Hi, Really enjoyed the discussion here about Barcelona. Wondering if anyone has any ideas / information / 2 cents to contribute to my thoughts on moving to the Catalonis region. I need to be within 30km of Sitges and preferably with good access to public transport as I won’t be splurging on a car for the first 6 months. I have a business which moves with me as long as I have a good internet connection so my only ‘need’ is to be near civilisation and within a half hour walk of the sea. My realistic budget is about 650 Euro per month (maximum) plus services (utilities). I am thinking to move in January / February and hoping to take advantage of the possibility of winter rental rates. I am intending to learn Spanish and hope that as I speak 3 other languages reasonably well and have lived in various countries / communities, I shall be able to at least hold a conversation. Any advice or thoughts would really be most welcome. Thanks in advance.

Hi there,

Catalunia is lovely, we lived in Barcelona for two years, but due to expanding family a larger house was needed and we moved!!  However, my one recommendation would be to learn Catalan.  As you seem to adept at languages, hopefully won’t be a prob…...you say you are working for yourself, brilliant as working in and around Barcelona could be difficult if you don’t speak Catalan, unless you work for English companies, etc.  I found the Catalans quite stubborn, we speak Spanish (although my husband did speak Catalan too) and even if you speak Castellian, most Catalans will demand that you repeat and try Catalan…..confused???  Saying all this, it is lovely and Sitges is brill, wish you loads of luck.

Alicia

Many thanks for that Alicia,

Having spent six years at the end of a Greek island I can quite imagine the stuborness and ‘local’ attitude.

Much appreciated.

never happened to me…  Even with my broken Spanish, never once there was a language problem.. So far I never met anyone who does not speak Spanish.

But it’s true that they do appreciate if you speak Catalan…

aligran - 25 August 2007 10:14 PM

Hi there,

working in and around Barcelona could be difficult if you don’t speak Catalan, unless you work for English companies, etc.  I found the Catalans quite stubborn, we speak Spanish (although my husband did speak Catalan too) and even if you speak Castellian, most Catalans will demand that you repeat and try Catalan…..confused???  Saying all this, it is lovely and Sitges is brill, wish you loads of luck.

Alicia

Aligran is absolutely right, with the Catalan renaissance of recent years, it really has taken over in most of the community and if you don’t master it you’ll be missing out on much of what the culture has to offer. It’s true that everyone can speak Castilian too - almost everyone in the Netherlands can speak English, and yet if you were going to spend the rest of your life in Holland, you’d learn a little Dutch, if that analogy makes sense. Personally, I think Catalan is a bit more complicated than Spanish, but there isn’t much in it. If you know French, you’ll be off to a head start - a lot of Catalan vocabulary is closer to French than Spanish (formatge for cheese instead of queso, for example). One tough thing is that with the national mass media being in Castilian, you’ll inevitably be exposed to two closely related new languages at the same time, and that will be very confusing.  Bona sort/buena suerte!  A link to Catalan learning resources on-line here: http://www.catalunya-lliure.com/curs/catala.html

jobell - 24 August 2007 03:24 AM

Hi, Really enjoyed the discussion here about Barcelona. Wondering if anyone has any ideas / information / 2 cents to contribute to my thoughts on moving to the Catalonis region. I need to be within 30km of Sitges and preferably with good access to public transport as I won’t be splurging on a car for the first 6 months. I have a business which moves with me as long as I have a good internet connection so my only ‘need’ is to be near civilisation and within a half hour walk of the sea. My realistic budget is about 650 Euro per month (maximum) plus services (utilities). I am thinking to move in January / February and hoping to take advantage of the possibility of winter rental rates. I am intending to learn Spanish and hope that as I speak 3 other languages reasonably well and have lived in various countries / communities, I shall be able to at least hold a conversation. Any advice or thoughts would really be most welcome. Thanks in advance.

?650 in sitges won?t get you very far i?m afraid. In Vilanova, I would give you more of a chance, but still you are postioning yourself at the low end of the market, Sorry…

We have been looking for a flat in sitges and found something for ?800. Smallish, but in the towncentre and close to the sea.
The few “urbanisations” (forgot the english word LOL) around sitges should be a bit cheaper, but public transport, especially at night would not be great.

The need to speak catalan really depends on your Castillano. I don?t speak it and have no problem getting around. Mind, i worked autonomo, and prob start to work for the spanish branch of an international company.
In day to day live, just starting in castillano makes other people switch as well.

Vetlel has some good points.

What about Casteldefels or Gav?? They’re close to sitges but cheaper. Even D’Espluges (love that word/name) is close enough.

The Expatriator - 08 October 2007 10:07 PM

Vetlel has some good points.

What about Casteldefels or Gav?? They’re close to sitges but cheaper. Even D’Espluges (love that word/name) is close enough.

No, don?t think so. We have lived in Castelldefels for 5 years. Prices are here higher then Sitges.
We were suprised to find the prices in sitges as they are. What we are looking at renting over there, would be ?200 more, here.
And, what you can rent for that price here is a lot shabbier.

Plus, when sitges is your “centre of focus”, Castefa is really on the wrong side of the tunnels. Return travel would set you back ?10.
For a 10 minute drive (and back). Alternatively you have the coast road, which takes a lot longer, but is free.