Child Attending Summer School in Barcelona - Any recommendations

Depending on what your budget looks like, he/you might consider looking at some of the weekend trips Andy Steves puts together.

www.wsaeurope.com

My nephew did a 6 week study abroad in Barcelona and had a wonderful time. He did crack us up because he frantically messaged us about 2 weeks in to the program that he needed a pen and notebook paper because he just found out he HAD TO TAKE NOTES!! His parents just told him to go to a local store and find a notebook and a pen. good grief. SO, I would probably have your student pack a notebook and a pen, hahaha.

Does he have a small phrase book or translation app on his phone? Not sure how the phone ones work as I am an old person, haha.

He probably needs a bathing suit as I believe there was a significant amount of beach time involved. Make sure he has enough budget to buy some local shirts/clothes.

1. He has an American Express and a Visa card.
2. He also has a no foreign transaction ATM card and is planning to carry some euros.

Are the American Express and Visa cards credit cards? You should not be using credit cards to get money out of an ATM. That is a cash advance, and you are charged interest from day 1, not when the bill comes in.
He needs a credit card AND an ATM card in order to get cash, preferably ones with minimum foreign transaction fees.

American Express cards have limited acceptance. Leave that one in his room to use as emergency if he loses his Visa card.
The most useful card will be the ATM card, that gets him cash for smaller purchases (pen, notebook, lunch, transport)

DCC - look this up. If when getting money out of an ATM, or paying by credit card, he is offered to pay in "his currency", the correct answer is NO. Always put card transactions through in Euros, it is cheaper.

Which bank in Spain is preferred to withdraw money from ATMs? In Germany we could withdraw money from one bank's ATMs.

It shouldn't matter which bank, unless your bank has a deal with a specific bank to give you less or no fees.

Language: in Barcelona Spanish (Castilian) is not the local language. It is Catalan, though most people also speak Spanish. Many signs etc. will be in Catalan followed by Spanish.

Thanks

Am Exp and Visa are credit cards. He does not have a mastercard credit card.

But his ATM card is also a debit Mastercard. Would mastercard debit card be of use to him?

Is there a minimum charge limit for credit card or mastercard debit card?

How much cash expenses he should budget for a school day? Basically for using local transportation and lunch/food etc? I am planning to get him couple of hundred euros to take along.

Is Uber recommended in Barcelona?

On a second thought kids in the US use smart apps to make small purchases. Is there such an option available in Spain?

But his ATM card is also a debit Mastercard. Would mastercard debit card be of use to him?

Yes, that should work to get him cash from an ATM.
MasterCard and Visa are accepted anywhere that accepts cards; American Express, Dimers card and others are only accepted in more expensive places.

Is there a minimum charge limit for credit card or mastercard debit card?

It depends on the business. You sometimes see signs that say "minimum amount for cards €10/€20".

I forgot to say earlier, make sure you tell the banks he will be using his cards in Spain, so they don't get blocked as "suspicious transaction".

@Bill, allow me to get you out of your misery, LOL!.... https://www.vpiera.com/ca/producte:Cos/1/papereria/blocs-i-quaderns/llibretes-grapades/llibreta-escolar-oxford-4/53392 Also know that the Miquel Rius and Ingraf local brands have plenty of lined notepads.

@FamilyTraveller, Bill has produced a great response above but for more precise suggestions it'd be key to know where exactly do you live and whether your son has been exposed to much international travel. Risking to sounding too paternalistic, these pieces of information are important for our suggestions to be useful. Everybody has different backgrounds and experiences and it's pointless to try to give you one's own view when you might be living a completely different lifestyle back home (or not!).

@Enric

We live in Texas. My son is attending Univ. of Texas at Austin, Texas (pretty hip youngster crowd at 6th street in Austin, close to their campus). He is exposed to little international travel. We spent 3 weeks traveling many cities in Germany last year. That was our first vacation in EU.

He is actually not spending whole summer there (change in plans). He arrives May 25 and will attend classes from May 28 until July 6. He will be flying back on July 9. We have to figure out what he can do around Barcelona from July 6 until July 8, including a hotel close to airport for early morning flight on July 9.

