Int’l Internship & Volunteer Network Discover Infinite Possibilities   Discover Spain Barcelona ~ Independent Programs   In a privileged position on the Northeastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula and the shores of the Mediterranean, Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain in both size and population. It is also the capital of Catalonia, 1 of the 17 Autonomous Communities that make up Spain. Barcelona is unequivocally a Mediterranean city, not only because of its geographic location but also because of its history, tradition and cultural influences.  With a distinct Catalán language and culture, Barcelona dates back to the 9th century when the first independent Count of Barcelona was established.  From its medieval Gothic quarter and historic old town of confused streets and alleys to its world famous art nouveau buildings and futuristic Olympic Village on the harbor, Barcelona is a city of contrasts and unrivaled articistic beauty and diversity!   ~ ~ ~   Program & Placement Opportunities Applicant Requirements Start Dates & Duration Accommodations, Meals & Transportation Program Fees & Inclusions Application Process ~ Benefits of Participation Other Important Information   ~ ~ ~

Program & Placement Opportunities   Interning in Barcelona is a great way to get involved, improve the community, make friends, practice your Spanish and learn new skills.  Following is a sample of fields we have placed previous participants in... Administration Analyst Professional Childcare Services Customer Service E-Commerce Engineering Events Finance Human Resources Import/Export Int’l Business IT Journalism Legal Marketing/Market Research Research Sales Translation Web Publishing   Should you not find the field you are most interested in listed, just let us know.  It would be our pleasure to customize a program that would meet your needs!    ~ ~ ~

Start Dates & Program Duration    Our Independent Programs in Barcelona are offered year-round and a minimum program duration of three (3) months is strongly encouraged.   Participants should apply for an internship in Barcelona a minimum of two (2) to three (3) months in advance.  Participants planning to start a program in September must apply no later than June, annually.   Note:  Businesses in Barcelona observe holiday during the months of July and August, therefore, business demands do not warrant the best circumstances for employers to host participants during these times.     ~ ~ ~

Accommodations, Meals & Transportation     Accommodations:  Although housing is not included in our Discover Barcelona Program Fee, we will be happy to provide you with resources and recommendations for options that are affordable, safe and in an area convenient to your placement location.   Participants should plan on spending between 400€ - 700€ per month for housing.     It is the participants’ responsibility to secure and confirm their housing arrangements prior to departure from their home country!

Meals:  Spanish eating customs are quite different from other countries - mainly because everything happens a couple of hours later.  While in Barcelona, locals do not dine before 8:30pm, and lunch is not eaten at noon...   Breakfast/ El Desayuno The least important meal of the day... some Spaniards skip it entirely! Time frame: sometime before 10am. Usually "continental," consisting of coffee, juice, hot chocolate or tea + a croissant, toast with butter & jelly, toast with olive & tomato, any other kind of pastry, or even a pincho de tortilla - a slice of a Spanish omelette.   Coffee/ El Café After 1 or 2 hours at the office, it's typical for co-workers to step out to the local cafetería for a coffee. Time Frame: between 10:30 and noon. Café solo (Spanish)/ Cafè sol (Catalan): a shot of espresso. Café cortado/ Cafè tallat: a shot of espresso with a little bit of milk. Café con leche/ Cafè amb llet: a shot of espresso with a lot of milk (like a latte). Café Americano/ Cafè America: watered down coffee, American style.   Lunch/ La comida By far the largest and most important meal of the day. Time Frame: sometime between 2pm and 4pm. This is the time of day to find great cheap deals at otherwise expensive restaurants. Most places have a "menú del día," a prix fixe menu allowing you to choose from various options for 1 appetizer and 1 main course. Usually includes dessert and a beverage as well. Prices range between €7-€11.   Afternoon Snack/ La merienda Since Spaniards eat dinner so late, some may have a light afternoon snack to hold them over. Typically a pastry, hot drink, or small sandwich. In Barcelona, pa amb tomàquet is a typical merienda.   Dinner/ La cena This is a much lighter and later meal than many foreigners are accustomed to. Restaurants won't open until 8pm or later. Time frame: 8:30pm at the very earliest. Typically 9pm-10:30pm. While tapas culture is not very strong in Barcelona, it's still worth mentioning as a local dinner option. A tapa is basically a small portion of food, meant for sharing. There are all kinds of tapas: cheese, cured ham, croquettes, anchovies, potatos with ali-oli or spicy sauce... The culture of tapeo is highly social. Typically, a group of friends will hop from bar to bar, eating a couple plates at each destination and drinking beer or wine along the way. Tapas are usually eaten standing up!   Cafe culture is still alive and well in Barcelona, with hundreds of enchanting settings to read, write, or chat over a cup of coffee and a pastry. Some cafés offer sandwiches and tapas as well; most serve alcoholic beverages along with hot drinks. Best of all, a café con leche or cup of hot chocolate rarely exceeds €1.50.   You'll find cafes on nearly every Barcelona block. From cheap dives and Irish pubs to designer bars and enormous night clubs, Barcelona nightlife offers just about everything under the sun. You could easily make a big night of it for under €20, or blow over €50 in one fell swoop. It all depends on the scene that suits your fancy and the budget you're working with.   While traveling in Barcelona, you'll find everything from tasty budget options for under €10 a meal to trendy establishments at over €80 a head. Though prices continually skyrocket year after year, it's still easy to get an excellent meal for under €20 a head.  As a general rule, avoid the restaurants right on Las Ramblas and most right around the Cathedral. It may seem like a convenient choice on your sightseeing tour, but you're better off exploring the Gothic Quarter to the east of Las Ramblas or El Raval to the west to avoid rip-offs and medicore menus. The Eixample tends to hold Barcelona's more expensive restaurants, but if you skip past it north to Gràcia you'll find an awesome concentration of mid-range spots in a tranquil, less touristy setting.

