Semester in Barcelona
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona

Why Life in Barcelona

It’s no wonder that Barcelona is one of the top tourist and study abroad destinations in the world. This incredible location on the shores of the Mediterranean has a delightfully mild climate year round. Plus, Barcelona is one of the most exciting and vibrant cities to live in! The second-largest city in Spain has two official languages, Castilian Spanish and Catalan. It’s the perfect place to challenge yourself and practice your own Spanish skills, while also learning more about the unique Catalan history and culture.

The city is bustling, and you’ll be in awe of the architecture, including Gaudi’s towering Sagrada Familia basilica. When you’re ready to immerse yourself in nature, you can easily reach beaches and hiking sites just outside of Barcelona. The efficient public transportation system allows you to quickly travel to the many beaches to both the north and south of Barcelona. It also means you can easily navigate campus and the many amazing sites located throughout the city.

The city’s diverse international population, colorful flair, exciting nightlife, and vast array of cultural, historical, and modern attractions makes Barcelona an unparalleled place to study abroad!

Live La Vida Local

• Soccer match

  Barça, Barça, Baaarça! Experience one of the best football clubs in the world and cheer like “culés,” fans from Football Club Barcelona.

• Barrio tours

  Staff will take you on a tour of a neighborhood in Barcelona, showing you the history but also where locals hang out. Each tour includes a chance to try some local treats.

• Human Towers

  Go to the practice space of the local Castells, a sport where teams compete to make the tallest tower possible.

• Cooking classes

  Cooking classes with a professional chef.

• Intercambio night

  A language exchange with local students.

Location

The apartments are, on average, about a 30-45 minute commute to your classes or internship and house 4-6 students. The convenient location means you’ll have easy access to everything Barcelona has to offer, like shops, cafés, bars, museums, restaurants, and more!

Watch Bridget’s video tour of her apartment to get an idea of what your housing could be like.

See the COVID-19 Plan tab for changes to housing for the Spring 2021 semester.

Meals

You’ll get to put your CIS Abroad Barcelona cooking class skills to the test and cook your own delicious meals in the apartments’ well-equipped kitchens.

Inclusions and Amenities

• BathroomShared
• CommutePublic Transportation
• Double Room
• Kitchen Equipment
• LaundryOn-site

Location

Homestays are with families located about a 45-minute commute from your school or internship. A homestay is the perfect way to fully immerse yourself in Spanish culture. Living with a host family is great way to try home-cooked Spanish cuisine, improve your language skills, and experience life like a local. Plus, they’ll do your laundry!

See the COVID-19 Plan tab for changes to housing for the Spring 2021 semester.

Meals

If you opt for a homestay, you’ll get to try tasty home-cooked Spanish cuisine at the included daily breakfasts and dinners, and provide your own lunches.

Inclusions and Amenities

• CommutePublic Transportation
• Laundry
• MealsHomestay

Inclusions

Program fees are in U.S. dollars and include the following:

• Cultural and recreational excursions and activities in Barcelona
• One guided weekend excursion outside of Barcelona
• Full-time tuition and fees
• Housing (apartment, local home, or residence hall)
• Meal plan available with a homestay
• Medical and accident insurance
• CIS Abroad support services before, during, and after the program
• On-site support
• Academic advising
• Financial aid counseling
• Assistance with travel arrangements
• Pre-departure orientation
• Airport pickup
• Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona orientation
• Official Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona transcript
• La Vida Local cultural program

Welcome & Orientation

Once you arrive in the capital of Catalonia, you’ll get picked up at the airport – nice to see a friendly face after a long flight! After you get settled in your apartment or homestay, you’ll take part in the on-site orientation with other students and interns on the program. On-site staff will introduce you to this dynamic and cosmopolitan Barcelona, giving you tips on to how to be safe and healthy as well as how to make the most of your time here. Enjoy a welcome lunch in a traditional restaurant, a first culinary experience in the new city of the staple pan con tomate, along with other delicious Mediterranean food!

Farewell & Re-Entry Program

As the program draws to a close, you’ll go home with the tools you need to make the most of your experience. In our re-entry workshop, learn how to cope with cultural differences you’ll experience as you go home, how to put your abroad experience on your resume (and talk about it in job interviews), as well as how to keep traveling in the future. End the trip with a farewell meal with all your new CIS Abroad “amigos” and the staff, for a chance to say “hasta luego” to your new city!

Our Financial Commitment

CIS Abroad is working with international partners to create refund and withdrawal policies that limit the financial impact on students and families should COVID-19 change a student’s plan to travel. See the refund policy page for more information.

To insure yourself from additional loss, such as the loss of airfare, or any other non-recoverable loss after your program begins, we recommend purchasing trip protection insurance, aka CFAR/IFAR insurance.

Our Academic Commitment

CIS Abroad has carefully selected programs where there is minimal to no academic risk*.

• If a student must quarantine or miss classes due to sickness, remote academics are guaranteed. These may be synchronous or asynchronous, i.e, live or recorded.
• If a city or country goes on lockdown due to sickness, remote academics are guaranteed. These may be synchronous or asynchronous, i.e. live or recorded.

*If a student cannot travel to their destination due to COVID-19 restrictions, remote academics are guaranteed on select programs and in certain courses. If accessing remote academics from the US is important to you, please contact our advising team to learn more about which program locations or courses are right for you.  

Our Health & Safety Commitment

CIS Abroad has developed a site-specific risk management plan for every location so that health and safety protocols are monitored, managed and communicated throughout the semester. We have developed a COVID Care Package included in our program fee for all Summer and Fall 2021 programming to make traveling and living in a host country easier on students, especially those first few weeks on-site:

• COVID compliant airport pick-up and transfer to housing. 
• Access to quarantine housing upon entry, if quarantine is required when entering the country; this housing may incur additional charges*
• Information and assistance on meal delivery, if quarantine is required when entering the country
• COVID-safe classrooms, campus facilities, and housing as well as access to masks, hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies according to country and location specific standards 
• Access to accommodation if isolation is necessary due to positive COVID test or exposure; this housing may incur additional charges.
• Access to COVID testing; this testing may be an additional charge.
• Medical and accident insurance that covers COVID-related illness (except for on programs operating in the USA).
• La Vida Local cultural activities and reflection that emphasize safe, local exploration geared to the specific context of being abroad at this special time.

*if quarantine is required upon entry, we will let you know 60 days before a program starts, or as soon as the information is known to CIS Abroad. Your program coordinator will keep you updated as to any changes in dates, arrival, local restrictions and costs.  If it is required, this may entail an earlier departure date and an additional housing and meal cost. 

We recognize not every student, family, or university will allow travel this year, despite the risk mitigation outlined above.  Should students apply for 2021 programs, and then choose to defer to a future program, we would be happy to move that student’s application to a program with a later start date.  We are committed to providing our innovative virtual programs to meet your internationalization goals.

Quarantine

CIS Abroad is closely monitoring changing international regulations and will help you plan accordingly. We anticipate that as we get further in 2021 quarantine may not be required due to the use of vaccinations. If quarantine upon arrival is required when entering the country, it may incur an additional charge for housing and meals. 

Housing

All 2021 students will have COVID-19 compliant housing.

Excursions

We plan to show you the best of what your location has to offer this term; great culture, great food, and interesting people. On the Excursions tab, you can see the day or overnight trips we usually offer. It is too soon to know if we can offer those same experiences or if we’ll stay a little closer to our program base. Just know that great experiences await you. 

Visa

A visa is required for this program. We got you covered; your Program Coordinator has the details!