He asked about renting a car for weekends. But that is NO from us (he is 20 years old). We all traveled via trains in Germany and were very happy with trains.

He does want to see other places on the weekends (either trains or planes), which is not an issue for us.

Any recommendations for nearby reachable destinations will be much appreciated. I know he loves to explore new foods.

If your son has a no-fee ATM card, his only concern will be avoiding ATMs that charge their own fees. There were a lot of those in Barcelona in 2016. Such fees (which can be 5 euros per withdrawal or more) will be revealed during the transaction, so he just needs to read the screen and cancel the withdrawal if there's going to be a fee. I no longer remember which bank's ATM were or were not charging fees, but the situation may have changed in any case. Your son will need to use the trial-and-error approach, making a mental note of the no-fee ATMs he discovers so he can use them again.

Unlike with credit cards, there are few consumer protections when one uses a debit card for purchases, so I would not do that unless I had to.

Interesting day-trips easily made from Barcelona by public transportation:

Montserrat (should be cooler than the city, and there are walking opportunities)
Girona (could use more than one day)
Figueres (Dali Theatre and Museum; pre-purchase ticket)
Cadaques (picturesque beach town; bus from Figueres)
Sitges (artsy beach town)
Besalu (small interior town with fortified bridge; bus)
Tarragona (some Roman sights, but doesn't get great reviews here)
Zaragoza (Moorish palace; can be brutally hot in summer)

There are many, many other possibilities in Catalunya alone, including a lot of beach towns that I'm sure are popular with the young crowd). Your son needs to take a good guidebook with him--one with comprehensive coverage. Perhaps Lonely Planet would be suitable.

A weekend over the border in France would also be possible. The train ticket might need to be purchased early to be affordable. Last year there were some good deals on 1-euro bus fares in the area around Perpignan, but he'd ned to take a train up to that area first. Again, it would be smart to have a guidebook with detailed coverage. An old edition of Lonely Planet can probably be found on Amazon for under $10, or I think LP sells electronic versions of individual guidebook chapters. Come to think of it, that would be good for Spain as well.

Two things to be aware of concerning rail transportation:

• Ticket prices for the fast trains are variable. They can be much cheaper if bought far in advance. Doing this might make a weekend trip to Madrid affordable. The trip can be as short as 2-1/2 hours. Hotels are rather pricey in Madrid, but I assume there are hostel options if one doesn't wait too late to book.

• Round-trip train tickets in Spain are often about the same price as one-way tickets, so trips should be priced both ways.

if I use BBVA for withdrawals over 200€ I pay nothing. For smaller amounts there's charge between 2€ and 4€ each and every time

Who is charging the fee? Is it BBVA at the ATM, or is it the card issuing bank?

Are there other banks around that don't charge a fee for any transactions at the ATM?

Asking because until recently having to pay the ATM operator a fee in Europe seemed to be a non existent issue.

Bill,

Thanks for the details. And I thought US banking was complicated! We just pay fees for everything. :-)

Hi FamilyTraveler

Without knowing his interests it's a bit of a shot in the dark, however, for day escapade to nearby destinations, at the very least I would suggest the following:

SOME IDEAS FOR AN EXCURSION OUT OF THE CITY (by train and/or bus): BESALÚ | GIRONA | FIGUERES | SITGES | MONTSERRAT | TARRAGONA | VIC | ROSES | TOSSA DE MAR. There are literally dozens more, but that'd depend on whether he's rather urbanite or nature lover, whether he's into art, nature, history or else, etc.

Or perhaps attending an event or "festa major" somewhere in the region can be another great option to immerse yourself in Catalan culture.

