Nuria from Argentina

Name: Nuria Rico
Age: 28
City and country of origin: Buenos Aires, Argentina


1.When, where and for how long did you live or have you been living in Barcelona?

I have been living in Barcelona for three years, always in the city centre.



2.What made you move here?

The reason I came is because my family was from here. First I was only coming for three months, but then I have stayed for several reasons.



3.What made you leave / stay?

My desire of getting to know the world.



4.What you like the most about Barcelona.

That it is a relatively small city, that it has the sea and the mountains. It feels like a big town to me.



5.What you dislike the most about Barcelona.

The dirt in the city center, all those bikes getting stolen and thiefs in general.



6.Name a special place in Barcelona.

The Montjuïc castle and its views.



7.Name one word you would relate to Barcelona.

Freedom.

Agne from Lithuania

Name: Agne Bertasiute
Age: 24 years (28/01/1985)
City and country of origin: Jonava, Lithuania


1.When, where and for how long did you live or have you been living in Barcelona?

I came to Barcelona about 4 years and a half ago (june 2005). I had been here before with my sister to establish some contact, visit the university and try to find and make a reservation for an apartment. We stayed for one week.
When I came back to stay I went straight to my shared apartment in Sant Andreu, where I stayed for a year and a half before moving to Gracia (right in front of the subway station of Fontana). A year after that, for several reasons, my flatmates and I decided to move to an apartment in Eixample (c/ Diputació with c/Muntaner). And another year later my boyfriend and I decided to rent an apartment close to Lesseps (follow República Argentina and turn into the third one to your left, which is c/Escipió). It’s been a year now and hopefully it’s going to last this time! ;)


2.What made you move here?

I was living in Switzerland and I was sure I wanted to leave. After graduating from school I worked part-time for my father for a year, trying to figure out what to do with my life and where I wanted to go. I felt and still feel very attracted by Tokyo and I also had thought about Venice and London. But in the end I came here!
I had been in Barcelona before, I had learned Spanish and it seemed an inexhaustible, cosmopolitan and welcoming city, with the sea and a School about Social Work and Social Education, which I decided to study.


3.What made you leave / stay?

I feel good in Barcelona, there’s still a lot of new things to discover and, above all, my partner is from here and we are currently not considering to move.


4.What you like the most about Barcelona.

The variety, the sun and that it is full of art and history ;)


5.What you dislike the most about Barcelona.

The tourists everywhere, any time of the year and the lack of bigger and more quiet green areas.


6.Name a special place in Barcelona.

The Ninfas Bar, hehe
A couple of days ago we went up to the Parc del Putxet and the view is surprising, especially at 8.30am when there are only people like you walking their dogs.
Well, all in all I wouldn’t point out a special place I have been able to hide at, if I had to it would be the Macba.
And to eat? The Trallers (delicious!) and the Maoz (which defined my initial years in Barcelona)


7.Name one word you would relate to Barcelona.

Independencia

Erin from Canada

Name: Erin Higgins
Age: 26
City and country of origin: Pembroke, Ontario, Canada


1. When, where and for how long did you live or have you been living in Barcelona?

I have been living in Barcelona for 5 years now. The first 2 and half years I lived in Gràcia, and now I live in St. Gervasi.



2. What made you move here?

I fell in love with my husband who is half Catalan and half Colombian. He asked me if I wanted to come and live in Barcelona with him and I said yes!



3. What made you leave / stay?

I have stayed because the longer I live here, the more people I know, and the more comfortable I feel. Also because I have had to fight very hard for many basic things that I have accomplished in my life, such as being a legal resident and being able to work, and I wouldn’t want to give that all up very easily. Also if we were to go to Canada we would have to start all over. I like the Catalan way of life, and I like Barcelona. However, the constant stream of tourists and the ever rising prices for flats are starting to get to me, and I don’t believe I will live here for ever. I am a small town girl from a rural area and at some point I would like to get back to the Catalan equivalent of that life style.