Transportation:  We are pleased to provide participants with transportation to/from the airport of the host country to their housing location as part of their Discover Barcelona Program Fee.  Please ensure you forward your travel itinerary to IIVN so that we may make the necessary arrangements on your behalf.   Barcelona has a highly efficient and affordable urban transport system. There are 4 main ways to get around the city: by metro, bus, FGC (Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya) and taxi.   The TMB (Transports Metrolpolitans de Barcelona, www.tmb.net) runs all of these forms of Barcelona transport, and, in addition, offers Tourism Transportation options.   Taxis - Taxis in Barcelona are readily available, travel in the bus lanes, and are not too expensive. A trip within the city center usually costs less than €7. If you don't mind spending the money, taxis are the easiest form of Barcelona transport, especially if you are there for a short period of time. You can easily indentify Barcelona cabs: black or yellow. A green light on top means that the cab is free.  All cabs are metered with additional charges from the airport and for baggage, which you can find detailed on the right rear passenger window. If you have troubling hailing a taxi, here are some numbers you can call:   93 225 00 00; 93 300 11 00; 93 303 30 33; 93 322 22 22       ~ ~ ~

Other Important Information    Currency Exchange/Bank Machines/ATM's:  In Spain, as in 11 other EU countries, local money has been replaced by European currency, the Euro.  There are 7 euro notes, in different colours and sizes.  They are denominated in 500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5 Euros. There are 8 Euro coins denominated in 2 and 1 euros; 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 cents.  Euro notes and coins came into circulation on 1 January 2002. It is still possible to convert the pesetas into euros at national central banks. For euro-information in Spain, call 901 11 20 02.   Bank hours - Banks are normally open from 8.30am to 2pm Monday to Friday, and from 1 October to 30 April most branches also open on Saturday mornings from 8.30am to 1pm. Hours vary a little between banks: some open slightly earlier or later. Savings banks (Caixes d'Estalvis/Cajas de Ahorros), which offer the same exchange facilities as banks, open from 8am to 2pm Monday to Friday, and from October to May they also open on Thursdays from 4.30pm to 7.45pm. Savings banks never open on Saturday. Banks and caixes are closed on public holidays. Banks & Foreign Exchange - Banks and savings banks readily accept travellers' cheques (you must show your passport), but usually refuse to cash any kind of personal cheque except one issued by that bank. Commission rates vary a good deal, and it's always worth shopping around before changing money. Given the rates charged by Spanish banks, the cheapest way to obtain money may be through an ATM machine with a debit or credit card rather than with travellers' cheques, despite the fees charged for withdrawals. Credit Cards - Major credit and charge cards are widely accepted in hotels, shops, restaurants and many other services (including Metro ticket machines, and pay-and-display parking machines in the street). With major cards you can also withdraw cash from most bank cash machines, which provide instructions in different languages at the push of a button. Banks also advance cash against a credit card, but prefer you to use the machine. Don't forget that interest will be charged. Off Hours Business Services - Outside normal hours there are bank exchange offices open at the airport (Terminals A and B, open 7am-11pm daily) and Barcelona-Sants Station (open 8am-9.30pm daily). There's a private bureau de change (cambio) at the Estacio d'Autobusos Barcelona-Nord (open 8am-9pm Mon-Fri; 9am-4pm Sat, 10am-4pm Sun), and many more in the city centre. Some in the Rambla are open until midnight, or 3am from July to September. Cambios do not charge commission, but their exchange rates are usually less favourable than bank rates. At the airport, Sants and outside some banks there are automatic cash exchange machines that accept notes in major currencies, as long as they are in good condition. Western Union Money Transfer: Loterias Manuel Martin, La Rambla 41 (93 412 70 41) Metro Liceu or Drassanes/14, 38, 59, 91 bus. Open 9.30am-midnight Mon-Sat; 10am-midnight Sun. The quickest, although not the cheapest, way of having money sent from abroad. Branches: Mail Boxes C/Valencia 214, Eixample (93 454 69 83).

