Category: Expat Life
-
Bicing Barcelona: Pricing, Signup, and How the Smou App Works
Bicing is Barcelona’s public bike-share system exclusively accessible to locals with a NIE or DNI. You must sign up first and the process gets you access to an app that does far more than just reserve bikes. Here’s what the pricing, signup, and daily use actually look like. What Is Bicing? Bicing is Barcelona’s city-run… Read more
-
Bike and Scooter Sharing in Barcelona: Donkey Republic, Lime, and the Rules of the Road
There are many ways to get around Barcelona and, while Bicing requires a NIE number, there are many more ways to get around on two wheels. This covers the private rental alternatives to Bicing worth knowing about, the bike lane network, and the rules that keep you out of trouble on the road. What Is… Read more
-
Barcelona Metro: The Complete Guide to Tickets, Zones, Hours, and Stops
The Barcelona metro is the fastest way to move around the city and easy to use once you understand where it goes and how the tickets work. This covers how to use it, what to buy as a resident versus what’s built for tourists, the zone system, the discounts most people never hear about, the… Read more
-
Barcelona Long-Term Rentals: The Complete Guide
Barcelona long-term rentals: documents you need, tenant rights and rent caps, where to actually find listings, and scams to avoid. Read more
-
Public Transport in Barcelona: The Complete Resident’s Guide
Barcelona’s public transport network is dense, affordable, and genuinely usable without a car — the kind of system most people moving from car-dependent places don’t quite believe until they’ve lived with it for a month. This covers what actually gets you around: the Metro, buses, trams, trains, tickets, apps, and the bikes and scooters that… Read more
-
Spain Without the Headache: A Guide for All Things Paperwork
Spain is easy to fall in love with. The bureaucracy is another story. Most expats hit the same wall a few weeks in: an appointment that requires documents you don’t have, forms that arrive entirely in Spanish and rules that shift depending on which region you’re in. It’s certainly navigable, but the consequences of getting… Read more
-
American Store Dupes in Barcelona: Where to Shop Instead
Barcelona has great shopping but you may not recognize every brand. So we’ve created a cheat sheet: if you need something specific (a reliable skincare brand, decent activewear, a one-stop electronics shop) and you don’t know where to go, check out the best Spanish alternatives for the American brands, from beauty and basics to activewear… Read more
-
Feeling Homesick in Barcelona? Here’s Where to go
Introduction Barcelona has a way of making you fall in love with it, and then, usually around month three or month thirty, hitting you with a craving for something it absolutely cannot provide. Not jamón. Not pan con tomate. The specific cereal from your childhood. The sauce that doesn’t exist here. The fast-casual lunch spot… Read more
-
The Best eSIM for Expats in Barcelona
Introduction There is a specific moment most expats in Barcelona will recognize: you’re trying to open a bank account, register for something official, or sign up for a service, and the form asks for a Spanish phone number. Not your home country number. Not a virtual number. A Spanish number, one that proves you’re actually… Read more
-
Living in Barcelona as an Expat: The Real Pros and Cons in 2026
Barcelona is one of the greatest cities in the world and that’s exactly why we here at Penya choose to call it home. But like any city, it has its challenges. Living abroad can be intimidating, especially when you feel like you don’t have trustworthy information. That’s why we’ve outlined the real pros and cons… Read more