Barcelona Travel Tips

Why you should consider education in Barcelona?

For Barcelona, education is an essential motor of the city, which maps out the future on the basis of fairness, encourages respect and tolerance in the midst of diversity and makes a decisive contribution to well being and social cohesion.

Barcelona hotels has a huge amount of opportunities to offer those who decide to move out here. Barcelona offers excellent facilities for foreign families with a large number of foreign schools and Universities, all of which are well-renowned, and which help the boys and girls from other countries to become integrated. As an example, but by no means exclusively, we can cite the Swiss school, the Japanese school, the Italian school, the French Liceu, the German school and various American and English canters.

Big amount of foreigners requires cheap form of Barcelona accommodation. You can find some Barcelona hotels offering nice places. The Barcelona hotel industry enjoys a 80 to 85% year round average room occupancy. This high demand for hotel rooms has pushed up rates significantly over the last few years with an average double room costing around 130 - 200 Euros per night. Barcelona has precious little development land left and for this reason the hotels can afford to hike up the rates. But also you can see backpackers and travelers and young people new to the city whilst searching for shared accommodation in a flat.

You should know that there are 3 types of school in terms of funding: public, subsidized (mainly Catholic) and private (including the foreign schools). The organization of the school-system is the same as elsewhere in Spain, but the language used here in both public and subsidized schools for teaching all subjects is Catalan.

Education in Barcelona has the following structure:

Pre-school education ( Educación Infantil) for 3 years (ages 3-5) - education is a relatively new development in the Spanish education system and is available to children from the ages of three till six. Although it is not compulsory, the vast majority of Spanish children attend pre-school. Pre-school aims to teach children social and personal skills as well as preparing them for a smooth transition into compulsory education at the age of six.

Primary education (Educación Primaria) for 6 years (ages 6-11).

Secondary (Educación Secundaria Obligatoria = ESO). Ages 12-16.

Vocational Training Programmes, which enable access to Medium Grade Professional Training or to the Bachillerato.

Bachillerato (School leaving certificate) - This final stage of secondary education is voluntary and lasts for two years, and is normally undertaken between 16 and 18 years of age.

University - Barcelona has a long-standing tradition in university education. The offer in Barcelona is currently very diversified and high-quality, offering almost 400 approved university degrees for the first and second cycles of university studies. Spain has both public and private institutions, most of the latter being State-subsidized. Spain has also become one of the most popular countries for foreign students and student exchange programs.

If you are considering a further education course in Barcelona, make sure you thoroughly research the options open to you and try visit as many open days as possible. An important issue to discuss with the admissions department is whether your current qualifications are recognized by the organization, or whether they will need further verification.

Travel Tips for Barcelona Spain

Barcelona has long been dubbed "La Gran Encisera" - the Great Enchantress. Little wonder: with the bustle of the world's busiest seaport, the medieval romance of its Gothic Quarter, and a feast of Catalan Art Nouveau buildings - including the great creations of Antonio Gaud� - Barcelona remains one of the most eye-knocking cities in Europe. A cradle of art, architecture, and design - the indelible marks left by Picasso, Mir� and Dal� are never far away - this metropolis is now generating a renaissance of Catalan culture. Much better than flawless, Barcelona remains unforgettably exciting, relentlessly alive.

Barcelona Transportation

El Prat International Airport is six miles (10 kilometres) south-west of the centre of Barcelona and taxis are available at the airport 24 hours a day. It takes about twenty minutes into the centre of town and the fare is about 2500 ESP. There's a RENFE train every 30 minutes to Sants Station (central Barcelona) from 6:00 am to 10:30 pm The fare is about 300 ESP and the journey takes about 16 minutes in air-conditioned trains with plenty of luggage space.

Local Customs

Like many other Mediterranean cities, Barcelona is festive; from the cobbles of its ancient streets, to the spires of Gaudi's extraordinary buildings. The agreeable climate brings people out to celebrate, with very little excuse, the cycle of life and seek the blessing of good spirits. All year there are holidays and holy days each backed by centuries of tradition. For instance, being the capital of Catalonia, Barcelona honors the region's patron saint St. Jordi (St. George) with a massive winter festival, while summer brings the city out again to celebrate both St. John and St. Peter. The other tradition which perhaps sets Spain apart from other European countries is the serving and eating of tapa: important as much for the conversation and company as for the delicious food. Every Spaniard has his favorite tasca, as the tapa bars are called, where he goes regularly to meet his friends or business acquaintances.

Language

You may be surprised to find that Spanish is not the principal language in all of Spain, even though it is a tongue which has been so widely exported since the days of Christopher Colombus. In Barcelona, capital of Catalonia, they speak Catalan, although almost everyone also understands and speaks Spanish or Castellano, or Castilian as it's known. It is not the most difficult language in the world to pick up and your efforts to speak the local tongue will be graciously received. However, you should have no trouble finding people who speak English in Barcelona.

Barcelona Climate

The ideal months to visit are May, June and September, when you can rely on good weather and avoid the occasional extreme heat. However, as it is on the shores of the Mediterranean, Barcelona enjoys good weather for most of the year. January is the coldest month with top temperatures averaging 55 Fahrenheit (13 degrees Celsius) while August is the hottest with an average high of 82 Fahrenheit (29 degrees Celsius).