Basic Information About Barcelona, Spain That the Expatriate Should Know

Introduction

Some of the important things that the expatriate should know when relocating to Barcelona include the two primary languages that are spoken in the city, which are Spanish and Catalan. Also, Barcelona is very popular among tourists and as such, he should know that bookings for attraction sites and monuments must be done early. Moreover, the employee should know that the best means of transport to move around the city is the Metro and a large part of the City is situated on the Mediterranean Sea. Subsequently, its location makes it remarkably popular among tourists. The expatriating employee should also know that Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid and it has the largest football stadium in Europe. The stadium will be a good recreation facility for him to visit with his family, if he loves sports.

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The expatriating employee should also understand Spain's Labor Law and its provisions when working in Barcelona. The law requires an employee to have a minimum of 12 hours off work between the completion of a single working day and the start of the next working day (Expatica, 2018). Also, if work is continuous and exceeds more than six hours in a single working frame, the employee will be entitled to a minimum of 15 minutes of rest time during the day (Expatica, 2018). Also, the employee will be entitled to a one and a half days of uninterrupted rest time every week, particularly on Saturday and Sundays.

Relocation Allowances

The relocation allowance in Barcelona should be sufficient to enable the expatriating employee to cater for his basic needs during the transition period from his mother nation. The cost of selling his home in the parent nation to buy another in Barcelona shall not be included on the relocation allowance package. That is if the job in Barcelona is on a contractual basis and he will prefer to go back to his country of origin after the contractual period. However, the relocation allowance shall include air tickets in which case a two-way flight ticket for a single person from the United States to Barcelona averages around EUR350 (FareCompare, 2018). The allowance shall also be extended to all his family members when he is ready to relocate to Barcelona.

The relocation allowance package shall also include utility expenses for the first six months. In this case, electricity and gas for a whole flat averages EUR80-EUR100 per month and the cheapest broadband connection for a domestic users at speeds of 30 megabytes (MBs) will be EUR40 (Sofia, 2015). Also, the monthly grocery shopping for two people in Barcelona's discount stores averages EUR300 monthly and EUR500 in Supermarkets (Sofia, 2015). The cost of a bus ticket is EUR2.15 and the expatriate alone can average EUR53.75 in a month for all means of transport (Sofia, 2015). In entertainment, the employee will be able to obtain tickets at EUR6.50 to EUR11 in Cinemas and pay EUR30-EUR80 for a monthly gym pass (Sofia, 2015). The stated charges are quite affordable and the employee will be able to attain quality services.

Housing

The cost of renting a house in Barcelona primarily depends on the area of the city the house is positioned. However, rent for a flat in Barcelona starts from a minimum of 700EUR monthly, moving upwards (Sousa, 2018). Also, the neighborhoods that are near the city center such as the Ciutat Vella are more expensive to rent for accommodation due to their high demand. Nevertheless, the average rent of a house in Barcelona per square meter is significantly high compared to the average rate of rent per square meter of Spain, which is at EUR7.24 (Sousa, 2018). Also, the best districts of Barcelona for an international immigrant to dwell is Ciutat Vella where rent goes for 18EUR/m2, Sarria-Sant Gervasi for 19EUR/m2, and Sant Marti for 20EUR/m2 (Sousa, 2018). However, rent significantly varies between apartments based on the location of building in Barcelona.

The three districts are the best to seek a house because they offer the best entertainment facilities, bars, supermarkets, and restaurants. The Ciutat Vella, Sarria-Sant Gervasi, and Sant Marti districts also have good healthcare institutions that the employee can use. Contrary, the worst districts in Barcelona that the expatriating employee should avoid to rent a house include the Raval District, due to criminalities in the region like the sale of narcotics. Lastly, in the employee decides to relocate permanently to Barcelona, the cost of purchasing a two-bedroom apartment in Barcelona ranges from EUR100,000 to EUR300,000 (Right Move, 2018). Also, the cost of a three to five bedroomed house in Barcelona ranges from EUR500,000 to EUR1,000,000 (Right Move, 2018). In such a case, the employee shall have to find an affordable home realtor in Barcelona for the best property prices in the market.

Spousal Family Assistance

The expatriating employees' wife will have to be offered financial assistance if the employee will relocate to Barcelona. That is because she will be forced to leave her work and join her family in Barcelona. In that regard, the employee's wife will be offered an allowance of EUR1000 to cater for the household expenditures and also meet her basic expenses. However, the spousal family assistance will be temporary, and it will be issued by the company for six months.

References

Expatica. (2018). Spanish labor laws. Retrieved from Expatica: https://www.expatica.com/new/es/employment/employment-law/labour-law-104542/

FareCompare. (2018). Cheap Flights From Barcelona, Spain To United States. Retrieved from FareCompare: https://www.farecompare.com/flights/Barcelona-BCN/United_States-US/citycountry.html#quote?quoteKey=CBCNCATL20181009R20181016P1CTF

Right, Move. (2018). Properties For Sale in Barcelona. Retrieved from Rightmove: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/overseas-property-for-sale/Barcelona.html

Sofia. (2015). Monthly cost of living in Barcelona. Retrieved from I am moving to Barcelona: http://immovingtobarcelona.com/cost-of-living-in-barcelona/

Sousa, M.-L. D. (2018). What is the average flat rent price in Barcelona? Retrieved from SH Barcelona: https://www.shbarcelona.com/blog/en/flat-rent-barcelona/