Language Proficiency & Lessons:  There are two official languages spoken in Barcelona: Catalan, generally spoken in all of Catalonia, and Castilian Spanish.   Participants interested in a placement in Barcelona must possess an intermediate+ Spanish language level.  Depending on the type of placement, it may be required that participants possess an advanced reading, writing and/or Spanish conversation level.   Please let us know if you are interested in receiving information on lessons to improve your Spanish reading, writing and conversation language skills.     Vaccinations Required:  We recommend participants personally contact their primary care physician to determine exact vaccinations that are required for their trip.    Additional vaccination information may be found by visiting the following links;   Center for Disease Control - Provides country by country health information for international travel.  Includes vaccine recommendations, health recommendations, updates on disease outbreaks, with descriptions and recommended treatment.   World Health Organization - Can view risks by country or by disease.  Provides vaccination requirements, information on accidents, infectious diseases, and traveler checklist.  Provides health and disease alerts.     Visa:  If you are from a member-country of the Schengen agreement - Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden - you do not need a passport to enter Spain. An official national ID card will suffice. Citizens from EU countries that do not form part of the Schengen agreement must carry a valid passport to enter Spain. These are the UK, Ireland and new member-states integrated in 2004: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia. If you are from any of the aforementioned countries, Switzerland or member-countries of the European Economic Area (Norway, Iceland & Liechtenstein), you do not need a special visa to enter or reside in Spain. If you are planning to stay for more than 3 months, however, you need to apply for a residence card. Spain Visas for Non-Europeans Citizens of the following countries do not need a visa to stay in Spain for less than 90 days, only a valid passport: Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong & Macao (China), Hungary, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Romania, Singapore, South Korea, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela. If you are from any of these countries and desire to stay in Spain to work or study for more than 3 months, you must solicit the corresponding visa. Agreements and processes vary by country, so it's best to consult the Spanish consulate closest to you. Obtaining a student visa for Spain is not difficult, as long as your school provides the necessary paperwork. Apart from an official invitation letter you will need a certificate of good health, clean police record and proof of funds to pay for private insurance while in Spain. Obtaining a work and residency visa is much more complicated and laws are constantly changing. The company in Spain must present the necessary paperwork to the Ministry of Labor here, including proof that no Spanish resident is capable of filling the position. The law now states that no illegal alien may solicit a work visa from within the country.     Weather:  Barcelona’s position on the Mediterranean lends it a moderate climate with pleasant temperatures year-round. You’ll find the best weather during May, June & September, when temperatures are warm, but not blistering, and sun is abundant. Keep in mind that August tends to be a scorcher, despite Mediterranean breezes. At the other extreme, Barcelona weather is coldest in January. Barcelona sees plenty of rain (about 1,000 mm / year) and barely any snow.     ~ ~ ~   Apply for a Program Return to Home Page     ~ ~ ~