4. What you like the most about Barcelona.

The thing I like best about Barcelona is all the different neighbourhoods. I really enjoy going out to the different “barrios” as they are all like little towns to me. Gràcia, St. Gervasi, Eixample, Barceloneta, El Born, El Gotico, I enjoy them all, and it is nice to have the variety. Living in Barcelona is a bit like living in several small towns, each with their own unique characteristics. I also really enjoy the large variety of cultural activities the city offers, if you are bored in Barcelona, it is by choice.



5. What you dislike the most about Barcelona.

The high cost of living and the tourists!! Of course I like to be a tourist too and everyone has a right to visit and travel around. However in Barcelona it is like they own the city sometimes!! I think the mayor of the city gives too much of a priority to projects to improve things for the tourists who visit the city each year and not enough priority to projects to improve things for the city’s residents!! Also because of the mild weather of the city we have tourists here all year round, making it that much more tiring. In colder cities for example in Canada, we really only have tourists in the summer, and it isn’t so tiring to deal with.


6. Name a special place in Barcelona.

For me a special place in Barcelona is Pl. Virreina, in Gràcia. Filled with terraces and a nice atmosphere, it is a great place to meet up with friends and have a drink or some tapas.


7. Name one word you would relate to Barcelona.

Unique.

Fredrika from Sweden

Name: Fredrika Tham

Age: 19

City and country of origin: Gothenburg, Sweden



1.When, where and for how long did you live or have you been living in Barcelona?

I have been living in Barcelona for almost eight months now (how did that happen?), all the time in Raval. Came here in june 2009. Bought a one way ticket home for the 13th of December, but after talking to my grandmother (of all people) I changed my mind. She asked me "Fredrika, why are you going home?" I didn't even have an answer, so a bought a ticket back again.
I'm glad, and thankful to my granny, that I did it, after spending my holidays at minus 15 degrees.


2.What made you move here?

Actually, it wasn't something that I had planned for a long time, it just sort of happened. I was broken after years of non-stop studying and I needed to get away.
My intention was to move to Madrid (mentioning it might get me killed in this town...), but when two friends of mine got a job here I thought “oh what the hell, why not?”.
Got the job and just left.



3.What made you leave / stay?

The fact that I am happy here. I have everything I need; a lot of fantastic friends, a job, an apartment. I'm not in love with the city, but I am in love with how the city makes me feel.



4.What you like the most about Barcelona.

The possibility of taking the Renfe to a beach outside Barcelona, the ocean that looks as it never ends, taking a coffee in the sun at our favorite café, sitting at MACBA for hours eating ice cream watching people skate (wich I am doing at the picture!), the juices for 1 euro in la Boqueria. Oh and of course, falafel at Carrer de Joaquím Costa.



5.What you dislike the most about Barcelona.

The smell. What is that smell? A mix of pee and garbage, which the heat doesn't make any better... The stealing. I've basically lost everything that I could lose. And I hate the fact that I'm sometimes scared when I'm walking alone.



6.Name a special place in Barcelona.

The back of Montjüic, where you can see all the cruise-ships and containers. So ugly, but yet so beautiful.



7. Name one word you would relate to Barcelona.

Relaxed

Josefina from Chile

Name: Josefina Cerveró
Age: 25
City and country of origin: Santiago de Chile



1.When, where and for how long did you live or have you been living in Barcelona?

14 months


2.What made you move here?

In Santiago I felt like one of those seagulls that get lost from the sea and end up in any possible city, with no orientation, tired and completely out of place. I knew that here I would find an immense ocean where my liberty of expression would be understood (Santiago, as one might know, is a place with a lot of repression, I don’t blame it, it’s just what my country had to go through unfortunately). I knew I would be welcome here, that Spain would like me.


3.What made you leave / stay?

Here it just feels right. You can have one of the darkest days of your life or one of those best ones you will never forget. This city won’t let you fall asleep, you constantly see yourself in situations where you have to face yourself, there’s no one next to you who will tell you what to do. It’s very easy to lose control, to feel how blood pumps through your veins and how your heart beats faster… there are so many different paths to take, quick ones that take a part of you away, slow and hard paths or even the correct ones that suddently appear when you thought you were already lost. Life becomes completely unpredictable and that very much depends on yourself. Your horizons broaden and you cannot picture anymore how things are going to turn out.


