Social life

Women chatting in the Clariana area of Glòries park, seated on deck chairs

If you’ve just arrived in Barcelona or have been here for some time and would like to make new contacts and friends, you’re in luck. This page offers you information on several options and organisations so you can take part in social activities, get involved in loads of projects and initiatives and meet lots of people.

Check out the Activities section too.

Civic and social centres

From cookery to IT classes, lessons, concerts and dance classes. You can enjoy activities such as these and plenty more in centres, whether civic, social, for elderly people or for children and young people.

You have full information here and the location of your nearest centre: Barcelona's civic centres.

Public libraries

Providing forty such facilities in the city, Barcelona’s network of public libraries is the highest-rated service by city residents.

They are venues that provide free access to information and knowledge and which encourage reading.

You simply need to take out a free library card to be able to enjoy all the documents, whether hardcopies or in digital format, from books to magazines, as well as audio-books, music CDs and films in DVD.

With your library card, all libraries will let you use their Wi-Fi for free to access the internet and loan you items you can enjoy at home. What is more, as libraries are centres where cultural activities are organised, you’ll be part of a big community where you can take part, for example, in reading clubs, courses and activities relating to the use of new technologies.

The Barcelona's public libraries website offers you full information on the locations of the city’s libraries and their services.

Foreign-culture centres

If you would like to carry out cultural activities from other cultures, the city has numerous centres and organisations from other countries offering language courses and many initiatives, including(ordenados alfabéticamente):

International community

Barcelona is an open and cosmopolitan city that plays host to some 300,000 foreign nationals, representing 18.5% of the resident population in the city. These people bring diversity and enrich our society.

It is thanks to this big international community that there are numerous foreign and international organisations and associations.

Here are a few of the more active ones:

American Society of Barcelona: ASB is a non-profit and non-political organization that promotes numerous activities among the United States’ residents in Catalonia and functions as a meeting and exchange point.
Barcelona Swiss Club: This is a meeting point for Swiss nationals and Barcelona residents, irrespective of their nationality. It encourages social life.
Barcelona Women’s Network (BWN): This is a social group made up of international women who promote friendship and a better cultural understanding of Barcelona and Catalonia.
Casa degli Italiani di Barcellona: Founded in 1865, this is the world's oldest Italian organisation outside Italy. It is a charity and a cultural organisation.
Cercle des Français: An association of French people and Francophiles who meet up to carry out activities focused on French and Spanish culture. They also help people who have just arrived.
City Girls Barcelona: An energetic community that brings together women in Barcelona through engaging events and a specialized running club for women at every level. Their mission is to foster safe, inclusive spaces that encourage connections and meaningful.
Djerelo, a Ukrainian Association: An association that promotes Ukrainian culture, traditions and customs in Catalonia and Spain.
Grupo Mulheres do Brasil: Group of Brazilian women who take part in social, political and economic causes, backing existing projects and creating new initiatives to promote community transformation through women’s central role.
Internations: A social network created by and for individuals living or working outside their cities of origin and which helps to strengthen a network of contacts through events organised almost every week.
Russia House in Barcelona: A private cultural association whose main goal is to extend and strengthen cultural links between Spain, Catalonia, Russia and the rest of the world.
SIETAR Spain (Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research): This is a platform for promoting education, training and research in the intercultural arena to enable, among other things, the adaptation and integration of expatriates and their families in several cultures.
Union des Français de l’Étranger: A public-utility association with a presence in numerous countries which supports the French community in every aspect of their lives outside France.