Barcelona is the Silicon Valley in southern Europe! Well, it has often been referred to as that due to the many tech opportunities in the city. It is a growing tech hub, has a fantastic quality of life, and is very friendly to expats.
This explains the reason why a large number of software developers around the world have considered moving to Barcelona. Others have already moved and are enjoying the quality of life and amazing career opportunities offered by startups in Barcelona.
Well, as a software developer, you can get job offers from different countries across the globe. You can even hop from one country to another to work. However, what makes Barcelona stand out as one of the best cities for software developers?
Endless Opportunities
Barcelona has endless opportunities for software developers. It is important to note that Spain is among the countries in Europe with the highest number of technology roles. Over 30% of tech startups in Spain are also in Barcelona. The ICT sector is one of the fastest-growing sectors in Spain.
This is expected to keep on growing in the coming years. It, therefore, means that living in Barcelona exposes you to endless opportunities and you can choose the ones that meet your expectations.
You will also find multiple unicorn startups such as Travelperk who are one of Egencia’s competitors, Wallbox, and Letgo, among others valued at more than $1 billion. With the right software development skills, you are going to get opportunities in one of these startups and earn the salary you have always dreamed of.
Working Conditions and Benefits
Working on a full-time basis as a software developer in one of Barcelona’s tech companies gives you a maximum of 40 hours of work every week. If you work overtime, you can choose to add the hours to your annual leave, be compensated, or sign it as voluntary work.
It is also important to note that overtime is capped at 80 hours every year. You will also get at least 22 working days for your leave every year. This is a paid leave. Those expecting a child get a paid parental leave of 16 weeks.
You will also enjoy an allowance for working from home if you are a remote worker. Since software developers move a lot, Barcelona’s tech companies offer relocation packages among their benefits as well as health insurance. With all these benefits, what can stop a software developer from working in Barcelona?
Language Barrier
Barcelona is one of the greatest cities in Europe. As such, you will find people from different parts of the world speaking different languages. However, the official languages in Barcelona are Spanish and Catalan.
English is also very popular among people living in Barcelona. Fortunately, learning Spanish is quite easy. You can enroll in courses to build your Spanish vocabulary even before you travel to Barcelona.
This is important because you will understand everything the locals are saying and life will be much easier for you even in a foreign country. In addition, Spanish is one of the most popular languages in the world, so it will help you even when you move to other countries.
Life in Barcelona
Barcelona offers an amazing outdoors view with an excellent startup culture, history, and arts. This can be attributed to its location – the city is sandwiched between the Mediterranean Sea and the Serra de Collserola range of mountains.
You will enjoy beach life in Barcelona, a distinct culture, and modernist architecture. It is the capital in the Catalonia region and enjoys an expat population of over 400,000 people. You will feel at home working in this city.
In addition, Barcelona has one of the lowest living costs among major European cities and offers warm summers and mild winters. It has also been rated as one of the safest cities in the world, at 11th place. If you love cuisine meals, then this is the city for you, especially when it comes to fish-based dishes.
Transport is also affordable here, with a bike sharing scheme, affordable taxes, reliable buses, and a metro system.
As you can see, Barcelona is emerging as one of the best places to work for software developers. You will be able to build your career, earn a good salary, do what you love, and have fun while at it.