Barcelona's Startup and Digital-Nomad Scenes Are Thriving
If you join us here, the decision on which language to learn first in a multilingual and diverse city can be surprisingly difficult
"Barcelona | After the Rain" by Vaidas M is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Regular readers of Sharpen Your Axe might be surprised to hear that Barcelona’s startup and digital-nomad scenes have taken off in the last few years. I often write about the awfulness of the Catalan political class and its old-fashioned and toxic nationalism, but that is far from the whole story when it comes to this great European city. Despite the nativist and populist tendencies of its worst politicians, Barcelona (BCN) is a fantastic place to live!
The city’s high quality of life means that BCN has become the leading startup hub of southern Europe over the last five years. Perhaps surprisingly, the ecosystem’s dramatic takeoff came hot on the heels of the failure of the Catalan nationalist coup d’etat in 2017, which led to an exodus of home-grown multinational companies and both formerly Catalan banks.
There is an interesting contrast between the way that startups here (and elsewhere) seek to create value for other people and the Catalan nationalist politicians, who cheerfully propose populist ideas that would destroy value.
Even though there are still simmering political risks, BCN has become home to more than 2,000 startups, which between them have attracted billions of euros in funding. Around one in four employees of Catalan startups are foreigners. English is widely spoken in the startup world, particularly compared to Madrid, a city which has often developed strong links with the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America.
The eventual success of Barcelona as a hub was far from obvious to me when I moved here in 2005 to set up and run the local branch of a financial news and data startup while working as an investigative journalist. I discovered a lackluster tech ecosystem at first. The annual presence of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) since 2006 has helped concentrate minds; and the city was named as Mobile World Capital a few years later in 2011. Meanwhile, local venture capital firms Inveready and Ysios Capital (both founded in 2008) played pivotal roles in nurturing the ecosystem before it truly took off in the 2020s, as did a law firm currently called RCD, which was founded in 2003 and gradually built up a head of steam.
To give credit where it is due, politicians from a now defunct Catalan nationalist party called Convergence & Union (CiU), many of whom later pivoted to populist separatism, laid the ground for the success of the startup ecosystem with an urban renewal project called 22@, which also counted with the support of the local branch of the Socialist Party. The project began to reposition the post-industrial neighbourhood of Poblenou as a tech and innovation hub at the beginning of the century, with amazing results coming much later. Former textile factories and warehouses now house startup headquarters, showrooms, universities and much else besides.
In parallel to BCN becoming an innovation hub, the city’s digital-nomad economy has taken off over the last few years. The 2021 census showed there were some 200,000 foreign-born residents with higher education in the city. In a way, this scene should be seen as an extension of tourism as much as existing in parallel to the startup ecosystem. Many digital nomads come for a few months without having any intention of putting down roots. This has led to some gentrification of the old town, as well as simmering resentment among some locals, particularly those who are inclined to vote for the city’s nativist politicians, who firmly believe that “first come, first served” is a sensible way of organising society.
The appeal of Barcelona to outsiders is easy to explain. The city has 300 days of sunshine per year, on average, and it sits next to the Mediterranean, with rolling hills in the background. It has lively bars, clubs and restaurants; as well as interesting architecture and museums; plus world-class football.
More than one in five residents were born outside Spain, which leads to a vibrant and multi-cultural street life when the sun is shining. There are also many festivals and outdoor parties. The contrast between the winding roads of the old town and the wide boulevards of the new town is always compelling. You do need to watch out for pickpockets, though, particularly downtown and on public transport.
Although not exactly cheap, Barcelona is still cheaper than southern European rivals like Madrid, Lisbon or Nice, let alone cities further north like Amsterdam, Dublin or London. It is also a great place to bring up multilingual children, particularly if you dodge the city centre and instead move to one of the quieter dormitory towns along the coast or nestling in the hills behind the metropolis. Having said that, being a long way from the kids’ grandparents is one of the downsides for foreign families.
BCN is one of the major urban areas in the European Union (EU), but it is easy to escape for the day or the weekend. Sitges (a beautiful resort) and Tarragona (the capital of Roman Spain) are just down the road. The Costa Brava and the Pyrenees are both easily accessible by car. The city is home to a major international airport; and there are ferries to various destinations around the Mediterranean from its port.
