This time we are going to Spain’s most popular city, Barcelona, ​​in our series of interviews about life abroad.. I have been following Mimoza on Instagram fondly for a long time.. It is a great pleasure for me to watch his energetic and positive content as well as his colorful life in Barcelona.. I get a lot of inspiration and learn great information from the Youtube and Instagram accounts of dear Mimoza, whom I know as a versatile and productive person.. This time our topic is life and business life in Barcelona.. We have prepared an interview that I think will be very useful for those who say What should I do to live in Spain. Without further ado, I leave the floor to Mimosa now.. Set up your seats to learn about his life in Barcelona and more, if you’re ready, we’ll start.

Can you briefly tell us about yourself?

I Mimosa, my name was put after watching the series Past Spring Mimosas, which was broadcast in 92! I studied at Enka Schools from kindergarten to the end of high school, then I went to England for my university education and finished the Event Management department.. After graduation, I returned to Turkey, stayed in Istanbul for a year.. I moved to Barcelona for Master in 2015. I have been living here for 6 years in Barcelona, ​​where I came to stay for a year, learn a language and do my master’s.

Why did you decide to live in Barcelona? What was the main reason that pushed you to this decision?

I came to Spain for the first time in 2012 on an interrail trip with my friend.. You know that program where you travel from city to city for 3 weeks with 1 train ticket, that summer I had the chance to see Barcelona, ​​Madrid and Valencia, and fell in love with the Spaniards and Spain.. When I graduated from university and returned to Turkey, I was a little unsure of what to do.. Bookworms will recognize the name Eren Cendey. For my mother, who is a translator from Italian, one of the most important things in the world is to speak a foreign language, and that’s why my mother gave the idea that year, “You loved Barcelona very much, you can both study and learn Spanish”. I came to. I am still very grateful today that I was given such a chance.

Let’s talk a little bit about job opportunities in Barcelona. How did you find your job, how did the process progress? What is the difference between job interviews and business life for us?

This was the hardest part for me, really.. I tell this in every video and every opportunity. It is very difficult to find a job in Spain if you do not have a work permit.. No company wants to dedicate and sponsor you. It used to be easy to find a job as a person who speaks Turkish, but even that doesn’t make you special anymore, unfortunately.. If you spend 3 years as a student in Spain, you don’t need sponsorship when you get a job after three years. This is how my story happened. After completing three years at the end of two masters and an internship, I got a job, first temporarily and then permanently, instead of a Turkish person who was going to quit because she was pregnant at that time.. It was a tourism agency and they were working with Turks. My education and experience has always been on tourism, so it was a good fit.

To be honest, I don’t have the experience to compare interviews and business life with Turkey because I have never had any internships in Turkey other than my summer internships. I didn’t work. Here, too, the types of interviews vary from sector to sector.. Interviews in the field of tourism always consist of a short interview, followed by a long interview where I talk about the company and myself.. It is very important to speak Spanish in Spain, especially in this sector.. Working life in Spain has now become much more hybrid, especially after the pandemic, working from both home and office. I can say the only thing that is different with us, Spaniards usually start a day with a long coffee break in the morning ☺ Then lunch is eaten around 14:00, then coffee is drunk again.. I think they are both much more comfortable and much more social.. The culture of drinking beer after work is common, but I think it is much more in Madrid.

Let’s talk a little bit about the Spanish visa processes. Which visa type did you apply for? How to get a residence permit in Spain?

I came with a student visa and stayed that way for 3 years.. As I said, I converted it to a work visa afterward.. By the way, this was not my first plan, even though I started looking for a job and interviews towards completing my master’s in the first year, I chose to do an internship because no one was sponsoring me.. Internship can only be done if you are enrolled in a school (you can do it in the middle or at the end of your education, the internship contract is signed between the school, you and the job). After I worked at the hotel for about 7 months, although my manager wanted to hire me, the hotel’s human resources did not want to be a sponsor again, so I did a second master’s degree, this time in Spanish, on digital marketing and e-tourism, in order to fill three years.. However, I both made contact and started the job search process again.

I have friends who come here directly with a work visa, but these people either come to Barcelona by getting promoted in their own company or are sent here for very high positions such as manager.. Those who look for a job in Turkey and find a job here either generally find jobs in high positions, or those who do very specific jobs, for example in the field of technology. For Spain work permit and visa sponsorship, there is a certain salary cap you need to earn annually, about 50,000€ as far as I know.

What would be your advice to people who want to move abroad and migrate to Barcelona for work or education? What process would you suggest they go through and prepare for this path?

