First 48 hours in Barcelona

For Barcelona

How long you are staying

Must do

Get a Spanish SIMDay 1Movistar, Vodafone and Orange, and budget brands such as Digi and Lowi, sell prepaid SIMs in shops and some airports. By law a prepaid line is registered to your ID, so bring your passport. A Spanish number unlocks Bizum and most sign-ups.
Get a T-mobilitat cardDay 1Buy a T-casual (ten journeys, €13.00) at a metro machine for the first days. For the T-usual (€22.80 a month in zone 1) or T-jove you need a personalised T-mobilitat card, requested online or at a customer office.
Check where your NIE standsDay 1–2If you do not yet have a NIE or a registration certificate, book the cita previa on the national appointments portal now. Slots are released irregularly; check several times a day rather than once a week.
Book a bank appointmentDay 2A resident account wants the NIE and an address; a non-resident account can open on a passport with a certificado de no residente. A Spanish IBAN is what landlords and utilities expect, and Bizum follows from it.
Book the padrón appointmentThe day you signEmpadronamiento at the ayuntamiento is free and needs the signed lease. Book it as soon as you sign: the padrón certificate is what the health card, school applications and residence files ask for.
Book the empadronamentThe day you signBook an appointment at an Oficina d'Atenció Ciutadana through the Ajuntament's website or 010 as soon as you have a lease. The certificate unlocks the health card, school places and Bicing.
Check the contract type and the indexBefore you signBefore signing, confirm the contract is an arrendamiento de vivienda habitual and check the rent against the state reference index for the address.

Should do

Save 112 and 091Day 1112 reaches ambulance, police and fire, with operators who speak English. 091 is the Policía Nacional, the number for reporting a theft.
Set up the apps you'll use dailyDay 1Cabify or FREENOW for rides, Renfe for trains, Glovo for delivery, and Bizum inside your banking app as soon as the account is open.
Diary the TIE fingerprintingDay 2On a non-EU visa or authorisation, the TIE card needs a separate appointment at a Policía Nacional station within a month of arrival. EU citizens: put the EX-18 registration in the calendar before the three-month mark.
Find your CAPDay 2Look up the centre d'atenció primària for your address, so registering for the health card is one trip once you have the padrón.
Ask for the INCASÒL deposit referenceWithin a month of signingThe landlord must lodge your one-month fianza with INCASÒL. Ask for the reference: it is what gets the money back at the end.

Nice to do

Reset your clock to Spanish hoursDay 1Lunch runs from about 14:00 to 16:00 and dinner rarely starts before 21:00. The menú del día, a set lunch with a drink, is the best value meal in the country on weekdays.
Register with your embassyDay 2Many embassies run a registration or alert service for nationals living abroad. Two minutes now saves a scramble in an emergency.
Learn a few words of CatalanDay 2Bon dia, gràcies, si us plau. Spanish works everywhere, but schools, the Ajuntament and many neighbours work in Catalan, and the effort is noticed.

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Emergency112 · Police 091

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