Relocation to Barcelona

Ideally located in Barcelona, one of Spain’s cultural, economic and scientific hubs, our institute is a stone’s throw from both the sea and the thriving city centre.

With a pleasant year-round climate, friendly and welcoming locals, and a growing international community, Barcelona is one of the true gems of the Mediterranean, and the perfect city to boost your career.

From a scientific point of view, Barcelona and its surroundings constitute one of the most prominent R+D+I clusters in the Southern European region. Catalonia has 40 Research Centres in the CERCA Network.

With a population of 1.6 million in the city itself and a further 4 million in the suburbs, Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain, and arguably the most cosmopolitan and exciting. There are two official languages in Barcelona: Catalan and Spanish.

Barcelona is a very dynamic and multinational city that offers a wide range of social activities and opportunities. 

We must point out the splendid seafront location of our facilities, next to the city centre of Barcelona. Our Tarragona facilities are in the same situation.

To help you settle into your new life in the Catalan capital, we have provided the following links to welcome guides: 

The City Council of Barcelona also offers its residents advice and guidance with the most common procedures when registering in the city:

IREC also collaborates with Catalan universities, some of them as trustees of our foundation, and with Euraxess Catalonia, to guide researchers and students in their mobility to Barcelona:

We provide some suggestions of links that might be useful for apartment search and students residences:

  • IREC has its Barcelona site besides the Campus Universitari Diagonal Besos from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). We would recommend being in contact with Xior Diagonal Besos residence. Special prices are provided to those with a labor relationship with IREC. Xior Diagonal Besos is located right on the newest campus of the UPC, within the CAMPUS DIAGONAL BESÒS. To those who might be interested in doing sport near our facilities, we recommend getting in contact with CEM Maresme, which offers special prices for IREC employees.