Living and working in Barcelona: luck or choice?

Hi, I’m Zoë. I have now been living and working in vibrant Barcelona for over two years, after packing my things in three suitcases and leaving with no end date. In my previous blogs on Working Remotely, I shared my emigration, my struggle with homesickness and chasing my dream. Today I take you through another theme that has been playing through my mind more and more lately: is what I have built here pure luck, or is it the result of choices, perseverance and keep trying?

Emigrating to Barcelona: luck or consequence?

Is it luck or a consequence of something? This is what Alieke told me and what I may hold on to more from time to time. I myself blame everything I have achieved on ‘luck’ and partly I think it is, I am just a very happy person, but partly I think it is not always so. By now it has been over 2 years since I packed my things in three suitcases and left for vibrant Barcelona with no end date. A few months before that I lost my job due to a reorganization and that was exactly the moment for me to jump into the deep end. Although this sounds a lot easier now than it was back then. I wrote about this earlier, so if you want more background, be sure to read the other three blogs as well!

Applying for a job in Barcelona, this is how I handled it

For months I searched online and applied for jobs in Barcelona and this was still a pain point. So painful, in fact, that I was on the verge of abandoning the dream of living in Barcelona. Because finding a job abroad is simply not as easy as it sometimes suggests. It’s a lot of applying, interviewing, networking, getting rejections and very, very, very often not hearing anything at all. Frustrating? Extremely! Recognizable? Certainly not, because here in the Netherlands there are always companies that want you. But if you want something, you go for it the full 180%, at least I do.

During my search for a new job, I made a list of companies where I would like to work. These are very easy to find through Google or LinkedIn and this is what I simply did. I looked at which companies are based in Barcelona and which ones appealed to me. Sounds easy you might say… In this you have to make a small shift of course, otherwise you can’t see the forest for the trees. I have been working as a project and event manager for a long time and I wanted to keep doing this. Because I noticed during my search that this is easier for a Dutch or international company, I started looking for that.

The keywords I mainly used in Google and on LinkedIn were “Dutch companies in Barcelona,” “project manager,” “event manager” and “marketing. Eventually I ended up on the website of a Dutch company with an office in Barcelona, in the same sector I was working in here in the Netherlands. A perfect match for what I was looking for! What I also secretly liked was that the work was completely in Dutch, which feels a bit like home. Especially when you start a new life somewhere else. Because there was no vacancy, I sent an open application and the rest is history.

So this is definitely a tip: send that open application. You may not hear anything, but at least you made the effort and that is often very much appreciated.

Remote working in Barcelona

Eventually, after 1.5 years, I was ready for a new challenge because it didn’t offer the challenge I was looking for and I missed event management a lot. However, this is something you should take into account when looking for a job abroad. It may not be quite the job you have in mind at first, but take it! From here you can always continue looking for something new, but you are already in the country and you have gained experience. This saves a whole lot. Even though in hindsight the job I had didn’t quite suit me, it did give me the opportunity to move to Barcelona and that’s a stepping stone you have to have.

Networking to find your remote job

The job I have now found is completely remote. This is of course a dream for many and I am very blessed with this! What has also made this possible is a network (physical and online), because in the end I think you often have to depend on that. People know how you work, what you are like as a person, what your values are and therefore they trust you. During this search, I contacted a lot of former colleagues, people who work at companies I was interested in or who had positions that appealed to me.

Actually with everyone I had a conversation with, online or in person, I indicated that I was looking for a new challenge. Just to get the ball rolling. In the end, that one coffee with my former manager was the deciding factor for my new job and for a while now I have started working as a project manager at an international event marketing agency. My colleagues are international and the working language is English, which makes it a lot of fun. So personally I think it’s always good to maintain contacts and also be open about the fact that you are looking for a new challenge. You never know from what unexpected corner something will present itself.

Building a social life abroad

So by now I have been lucky to live and work in Spain for more than 2 years and at the moment I wouldn’t want it any other way. But as I wrote in my earlier blogs, this has not always been a bed of roses and it has also been really hard. Homesickness plays a big role in this for me, but also the coming and going of people, looking for a house, getting to know the city and making new friends and girlfriends. The latter is something I think many people underestimate. This takes an enormous amount of time and energy and it just has to click. You used to sit together in elementary school and become friends. But what if you are in your late twenties, have been working for years and suddenly move to an unknown country?

Fortunately, we have Bumble Friends! Where this app is a drama for dating, for friendships this is truly an invention. Of course, there are also plenty of other ways to meet new people, but above all, choose a way that works for you. Don’t force anything, because that won’t make it more fun or easier, but be open to it. Go for that coffee, exercise together, go to that party, because the best is the worst. I can say that I now have a stable base of friends around me that I can always fall back on. This also makes it a lot easier to come home every time. You know that there is a certain basis that you need, because alone is just so alone.

After rain comes (lots of) sunshine

As I said, moving to Barcelona didn’t come without a struggle and it takes time for everything to take shape in Spain and really be able to say you feel at home somewhere. Give it this time as well. In the beginning everything will be fun, exciting and new. After this period there will come a time when even that life will feel “normal” and then you will know that you are at home somewhere. After all, life is not a pony camp. Although summers in Barcelona will always feel a bit like a vacation, and I don’t think this will be normal any time soon.

And for those who are curious about my homesickness: it is still there! Some moments a lot more than others and that’s totally fine. It is part of me and secretly I am quite proud of it by now! Just like all the other things I have achieved in the past few years, through that little bit of luck and little bit of consequence of….

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