areas and meet up in quieter areas of the city.

This doesn’t mean you have to be afraid all the time, but it does mean you’ll need to be more vigilant than you might be used to. Little habits like wearing a crossbody bag, keeping your phone in your bag (and not your pocket), and never leaving your phone on the table when you sit at a café terrace can help you avoid being a target for pickpockets.

For many expats, the risk of petty theft feels like an unavoidable disadvantage of living in Barcelona.

Low Local Salaries & Job Market

Barcelona’s competitive job market and low local salaries are often highlighted as one of the main disadvantages of living in Barcelona.

Salaries in Barcelona are relatively low compared to other parts of Europe and the U.S.. At the same time, the cost of living in Barcelona continues to rise, especially in housing and everyday expenses.

While salaries are generally higher than in Buenos Aires, it is a very similar trend I experienced when living in Buenos Aires.

In addition, the job market in Barcelona can be competitive. Many local positions require fluency in Catalan, in addition to Spanish, which creates a language barrier for many of us non-Catalan speakers.

However, I was somewhat lucky to find a decent paid job in an international company within the first four months of living in Barcelona. And I have been able to keep this job for the last two years. So, I didn’t struggle too much with Barcelona’s competitive job market.

For non-Spanish speakers looking for a job in Barcelona, you might be able to find opportunities in teaching, hospitality, or international startups, where language requirements can be more flexible.

Freelancing or working remotely for international companies is another option for employment in Barcelona; however, you should keep in mind that this also comes with its own set of challenges, such as navigating the bureaucracy and high taxes associated with being an autónomo, which is what freelancers are called in Spain.

Final Thoughts: Is Barcelona a Good Place to Live?

In my opinion, whether Barcelona is a good place to live depends on what you are looking for.

Many people will respond with a resounding yes to the question right away, but for me, after living two and a half years in the Catalan capital, the answer is not so straightforward. And personally, Barcelona wasn’t a good fit for me and my husband long-term.

There are plenty of benefits of living in Barcelona: you’re surrounded by world-class architecture, a mild Mediterranean climate, and good food.

On the flip side, there are definitely some disadvantages of living in Barcelona. The high cost of living, particularly when it comes to rent, can also feel disproportionate to the quality you get. The social tensions with some Catalans’ hostile attitude towards foreigners can become tiring in the long run. And if you’re coming from a much larger city, like I did after living in Buenos Aires, Barcelona might start to feel surprisingly small at some point.

All that said, whether Barcelona is a good place to live or not depends on you. There are pros and cons of living in Barcelona, as there are with almost any place or city. I think Barcelona can be and was a great place to live for a shorter period, but I couldn’t see myself living there long-term.