My suggestion would be to come with a short language program, etc., if possible, and experience this place and life here, because there are some people who can’t get used to it, miss their family and want to go back.. I think they should try to look for a job from pages like LinkedIn, to send e-mails to certain companies if they have in mind, to communicate with those who work in those companies through LinkedIn, so frankly, they should try to chase them like crazy.. It is a country where unemployment is already high, so people who want to find a job should try to show themselves as much as possible.. Another suggestion is to be patient.. Visa/police business in Spain is moving very slowly, unbelievably slow. Sometimes I feel like there isn’t even a certain standard. For example, they don’t want a document requested from me from someone else… Mediterranean culture mind ☺ It is always helpful to get as many acquaintances as possible and ask them for help.

Is it possible to live in Barcelona without knowing Spanish, or to what language level can a life be built?

How big and touristic cities are Barcelona and Madrid? Even in restaurants, it is still possible to come across waiters who do not speak English.. Even teenagers are not comfortable speaking English, they get very nervous. It is possible to live, of course, I have friends who have learned and lived for many years just enough to order, but I think this is an unacceptable thing frankly ☺ You can’t learn a culture just by living in that city, you can get to know it when you start speaking their original language.. Likewise, learning Spanish is a must in order to find a job, have a local life here, and get in between.. Otherwise, you are a bit of a tourist after everything.

Let’s get to general information about the conditions and process of becoming a Spanish citizen.. How many years do you have to live in Spain to become a citizen, is the process difficult?

Citizenship is here for Turks in 10 years. 3 for Latin Americans, this is a great injustice! Hahaha ☺ And only half of the student years are counted.. I think this period gets shorter when you get married, but unfortunately it is 10 years for those who are here with a normal work visa.

If you were to evaluate the cost of living in Spain and Barcelona, ​​would life be different in other cities? How is the cost and conditions?

Big cities such as Barcelona and Madrid are of course much more expensive than other cities. Other cities such as Valencia, Seville, Zaragoza are of course much more suitable, especially for students. Rents are also very high in big cities.. For this reason, most people prefer to share a house.

Let’s talk about the advantages and disadvantages of living in Barcelona. If you were to compare your life here and your life experiences in other countries in Europe, what are the differences?

I always say this: I love London, it is very different for me, but I think London is beautiful if you are rich.. If you have a certain budget, there are very nice restaurants, places, parties to go to.. It makes you happy even if you don’t have a lot of money, as the city of Barcelona itself gives you a lot of possibilities.. From hiking on the mountain to sunbathing on the beach, most great activities are free.. The weather is nice, there are lots of sunny days. Social life is mostly outside, you can sit on the terraces even in winter. That’s why it has an air of uplifting. After living here for 6 years and visiting many different Spanish and European cities, there are many disadvantages that I can really count; The city is much dirtier and darker than other European countries, even the toilets in restaurants in general are always very dirty.. Locals ie Catalans are very closed, ask foreigners living here, they either have no or few Catalan friends. Hang out in their own group, not very open to taking in outsiders. Madrid, for example, is very different in this regard, the people there are much more social and friendly.

Coming to the issue of the biggest challenge of living abroad, how is this process according to you?

When you see it on Instagram and so on, oh what it may seem so wonderful, oh how easy it may seem, but we really do not see the hard part of this work from social media. Every year or every two years, did you extend your visa or how long did it take, everyone has the stress of it once and this is until you get permanent residence.. If you live alone, you don’t usually get a soup when you are sick, you have to make it yourself or starve ☺ When there is a problem, you really need to take care of yourself. Of course it is difficult to be away from your family and friends, especially it is not easy to miss births, funerals, special moments.. There are a lot of things that are not said to be “how far away, don’t get upset” and turn your back ☺

Place suggestions from Mimoza for those who are on their way to Barcelona:

• For coffee, Molika Cafe is my favorite, a sweet little cafe.
• For dinner, of course, La Pepita!
• For breakfast, my favorite Can Dende.

Make sure to recommend locals in Barcelona do

• Go to the parks in Montjuic, take a walk.
• Cycle on the beach.
• Go to hipster coffee shops in Poble Nou.
• Wander through Barcelona’s beautiful bookstores and designer shops.
• If you haven’t been inside the Sagrada Familia, make sure you do.
• Visit my favorite work of Gaudi, Casa Vicens.
• If you have one day, take the train to Girona and visit Dali’s museum in Figueres.

Dear Mimoza’ for sharing with us all the details about her life in Barcelona’ Thank you very much, I leave the links below for you to follow their social media accounts.. See you in future life abroad interviews!

Instagram: Mimozaeverywhere

Youtube: Mimoza Cendey