If you prefer more traditional text-based advice:
http://catalunya.com/ -Catalonia’s Tourism Agency | http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/ -Barcelona’s Tourism Agency | http://en.costabrava.org/ -Costa Brava Tourism Agency | http://www.baixemporda-costabrava.org/en/ | http://www.lleidatur.com/ -Lleida and Pyrenees-Aran Tourism Agency | http://www.visitpirineus.com/ -Pyrenees-Aran Tourism Agency | http://www.turismeamposta.cat/en -Terres de l’Ebre Tourism Agency | http://www.bcn.cat/ -Barcelona City Council | http://www.girona.cat/turisme/eng/index.php -Girona City Council | http://www.tarragonaturisme.cat/ -Tarragona City Council

Whatever he does by plane will most probably require an overnight, otherwise, he'd be spending too long to/from the airports, waiting in lounges, etc. to be done in the same day (albeit I've often flown for a day-meeting elsewhere in Europe with not much problem). By plane he literally has the whole of Europe at a short flight away --Helsinki for example, which is, so to speak, in the opposite corner of Europe in relation to us, it's barely 3h away. Still, I wouldn't get carried away, while there are plenty of low-cost flights to many destinations (Barcelona is an important hub in that sense), spending many weekends abroad easily sums up and it can be quite costly. You'll probably won't like to hear this, but Eivissa (a.k.a. Ibiza) is just an hour away by plane. Florida's spring breaks pale next to the famous world-renowned Eivissa's (pronounced "ee-bee-sah") :)))

Important: without entering into politics, know he'll be staying in Catalonia, and while it's administratively part of Spain, it's not "Spain" -at least not what you might think of as Spain. It has its own language, its own culture, traditions, etc... and relationships with Spain are not precisely at their high. So it's useful to get acquainted with this fact and also to be tactful if entering into political debates or anything related to the Catalonia - Spain sphere for that matter.

If he does speak Spanish, there's no problem whatsoever speaking it to us Catalan speakers, and knowing he doesn't speak Catalan most people will oblige and respond in Spanish (or English!). Still, a few sentences here and there in our language will certainly warm up many people: https://wikitravel.org/en/Catalan_phrasebook

(part 1)

As per safety in Barcelona -something I would imagine you may wonder- I have to say that this is one of the major safest cities in Europe and we have no guns nor gangs roaming our streets. However, this is a city after all so, while there are no no-go areas, one needs to be aware a city with nearly 2 million inhabitants has all sorts of people, so basic common sense is to be expected. Muggings and knife crime do occur but are not a major concern in the overall safety picture. Probably the most annoying type of crime is pickpocketing, which, albeit by no means it's a "problem" (as some uneducated visitors attempt to portray), it's a bit more prevalent than in other cities due to the popularity of Barcelona with temporary visitors (tourists, passer byers, etc). Pickpocketing is considered a misdemeanour and the trouble prosecuting the perpetrators is that when the victim is not a resident he doesn't show up in court hearings so it's difficult to properly punish the perpetrators. Also, contrary to appearances, a big chunk of the pickpockets are not even residents in the city -not all, of course, we also have some "local" ones. It's has been well known by many police forces in major European cities that there are gangs (whole clans!) of "rogue pickpockets" that move from city to city to do their business. They settle in one for a while and when police pressure becomes too great, then they move to another, then another, then back to first one, and so on. The fact we're dealing with different judiciaries in different countries, which are sovereign of course, makes it more complex and harder to crack on this. Anyway, about pickpockets: be aware of your belongings in crowded places, don't fall for easy scams. Nothing more to it. Period.

Still... this is a city, so being street smart is always the clever thing to do.

BITS AND PIECES

• Catalan is the local language albeit Spanish is co-official. Most people are able to communicate in both. Language is a sensitive issue so ask your son to be respectful in this matter. English is also spoken (mumbled at least!) by a lot of people, especially under 50, as well as other languages, especially French.
• Barcelona is permanent home to ~300,000 foreigners from over 120 nationalities (out of a total population of 1.7 million residents) so there's a large variety of customs, languages, religions, etc. If you're curious about the different nationalities.
• In our legislation, an adult is anyone over 18 (for drinking, voting, driving, attending adult clubs, consensual age, etc).
• While we're a quite relaxed society here in Catalonia and often the "live and let live" applies, we also have laws of course, so it's best to let your son know that he's just a guest in a foreign country and has no carte-blanche -you know what I mean :)
• Working hours: shops (10am-2pm and 4pm-8pm), supermarkets and shopping centres (10am-9pm), banks (8am-2pm), metro (5am-12pm) ---take this with a pinch of salt because it's not so rigid, many shops open before 10 pm, some don't close at lunchtime and finish at 8:30-9pm, etc.
• Many eateries are open all day long albeit, in a number of restaurants, the kitchen is open 1pm-4 pm and 8pm-11pm on weekdays and until midnight or so on Fri and Sat. Outside these hours, snacks and simpler dishes are available.
• Temp in July is not usually higher than 95F since the city is by the sea, which regulates temperature, but humidity can be a real nuisance. In those days with high humidity (>75%) and say 85F, the feeling of stickiness is a problem and sleeping at night if you don't have a/c can be also uncomfortable.
  
