If you were in Barcelona at least ones – you will love the city from first sight. This city offers such a big variety of entertainment, cultural and gastronomical activities.
You may think that the only things that local people do here are eating Paella, drinking sangria or dos cervesas 🍻 while watching flamenco. And after all of that having siesta. You are 90% wrong1.. Of course, there are people who take a nap after a heavy lunch, but sangria and paella are more touristy things. Even the beaches in Barcelona are typically avoided by locals as they are often crowded and dirty.
Expats and many locals live a life here in a totally different way, maintaining a balance between work and entertainment. For e.g. there are many meetups to socialize, practice the language and learn new stuff. Locals try to avoid the crowded/touristy areas and are often annoyed by tourists, standing with the large suitcases with widely open maps, blocking the way.
A lot of immigrants come to Barcelona because of the weather. As here doesn’t rain that much. The amount of daily sun, especially during the winter, is more noticeable compared to Northern Europe, where it’s getting dark super early. There is no snow here either. Some may miss it, but you can go to neighboring Andorra to get your dose of winter.
What if I do get bored?
… no problem. There are so many options of exploring nature. There are mountains or trekking paths, beaches, etc.
There are, of course, so many festivals all year around. You can just go to the supermarket, and notice that there will be some street band playing something, or neighbors of some barrio are having cozy paella gathering. You may see some giants walking around the streets with devil fireworks – that’s how they usually celebrate different saints days, like fiestas de St. Eulalia or La Mercè.
Notes
1. Paella is originally from Valencia, and doesn’t involve seafood. Even locals call this food rice (arroz). Here it’s more popular a noodle version of this dish. And flamenco is from the southern part of Spain, so has nothing to do with Barcelona.