Tips for Students Searching For Accommodation in Barcelona

This page has has some tips of how to find accommodation in Barcelona for students. I've been there myself and learnt all the tips to ensure you can find somewhere fast, cheaply and that meets your needs.

Top Tip 1

The first thing you should do is get yourself booked into a youth hostel. This offers a cheap form of accommodation, usually shared with other students, who are in the same boat as you and it's a great place for you to make initial contacts with people.

Click here to start your search for youth hostels in Barcelona

If you fancy having your own room and you don't mind paying a little bit more then you could probably try renting a room in a hostal. During off-peak season you could probably find a room for around 15 to 25 Euros. One place to try would be Europa Hostal.

Europa Hostal
Calle Boqueria, 18
Barcelona, 08002

Tel: (0034) 93 318 7620

Metro Liceu (Green Line, L3)

You could probably find a single room in off-peak time for roundabout 18 Euros per night.

Top Tip 2

The next stage would be to make your way to the students advisory office CIAJ which has a new office (their old office used to be on Calle Ferran)

CIAJ
Sant Oleguer 6-8
Barcelona

Tel: (0034) 93 442 2939

This office is a government run organization to help students and young people find accommodation in Barcelona.

Click here for the CIAJ web site and accommodation Barcelona Student notice board for flat shares (Spanish)

There are announcements on their web site for rooms shares however all the advertisements are in Spanish. Also it's much better to go into their office because they have new announcements which are posted up each day on their notice board. These do not appear on their website.

Top Tip 3

The accommodation notice board at CIAJ is very popular and the flat shares advertised go very quickly. When I was using this notice board I found the best way was to be there as soon as the doors open scribble down the new announcements and then call the flats straightaway.

The office has two opening hours in the morning 10:00 and in the afternoon 16:00. To find a place quickly I recommend that you go at both times. After a few days you'll get the hang of the system.

Another advantage of the flat share is that you could end up sharing a flat with Spanish people which will give you the added advantage of enabling you to practice your Spanish.

Top Tip 4

I strongly advise that you do not go to any agencies that claim that they can find you a flat or a shared room in a flat for a fee. There are dozens of agencies like this around Barcelona and I have known many, many, people who have paid good money and never received anything of any value. Usually all you will get is an outdated list of flats that have already been rented.

My advice is do not go to these agencies. The only time it might be worth considering an agency is if they do not charge you until you have found a place. There are government officially registered agencies that can do this but normally they only deal with long term rentals and not flat shares.

Tip 5 - Don't get ripped off!!

Be wary and use your common sense when looking for a place. There have been a lot of cons going on where students have paid a deposit for a place, turned up on the appointed day only to find a whole bunch of other students have also paid a deposit for the same room. The "owner" had not been the real owner and had played off several unsuspecting students to get their deposit money. If you feel that something is not right, it might be better to walk away.

Related Pages

Learn Spanish in Barcelona - top recommendations
Barcelona Youth Hostels

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