• A/C is present in public transportation, offices, shops, etc. Actually, one of the problems is that inside you're at a comfy 68F and when you go outside you're hit with 95F.

(part 2)

• The phone 1-1-2 is the emergency number in Europe -like your 911.
• I am sure "your son doesn't do drugs", yet it's worthwhile let him know that hard drugs are illegal. Period. Soft drugs (ie. marihuana) are "tolerated" only for private-consumption and NOT in the street. Penalties are in the range of a minimum of 600€ for non-compliance. Having said that, like in many other Western cities where consumption is also "not-legal", some people smoke cannabis in public. Police response to that is mixed, sometimes, they laissez-faire, sometimes they issue a fine. Btw, risking being offensive: this is not some banana republic, don't ever attempt to bribe.
• Law states that he should carry a 'legal' ID at all times. Since you don't have National ID cards, the only other valid alternative is the passport... but since I understand how uncomfortable that'd be, I would suggest photocopying it. The later it's not a legal document per se, but it's better than nothing.
• Is he intolerant to any sort of food? If so, better to make it known. And I hope he's not a fussy eater... in Catalonia we like food and he should take the opportunity to try as many dishes as he can. Yes, we also have McDonalds junk food and the like if he must. But eating out elsewhere can be, in general terms, rather inexpensive here so it'd be a shame if he didn't.
• People in these shores are quite open and warm and easygoing so he'll have no trouble engaging with others. Albeit there are plenty of foreign students in our universities, I would strongly suggest to mingle with locals as well, this way he'll discover the true spirit of us Catalans -and he'll get to do and see many stuff otherwise he'll miss. I am aware that this is a summer course and it's likely he'll find plenty of foreigners among his course colleagues though.
• In general terms, people is very inclusive (ie. racial discrimination tends to be condemned) and providing respect is observed, nobody cares much about where you come from, your sexual orientation or your religious beliefs. There's no particular beef with any nationality. As said, live and let live.
• Dressing is casual in most occasions albeit there might be some "rules" here and there, ie. no shorts or trainers in many night clubs; no shorts, flip flops and the like in some restaurants, etc. Anyhow, except for the clubbing, it's rather unlikely a 20 yo will actually frequent many places where those restrictions/rules might apply. Still, in the evening, smart casual gets you nearly everywhere. Jeans are all right as well in most instances.
• If he's religious, there's mass in English in some churches on weekends. Let me know if you need more info. In general terms, here in Catalonia, most Catalans we are not religious, especially the later generations. Rule: keep religion out of civil matters, religious beliefs are a private affair. Note this might not hold so true elsewhere in certain regions of Spain.
• No tipping culture like in the US. Over here, most of the time, if (if!) you consider say the service in a restaurant was better than expected, you'll "round up" (ie. 7.60€ >> 8€; or 57€ >> 60€) but if you don't, nobody will frown upon you. Tipping is neither compulsory not necessarily expected. On the other hand, over-tipping in excess or "splashing cash" is considered rude, tacky and even offensive by many. Pride in one's work is important and while most workers in restaurants or other services might appreciate a tip, over-doing it is not. Again, this is not necessarily every worker, but pretty much the norm.
• CCard payment is pretty much the norm: VISA and Mastercard though, American Express is not. Contactless cards are very common and paying by phone commences to be popular in Barcelona. For payments under say 5 or 10€, cash might still be preferred in most places though.

(part 3)

Also, if he's into music concerts, he's in luck because we do have plenty of them, especially in summer... and from all genres. Be more specific and I'll fetch you some ideas.

