Details

• Spain
• BaWiSo-23
• Undergraduate
• WS 2025
• Time spent at the partner university: 4 months

1. Preparation

I bought a plane ticket to Barcelona, pretty cheap and you don't have to book it that early in advance, fortunately.

2. Accommodation

Accomondation is pretty expensive and at times difficult + stressful to find. In retrospect I would've joined some Facebook housing groups as a lot of my friends found their accommodation through that. Be careful with the deposit (sometimes you don't get it back - so don't transfer last month's rent before making that sure!). I booked my accommodation through Spotahome. They have an insurance for deposit etc. and make sure your accommodation is in the promised state - pretty expensive though! Definitely get an apartment in Barcelona, not in San Cougat! The longer commute is 100% worth the experience of living in the city and not on campus!

3. Academic life at host university

I've experienced a more personal lecture style than at WU. As exchange students are only able to take electives, the work load is pretty low (ofc. still differing depending on what you choose). My favorite course by far was "Negotiation". You gotta make sure in the beginning that you distribute enough "points" to your favorite course though as it is a bidding system by which electives get distributed which can get pretty competitive. I really enjoyed how passionate many professors seemed about their subjects. The academic culture is very supportive and Esade's campus facilities are great. Nonetheless, you gotta know that the campus is pretty far out in San Cougat, not Barcelona downtown. From districts such as Gracia it is about 1h of commute per day so choose your courses wisely (regarding your timetable) you don't wanna spend 5 days a week on campus.

5. Every day life in the host country

I absolutely loved living in Barcelona. Especially the area I lived in, Gracia, has lots of nice tapas bars, clubs and an incredibly lively city life. I did class pass (which includes a 1 month free trial) and tried lots of different pirates classes etc. The Erasmus Community also organizes a ton of events which I never really joined but lots of others do - so in case you don't make friends immediately that's a great place to meet new people. Public transport is pretty good, definitely get the T-Joven card once you arrive (just walk to the counter at one of the bigger train stations). I also used Lime bikes pretty frequently as the city is great for biking. Especially if you live a bit further from the S1/S2 train to San Cougat it's a great way to shorten your commute by simply biking to the station.

6. Testimonial

Looking back at my exchange it feels as if I was living in a movie for four months. I am so grateful for all the incredible international friends I made over such a short period of time and all the memories we made. Exchange is bittersweet - everybody knows you only have such a limited time together but at the same time exactly that's what sometimes seems to make it even more special. Esade is a really great academic faculty with an incredibly smart and international student hood and Barcelona is such a vibrant, sunny and fun city whose Spanish lifestyle you simply gotta love. I had the absolute best time - and I'm sure you'll too!