Hello! My fully vaccinated 18 year old is heading to Spain in a couple of weeks to do some WWOOFING (Living and working in organic farms) and rock climbing (Yikes!) in the Catalonia regions for up to 90 days. He has solid basic Spanish skills and he is a pretty savvy traveler having been to Spain with our family twice but this is his first solo trip. Looking for any advice for the easiest connectivity and data plans as well as navigating getting from the airport in Barcelona to the train station to take him to his first farm. Any other advice others may have would be greatly appreciated by this somewhat nervous mom and not at all nervous 18 year old traveler! I have gotten so much great info from this travel forum over the years. (-and yes, we do have good health insurance that will cover him abroad!)
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33845 posts
you may have already read the previous posts here on the Forums (put WWOOF into the search bar) and understand the issues around it?
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6977 posts
Does he have a work permit/visa?
Posted by
OP
42 posts
I have read the posts about WWOOFING but there are not any very current ones on this site. We have read up a lot about the organization and what to expect. He does not need a work permit or Visa in Spain but his visit is limited to 90 days total in a window of 180 days as Spain is one fo the Schengen countries. (He is from the US)
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33845 posts
I'm glad that you checked and it sounds like the previous restrictions on volunteer work have been removed from what you say... good news for him.
Posted by
OP
42 posts
Thank you for those concise directions!
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6977 posts
Are you 100% sure he does not need a visa? This information seems a bit different: https://ec.europa.eu/immigration/country-specific-information/spain/volunteer_en
And here is an old discussion about it on Lonely planet: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/europe-western-europe/topics/another-visa-and-wwoof-question Sure, a lot can have happened since that thread, but visa rules tend to be pretty static.
Posted by
Hudson Valley
2267 posts
Easy to get a SIM with data for relatively cheap from a Movistar or Vodafone shop. They are competative, so not much point in shopping/comparing.
Just be SURE that the phone he brings is unlocked from its US carrier.
Posted by
OP
42 posts
Thanks for the VISA info. We will check it out more. He did look into it pretty closely, but I will have him follow up.
Posted by
Tuscaloosa, AL
1152 posts
What type of phone does he have now and with what carrier? For a possibly 90 day trip, I'd want it to be easy to contact him (and vice versa). For that reason, I'd get him either a T-Mobile account or a Google Fi account. That way, you could text each other without additional charge as much as you wanted. Calls to each other would require a small per minute fee and be straightforward (he'd just need to add a plus sign and your area code to call you). And he could make local calls using WiFi or for a relatively small fee. Data could be included in the monthly fee if it is T-Mobile with an option to upgrade to faster speeds or part of the Google Fi cost structure. If he has a newer phone, it is possible that it will handle two phone accounts so he could get a local SIM as well as a US-based number. The local number probably would have a better data plan.
Posted by
OP
42 posts
Wonderful. Thank you, those both sound like great options!
Posted by
CA
2141 posts
Make sure he has medical insurance that covers rock climbing.
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6977 posts
Maybe I should point out that I don't know if a visa is needed or not, but it is one of those things that you probably want to be 100% sure about before going.
Also, he will probably have use for a spanish phone number. Having to rely on wifi for making local calls will make life a lot harder.
Posted by
OP
42 posts
Oh my gosh, you guys are the best! Thank you so much for this information. I did not expect to get so many great answers so quickly. The insurance and climbing companies are something that we will look into!
Posted by
Valencia Spain
46 posts
We always take Bus 46 from the airport into BCN. Stop is right in front of the terminals. It goes straight down Gran Via to Plaza Espana. From there you can walk to BCN Sants train station. It is a local city bus so it is the same price as any other bus. Leaves frequently. Most importantly there is less chance of getting nailed by pickpockets unlike the metro.