People who come here for more than a couple of months can discover many jewels off the beaten track. To give three small examples, a little-known mountain range called Montseny is a short drive away and has two mountains above 1,700 metres and one that is just a little smaller. Meanwhile, via ferratas (protected climbing routes) are popular throughout Catalonia. If climbing mountains sounds too much like hard work, gourmets can have fun exploring areas like Priorat and Montsant near Barcelona, which are both producing some excellent red wines these days, as well as visiting the many wineries that produce cava (Catalan sparkling wine) and exploring some of the region’s cutting-edge restaurants.
If you decide to come and join us in this exciting, diverse and multilingual city, the decision on which language to learn first can be surprisingly difficult. The rest of this week’s essay will look at the pros and cons of the different options, whether for digital nomads, expats (people sent overseas by a company) or people who want to work for a startup. Of course, some percentage of the newcomers should be counted as immigrants if and when we decide to put down roots here.
Just English
There are people who don’t bother enrolling in language classes at all. It is certainly possible to live in the centre of Barcelona without speaking a word of Spanish or Catalan. However, I must say this isn’t something that I would recommend, unless you just come for a few weeks.
First of all, you need to realise that the residents who have spent some time struggling with multiple languages will sneer at you. This is a multilingual city and happily going round just speaking one language looks weak to many. Secondly, you will severely limit your potential group of friends (and lovers if you are single). Thirdly, you will only get superficial insights into what is going on around you; and you might not notice just how irritating many of the natives and newcomers find you.
On a slightly related note, some digital nomads choose to sidestep Spain’s rather clunky self-employed system by registering as freelancers elsewhere. While this can make sense for short stays, freelancers who want to stay for any serious length of time here should register as autónomos, in my opinion. Yes, it is annoying and expensive; and, yes, you will need a local accountant. But if you live in a city for any length of time,you should of course contribute to local services, rather than isolating yourself from society in a self-imposed bubble.
Taking this point further, citizens of other EU member states who live here should register to vote in the local and European elections. This can help build a bulwark against the city’s many nativist and populist politicians, who hate Barcelona’s status as a major European city and want to make it more provincial and boring, not to mention striving to make it monolingual by marginalising the Spanish language.
Just Spanish
I already spoke rather good Spanish when I first moved here, having lived in Madrid in the 1990s and being married to a woman from Cantabria. I must confess I neglected my Catalan skills at first as I was always very busy with a difficult job, raising a multilingual family and taking my various hobbies a little too seriously.
Learning Spanish first is probably the most mainstream choice for many newcomers to BCN. The big advantage of choosing Spanish over Catalan is that it is more widely spoken. A survey in 2023 showed that 55% of the population of Barcelona mainly speak Spanish nowadays, compared to 38% for Catalan. The city’s best artists, including the late novelist Carlos Ruiz Zafón and the singer Rosalía (who has explored unexpected links between flamenco and Latin trap), tend to work in Spanish.
On the other hand, one disadvantage of choosing Spanish is that 78% of native Catalan speakers feel that their language is under threat, according to a 2022 survey. Some percentage of the people you meet will feel seething resentment if you automatically say “buenos días” instead of “bon dia.”
If you decide to put down roots here, many of the official communications are in Catalan. Your kids’ teachers will want to speak to you in Catalan and their homework will be in the language (assuming you avoid the extremely over-priced international schools). You also need a basic understanding of Catalan to cope with the many niggly extra taxes that you have to pay here. There is also a glass ceiling in Barcelona, which you will find out about if you intend to stay for any serious length of time without developing your Catalan-language skills.
I’ve always wondered if any Spaniards move to Cardiff or Swansea and firmly learn Welsh instead of English. I guess some people must have done this! It would be considered very eccentric, though. You do sometimes come across foreigners in BCN, who learn Catalan but not Spanish. To be fair, this is actually more common in smaller towns and villages in the rural parts of Barcelona province than it is in the city, with the possible exception of some of the posher neighbourhoods.
One potential advantage of this choice is that the people who feel that Catalan is under threat will love your decision to learn their language. It should prove easy to make friends in this community, particularly if you live in a well-off neighbourhood where Catalan is more common than Spanish or in one of the rural areas of Barcelona province outside the city itself.
