Barcelona is an immensely popular tourist destination and a commercial centre as a result hotels are in constant demand here. It’s always better to check out the prices and availability of discounts for your convenience. Remember to book much in advance, especially at the peak times of New Year, Easter and over the summer.

Barcelona has a huge variety of bars and restaurants, with prices to match all budgets. Restaurants are required to offer a fixed price menu del dia, which offer excellent value on for a smaller choice items than the main menu.

Music and dance, food and drink, if anyone knows how to have fun, it’s the Spanish. That and the need to avoid the daytime heat, means the locals literally grow up in the streets at night. And any excuse to get them back out on them – from demonstration to shopping to festival – will do it. So foreigners living in Spain find they spend a lot of their time drinking, dancing and talking the night away with the locals in ‘el marche”, going from bar to bar.

Working in Spain is easier than most western European countries. There’s plenty of work and since many have paved the road before you, the process is much easier. A European passport, a teaching certificate and English fluency can pretty much guarantee you a job if it’s the right time of year. Along with Italy and Greece, Spain has the highest number of residents studying English and it’s greatest source of income is tourism.