4.What you like the most about Barcelona.

The city’s constant movement, the people, anecdotes you hear, the incredible pictures I can take here, where I can capture life, lifes I can see, feel and even smell while they float around.
As a photographer I think I am in the right place, there’s so much material to work with, here every day you find someone who has got a story to tell and who usually wants to share it with you and create things for the sake of art (even though that will eventually turn into benefits $, to be completely honest and realistic)


5.What you dislike the most about Barcelona.

Thiefs, bad people


6.Name a special place in Barcelona.

My room, my shelter, my hiding spot.


7.Name one word you would relate to Barcelona.

Freedom

Ana from Portugal

Name:Ana Azevedo
Age:19
City and country of origin:Portugal


1.When, where and for how long did you live or have you been living in Barcelona?
I came to live to Barcelona in the beginning of September 2009. Im living in Vallcarca (near Parc Güell) and I’m staying just 3 more weeks, too sad.


2.What made you move here?
Erasmus!


3.What made you leave / stay?
I’m obliged to leave because of university, but it makes me very sad! And also Barcelona is quite expensive compared to Portuguese life.


4.What you like the most about Barcelona.
I love the friends I made here mostly. And I like that there is always a thing to do if its day or night, rainy or sunny. And I like that Sunday is still a real Sunday, and people are relaxed... and so on..


5.What you dislike the most about Barcelona.
Hm.. difficult one.. I don’t like when it is too full of tourist and I think the beach could be cleaner, and I don’t like that they waste all the water they can at night “in order to help the environment”, and I REALLY HATE the mice running around in the city center.


6.Name one special place in Barcelona.
Gràcia.. (just one more: las plazas de la ciutat vella donde hay siempre música!)


7.Name one word you would relate to Barcelona.
Ta-se bem (my portuguese word) and amigos, música y cañas!.(sorry, its difficult to name just one)

Emily from England!

Name: Emily Holden

Age: 23

City and country of origin: London, UK





1.When, where and for how long did you live or have you been living in Barcelona?

I lived in Barcelona from June 2008-September 2009

I lived in 3 different apartments - the first one on Muntaner con Maria Cubi, then another place very close, Laforja con Via Augusta, and the last one down by Drassanes, the infamous Carrer Santa Monica.


2.What made you move here?

I wanted to improve my Spanish, and needed a change after University in Paris. I applied to do a Leonardo da Vinci programme for the summer 2008 and stayed on afterwards. The internship was a total joke! I found work in a variety of different places afterwards - a business club, an auction house, and finally as an English teacher. None of them made me any money!


3.What made you leave / stay?

I stayed until the point where I felt Barcelona wasn't giving me as much as I was giving her. In the beginning I tried really hard to meet people, make friends, and integrate, but I found it hard to find caring, honest people. I met a lot of "fair-weather" friends. I didn't want to keep working and making no money, and wanted to save up money for travelling in the future, so I decided to go back to London on a money-mission. So far it's going well! I also never felt like I truly was part of Barcelona, that anything was holding me there. It was a very different experience to living in Paris where I felt 100% Parisienne despite my English roots. Barcelona just wouldn't let me in!


4.What you like the most about Barcelona.

The way of life, walking down unknown streets, having a drink on a plaza, the beach, the bars, the mountains, the views, the architecture, seeing crazy people do crazy things in Barceloneta, getting home at dawn, ice cream, the walk from Colon to Barceloneta, Bicing...


5.What you dislike the most about Barcelona.

The prostitutes; the crime; the fact that I met a lot of people who were only interested in what I could give them or something I could do for them; the feeling of always being a "guiri"; not speaking Catalan; finding "presents" on my doorstep (vomit, dog shit, human shit, stink of piss); seeing people buy, sell and take drugs in the street; the shameful behaviour of my compatriots.


6.Name a special place in Barcelona.

Montjuic - for hidden corners, the runs with Cristian, the picnics, the Sunday walks, the views.


7.Name one word you would relate to Barcelona.

Temporary. Temporary jobs, temporary friends, temporary flats - it was good, but too good to last! The only thing I've kept from Barcelona is Cristian :) We'll see if that turns out to be temporary or not!