This pro also leads directly to a con: you might have to hang around with Catalan nationalists, who are (how can I say this politely?) not always going to be the best choice of company in this diverse city. Resentment at the modern world is at the core of this backwards-looking ideology, which is often held much too dogmatically by true believers, as discussed at length in previous essays.
If your new friends start muttering darkly about how they are different in some essential way from their neighbours elsewhere on the Iberian peninsula, a weekend trip to Madrid is the perfect antidote. Barcelona’s eternal rival is also a great city, with its own thriving startup ecosystem. It is easily reached by high-speed train.
In fact, talking loudly about how much you enjoy both Barcelona and Madrid is a great way of flushing out people who have bought into toxic identity politics in both cities. Some people in Madrid will tell you that they refuse to go to Barcelona in protest at the Catalan independence movement; and anyway they went once and someone insisted on speaking Catalan instead of Spanish. The horror! Meanwhile, some people in Barcelona will tell you that they are scared of going to Madrid in case they get beaten up for having a Catalan accent and name; and anyway have you heard the conspiracy theory about Spain’s democratic constitution being fascistic?
Both sets of people often have much more in common than they might realise. They both like to define people as if we were insects, in the words of George Orwell. They also tend to uncritically accept the claims of populist politicians to represent something essential about millions of people. They also find the complexity of Barcelona annoying and would prefer it be a more monolingual place; although they disagree about which language should be dominant.
Returning to the subject at hand, another disadvantage of deciding to learn Catalan instead of Spanish is that it tends to be a very middle-class language in the city, if not the rural areas of the province. A high percentage of the waiters, taxi drivers and shop assistants you will meet in BCN will frown and concentrate if you speak to them in Catalan. Many are from Latin America and would much prefer to stick to Spanish if at all possible. This makes it surprisingly hard to practice your Catalan. You will also find that it hard to make friends with the majority of the residents of Barcelona, as Spanish is more widely spoken.
Mainly Spanish with some Catalan
As a Spanish speaker, adding Catalan into the mix is the option I have been pursuing for the last few years. The two languages are close enough that Spanish speakers can understand Catalan easily enough once they train their ears (passive bilingualism). However, the languages are far enough away that it is surprising difficult to spit out grammatically correct sentences in your third language unless you work at this skill.
One big advantage of this option is that the Catalan speakers who feel that their language is under threat will often welcome attempts to speak the language by foreigners who also speak fluent Spanish. Welcoming “la voluntat” (roughly, the effort or the good intentions) is a common response to fumbling Catalan. Some people will switch to Spanish for an easier life, but not everyone will. Others will speak to you in Catalan for a few minutes before switching to English, so they also get a chance to practice their own fumbling language skills in return.
Mainly Catalan with some Spanish
If you picked Catalan instead of Spanish as your major language, why not choose the more international language as your minor, as the Americans say? The many Latin American waiters will welcome your attempts to practice their mother tongue in bars and restaurants; and you will widen your potential friendship group, not to mention your options if you decide to leave Catalonia one day.
Trilingual
I always joke that I speak two and a half languages. This is true of many people in Barcelona, as many of the people who speak Spanish and Catalan perfectly also want to practice their English. Not many people here become truly trilingual, but a few do get to this level. It is a worthy goal! If you stay here for the long term, it is certainly an option worth exploring, although of course reaching this objective will be a question of years and decades, rather than weeks and months.
To sum up, if you want to join us in BCN, you would be most welcome! Just make sure you sign up for language classes and spend some time on Duolingo. Daily practice of your new language skills is important. And don’t forget to engage your critical faculties if any locals tell you that Catalan nationalism is progressive!
The comments are closed, as always when I discuss populists who mistakenly think that a self-coup is real democracy; that a democratic constitution is fascistic; or that one language is pure and authentic, while its cousin that evolved a few hundred miles down the road from the same source is dirty and corruptive. If you subscribe to the newsletter, though, you can hit reply to the email. I might not get to it immediately, but I will reply when I get a chance. See you next week!
Further Reading (Non-Fiction Books)
Barcelona by Robert Hughes
Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
Notes on Nationalism by George Orwell
The Tribalization of Europe: A Defence of Our Liberal Values by Marlene Wind
Further Reading (Fiction Book)
Barcelona Dreaming by Rupert Thompson
Further Reading (Articles)
My article on vote transfers
Barcelona Metropolitan is an online resource for the city’s English speakers
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