When my company restructured and offered me a voluntary redundancy package, I felt like I finally had my chance to follow my dream of living in Barcelona.
With no corporate career tying me down, a modest payment, and my husband’s salary (his job was already remote), we could afford to take a “grown-up gap year” of sorts. As European citizens, we also had the option to stay if things worked out.
So, in our mid-30s, we left our comfortable life in Edinburgh behind and headed to the Spanish city with no real plan. We didn’t have jobs or a place to live lined up, but we’d loved our previous trips to Barcelona and were excited to call it home.
At first, it felt like luck was on our side. We found a lovely apartment with a balcony in the trendy El Born neighborhood that was just a 20-minute walk from the city center or beach.
For a few weeks under the Mediterranean sun, I felt like I was living a dream. Soon, I realized it wasn’t built to last.
It was hard to fully integrate without being fluent in the local languages
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I wasn’t arrogant enough to think I could move to Spain without a decent grasp of the local languages, Spanish and Catalan. However, I didn’t appreciate how hard it would be to fully feel part of the city without being fluent.
On other trips to Barcelona, I got by with “vacation-level” Spanish. I could order from a menu and ask where the changing rooms were in a clothing store.
However, I lived here now, and understanding my Spanish electricity bill or making meaningful small talk became herculean challenges.
I threw myself into trying to become fluent in Spanish, since I already knew some of the basics. I signed up for as many language-exchange sessions as my calendar could fit, and I took copious notes during my classes.
As I started to improve, I had regular coffee dates and formed fledgling friendships with native speakers. However, language mastery can take years.
After a few months, I could speak decent Spanish, but I was far from fluent. Sometimes, I felt powerless, like all I could do was keep practicing Spanish and taking more classes.
I often missed the easy banter of life back in Scotland and how easy it used to be to consume and participate in culture. In Barcelona, I struggled to read the local magazines or understand the radio.
Activities I’d taken for granted before, like going to the local theater for live performances, were now impossible for me to fully enjoy.
Making and saving money was also more challenging than we expected
Since I didn’t speak fluent Spanish, my career options felt somewhat limited. Soon, I got a part-time position teaching English.
My teaching post was rewarding, but it barely put food on the table. I had a tough time finding a full-time teaching role that paid well.
In many ways, my husband was worse off. He was originally working remotely, but his company folded not long after the move.
As an IT professional who only knew basic Spanish, it was tough for him to find a new role. For a while, his best options were working in a call center or in hospitality — neither would pay nearly as much as he’d been making before.
Although our living expenses in Barcelona were mainly lower than they were in Edinburgh, we still had bills and travel goals and hoped to retire one day.
With what we were making, we wouldn’t be able to save for retirement or put money aside for vacations. Soon, we realized we could survive here financially, but not thrive.
Living in Barcelona was dreamy in many ways, but it wasn’t our forever
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Although we were enchanted by Barcelona’s beautiful buildings, beaches, and endless sunshine, we didn’t stick around.
After a year, we decided that the sensible decision was to move back to Scotland. I’ve no regrets about my choice, but there’s a little part of my heart that still beats in Barcelona.
We go back every couple of years to visit our friends and grab some much-needed sunshine. After our year there and several trips back, the city’s allure has never faded.
I love the idea of living there again when I retire and don’t need to worry about work. As an EU citizen, anything feels possible.
Until then, I’ll keep working on my Spanish.