Frankly, I am shooting in the dark, I know... and you might already be aware/familiar with some of the advice above, apologies for that. I just gathered some bits that I thought might be of interest. If you have specific questions better ask them straight.

Enjoy!

Enric

(end)

PS: Btw, when mentioning drugs, racial discrimination, religion, etc... I am NOT implying anything, huh?... just pointing how we see these and other things here because we all have different approaches in different parts of the world.

Thanks a ton to all of you. We have definitely learnt some new things about visiting Barcelona. There are surely some very good suggestions posted by you folks.

Many regards to all of you.

A couple of things that have not been mentioned. I would take two credit card just in case something happens to one of them. This is critical -- make absolutely certain that your name is on his credit and debit accounts. If something goes wrong with any of the accounts, it will be far easier for you to deal with the problem from you home phone than he can long distance and in many time zones away. There is a high probability that even with notification a card can be frozen because of an odd request or transaction. Credit card companies computers are very touchy these days and will shut down a card for the strangest reason. That happened to our son during his semester in Madrid and it became a huge problem sorting it out because we were not on his account. A bank VP finally agreed to assist us but cautioned that he was actually breaking bank regulations. If we had not been a 30 year customer and a substantial stock holder in that bank, I am not sure we would have been successful. When younger son went our names were all over his accounts.

By the way, he is not a child!!

A couple of things that have not been mentioned. I would take two credit card just in case something happens to one of them. Leave the AE card home. It would be worthless for him. This is critical -- make absolutely certain that your name is on his credit and debit accounts. If something goes wrong with any of the accounts, it will be far easier for you to deal with the problem from you home phone than he can long distance and in many time zones away. There is a high probability that even with notification a card can be frozen because of an odd request or transaction. Credit card companies computers are very touchy these days and will shut down a card for the strangest reason. That happened to our son during his semester in Madrid and it became a huge problem sorting it out because we were not on his account. A bank VP finally agreed to assist us but cautioned that he was actually breaking bank regulations. If we had not been a 30 year customer and a substantial stock holder in that bank, I am not sure we would have been successful. When younger son went our names were all over his accounts.

By the way, he is not a child!!

Good point indeed made by Frank. These days banking protocols are very strict.

Excellent suggestions. Yes we are the primary holder on his credit cards. And the ATM card has both his and ours checking accounts linked. However we will call the banks as well to let them know of international travel.

And the ATM card has both his and ours checking accounts linked.

Cards issued by European banks are one card per account. The machines do not offer a choice of accounts when withdrawing money. All withdrawals and payments will come from whichever account is the default for that card.

...And the ATM card has both his and ours checking accounts linked. However we will call the banks as well to let them know of international travel........

Be a little careful. That arrangement if I understand what you are saying has some a potential problem. He really needs to have his own, isolated account. Keep in mind, that computers are making the instant decisions concerning potential fraud. No humans involved until you make the call. If you both have duplicate debit cards on the same account and if you use the debit card one morning and he uses it a couple hours later, the red flag will instantly shoot up and everything freezes.

When second son was studying abroad and we were smarter, he a had separate checking account with a balance of less than $500. We could via computer monitor the account. When we saw that he had withdrawn 200 or 300 dollar we could transfer the funds as need to keep the balance near $500. That way, if the card was compromised the most at risk was $500 dollars or less. Now we never had any problems so I don't know how well our approach would have functioned.

Since his time is relatively short maybe the above arrangement is too complicated.

We met a group of college girls studying in Barcelona last year. Your son will have a great time and will definitely be using his Spanish(as some host mothers spoke no English. I don't how your school is but most of the students lived with another exchange student. Definitely have an ATM and cash available however Spain is one of the cheaper countries in terms of cost of living and food. As any big city, he needs to always be aware of surroundings, especially if drinking heavily. Also note that binge drinking is not as acceptable there in bars. Otherwise just use common sense.

If he's there during the World Cup, prepare for pandemonium if Spain gets into the semi-finals or finals. We were there during a quarter final match and when Barca won, it was like NYE, the World Series and the Super Bowl all together. Never have seen so many people running out into the street and every car was honking with the Catalan flag hanging out of the window.