Customized Internships in Barcelona

I do not have enough positive things to say about the BSAE team and the experience I had as a student during the Spring 2024 semester. I took 3 classes at SIS (the School for International Studies) and an internship. The professors at SIS are extremely qualified and experienced in their field, and the classes are small and are enriched with different field studies and assignments. I am for sure going to miss my professors. The internship team is amazing, and they work hard to make sure students get the best experience possible.
I also lived in a homestay, and I loved it, I could not imagine my Barcelona experience without my host family. I feel like my host mom is my soulmate, we have so much in common! The amount of personalized support you get from BSAE is unmatched, I just can not imagine studying abroad with another provider that is not BSAE. If you are seeking a true barce-local experience, you MUST consider BSAE. The amount of support they provide to students such as the Barcelona Bucket list, the weekly newsletter, chances to meet staff members for coffee, and even small details such as providing snacks during midterms and finals, shows just how much they care for students. I am so glad I studied abroad with BSAE, I would not have done it any other way.

I enjoyed my experience very much in Barcelona through BSAE. It was a great opportunity for me to grow as an individual and to be independent in a new city! Barcelona has so much to do, I visited so many attractions but still could have gone to more after I had to leave. The weather is sunny and hot, but it is great. I would also recommend Barcelona if you are into night life. Bars and clubs stay open very late so there is always something to do, and there are so many diverse restaurants around every corner!

This was my very first time stepping foot in Europe, let alone living abroad for six weeks. My apartment, although on smaller than what Americans are used to, was conveniently located in the city center and a few hundred meters from Las Ramblas. I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to intern at a hostel, which helped me not only gain valuable international experience in the hospitality industry, but allowed me to meet travelers from all walks of life and various countries. There was so much to explore within Catalonia alone that I didn't even venture out of Spain like I had originally intended, but it would be very feasible for the adventurous ones who would like to.

Barcelona SAE takes care of everything - from airport transfers, internship placements, housing, first day introductions, Spanish or Catalan lessons, to fun excursions. They do their absolute best to help make each student/intern's experience as seamless as possible. With an open door policy, should you need anything, we were all welcome to visit the office and talk to any of the staff.

It really comes down to how much you put into it, because that ultimately plays the biggest factor in your takeaway from your time abroad. All of the opportunities to get involved and stretch your comfort zone are totally there!

I loved this program! I went through my undergraduate institution. They had a wonderful program set up. We got to take classes with few students, which allowed a lot of learning. The program also included many different day trips and weekend trips, customized for our school program. My school and the people at Barcelona SAE worked so well together to coordinate everything for us all to have a great experience. The staff was so friendly and constantly checked in with us. They even helped me find a place to volunteer. Housing with a host family was excellent. They did a great job matching us and making sure we were comfortable. I met so many great people, learned a lot about the language, history and culture, and completely fell in love with Barcelona thanks to this program.

Over the summer of 2018, I interned abroad with Barcelona SAE. I interned at the ASICS Innovation HUB EMEA located in the city of Barcelona. I had the opportunity to travel throughout Spain (thanks to the trips hosted by Barcelona SAE), to Holland, and Portugal. This was an experience of a life-time, and I enjoyed every second of it! I learned so much and made many friendships that I will be able to carry with me for the rest of my life.
Many employers look for unique applicants once graduation is over and the job searching has begun. Being able to say you studied/interned abroad and lived in another country puts you at the top of the list. You learn and adapt skills that you couldn't have gained otherwise.
I highly recommend Barcelona SAE because they made my experience wonderful and unforgettable! They plan events for everyone, offer travel trips, make you feel safe, and help you in any way they can. I am so glad I chose to do my internship through them!

My international experience is unique because I've never left home before. My time in Spain is allowing me to grow as an individual and learn new things about myself. It's nice that I already have a Spanish background so communicating in castellano isn't difficult to do! If you have never been exposed to Spanish than I strongly suggest you study some before you go abroad! This great internship opportunity is going to help me land better jobs because my international experience is going to stand out on a resume. Tip #1: Don't be afraid to explore, even if it's on your own! Tip #2: Always wear comfortable shoes because pavements here are very uneven. Tip #3: Plan things out but leave room for spontaneous fun as well! So far my favorite memories that I've made have been when my roommate and I go on mini adventures and take really great pictures of each other. I'm uncovering my innerphotography skills!

The Barcelona SAE Summer Internship program is a great experience for young students looking to expand their horizons and have an experience like none other. Because of the nature of this Study Abroad Experience is different than any other Study Abroad because it is an internship instead of classes. This experience is not only letting me fall more in love with Spain, but also is giving me valuable and unique job experience.

I decided to use Barcelona SAE to give myself an opportunity to work abroad. I wanted to see what the tourism and hospitality industry was and how to run it effectively. I decided to pay extra to live with a Spanish family to further use my Spanish that I had been studying for a long time.

I was assigned to work with a hostel booking agency and I was excited to learn more about the company and what my responsibilities would be. I was disappointed that all they expected of me was to write blogs in English about places I had never been to. I mentioned that I was fluent in Italian and they had me translate parts of those webpage into Italian. I felt frustrated that I was not learning anything about the hospitality industry and I was bored as I listened in to conversations between my coworkers in Catalan.
Perhaps the bar was set low by the previous interns. After all it was explained to me near the end of my internship that I was the first intern they had ever had that spoke Spanish. My internship was overall a waste of money as I learned little since I could have done all of the tasks required of me from my home and the educational part of the internship was never apparent even though I was friends with my coworkers and we got along well.

It should be noted that I did contact Barcelona SAE and they helped me get more responsibility but the improvement was minimal.

I don't really know who is to blame for this, it could be me for having higher expectations from a 20 hour a week internship. Or it's just the fact that I went to Spain for the internship, not for Spain.
My living arrangements were okay. My bedframe was literally held together by tape. It didn't break at any point, luckily. I didn't expect air conditioning since I had lived in the Mediterranean for two years and I know it's a luxury item. But I did expect a fan. I had to ask for one once summer hit full force. The fan given to me was the size of my fist. It was a small room (at 5'6" I'm not tall but I barely had room to do push-ups) but the entire time I was there there was a larger fan that was not available for me to use because it was "dirty". I offered to clean it myself but they said I couldn't use it. Also, the son of the family who lived accros the hall from me smoked like a chimney for the first two or three weeks. I had to ask them to stop. I shouldn't have to ask as that is one of our rules for our host families.
Our breakfast and dinners were provided for us by our hosts but we had to fend for ourselves for lunches. I was allowed to store some things in the fridge but not allowed to use anything in the kitchen to cook. I like to cook. I could have saved a lot of money were I able to use the kitchen.
I had roommates that lived with me in the place and I would say that they were the highlights of my experience. We went places together and spent time together. We were good friends.