Moving to Lisbon or Barcelona?

[Babibel]

Would you rather move to Lisbon or Barcelona? With a child, as a European family.

Barcelona (without a shadow of a doubt). Although I am more of a Madrid person. If you're remote working, I'd choose Valencia - as you get the 'city life' and Mediterranean, but at a fraction of the cost of Barcelona.

Lived in Portugal, and then relocated to Spain. No comparison in terms of quality of life (for me, anyway).

Barcelona definitely.

Another vote for Valencia, we live an hour away and it's a great city especially for families. Barcelona is also amazing but sooooo expensive. Spain all the way which ever city you choose

@snapasnap Why? Did you live in Lisbon or another part of the country?
Lisbon has softest climate, nice people, nice food and so on. Barcelona too but it's more expensive.

Barcelona most definitely. Lisbon no

I’d have said Lisbon over Barcelona!

Lisbon here. Not as expensive and the weather is great, no extremes

Vote for Lisbon. I live 30 mins away. It's the right mix of a traditional Portuguese city (so so beautiful, you can walk around for hours there's so much to see!) but also international in terms of language, schools and other expats.

Never lived in either, but I'd choose Lisbon. Seems cheaper to live. Lots of tech nomads choose Lisbon for low cost of living, climate and it is stunning.

I like both but probably Barcelona as my Spanish is fluent and I only speak very basic Portuguese.

Lisbon. The people there are really lovely and it’s an amazing city.

The Carnation Revolution is an event in history that gives that shows a side to humanity that hat is often underplayed and overlooked. I couldn’t really believe it happened until I spent time in Lisbon and then it made sense. There’s an air to the place and the people that is so special.

@MLMshouldbeillegal

I like both but probably Barcelona as my Spanish is fluent and I only speak very basic Portuguese.

Sorry that sounded a bit wanky.

But I would never dream of permanently uprooting myself and moving to a city where I didn't at least have enough of the language to hold a basic conversation.

But I thought the main language in Barcelona was Catalan? Anyway, I'd choose Lisbon.

So much crime in Barcelona, I had 2 attempted pick pocketings when I was there. I haven't been to Lisbon but out of the two I'd choose there. If I was going to live in a city in Spain though it would probably be Valencia, in Portugal I've only been to Porto but that is very nice, supposed to be much nicer than Lisbon from what I've read.

The overtourism in Barcelona would put me off actually living there.

Lisbon out if those two. I don't get the Barcelona love, give me Valencia or Malaga any day!

I would choose Lisbon - amazing city and lots of tax benefits. I think property is overvalued there though so would rent. Would also consider Valencia as pp suggested but wonder if it would get a bit quiet over winter months for me personally.

I think I could happily live in Lisbon (if I spoke Portuguese). Beautiful, historical city, but not too polished. Lovely people, great restaurants, fab climate.

[quote Babibel]@snapasnap Why? Did you live in Lisbon or another part of the country?
Lisbon has softest climate, nice people, nice food and so on. Barcelona too but it's more expensive.[/quote]
Yes, I lived in Lisbon.

To me, it is a great place for a city break. On a day-do-day basis the gloss quickly wore off for me.

Outside of typical tourist interactions, I did not find people to be particularly friendly (but this is subjective), Portugal and Spain are both bureaucratic, but in Spain I manage to actually get problems resolved - the number of fights I witnessed in government offices in Portugal was unbelievable.

Healthcare in Spain works a lot better - and there are no charges (assuming you're paying social security) unlike Portugal. Broke my wrist in Portugal and it took over a year for them to perform an operation for the fracture (pre-Covid). In Spain, I had a similar incident and the quality and speed of care was far superior.

Lisbon is no longer cheap. The rents during the time I lived there were astronomical and rising all of the time. In Valencia I was able to buy a property in the city centre for a fraction of the cost - appreciate this argument doesn't work when you compare to Barcelona though.

I also find the supermarkets in Spain much better - when you compare cost v quality.

I would choose Barcelona simply due to the higher risk of earthquakes in Lisbon, but I appreciate this probably wouldn't worry anyone else!

Lisbon

Lisbon, but I love both.

@TwinklyBranch I actually do think about it!

@snapasnap your opinion is great as you live in both places. I can imagine things (bureaucracy fi) being very slow in Lisbon. I thought healthcare was very good in Portugal though. And schools.

@snapasnap so true about the bureaucracy. In Spain at least there's a gestor to help you out for not a lot of money. Portugal is beyond.