Job Discussion Forums

[Thailandneil]

At the risk of sounding like a social retard I was wondering what you guys have to say about making friends in Madrid. I'm almost certain on moving from Buenos Aires to Madrid in January.

My reason for asking is that I've had a fairly tough time making friends here. I suspect it is for a number of reasons but some biggies include, most young ppl (under 28 ) seem to live with their parents 50km in the suburbs and can't come downtown, most young people, even those working for MNCs, don't seem to have enough money to go out regularly, my Spanish is crap.

What's your take on the above? Is it easier to hang out with Madrila�os or is it just as tough.

Thanks for your insight!

[Moore]

It's really easy to meet Madrile�os: they're a very social bunch. A lot of people here come from the provinces to get their careers moving, and so are in the same boat. I lived in Paris for three years before coming here which can be a rather anti-social place in terms of meeting new people, and am still impressed about how much more sociable everyone is here, Spanish and foreigners alike.

To get yourself going you can try going to quiz nights in Irish pubs, doing some intercambios (language exchanges), having a look for expat events in the local expat media and so on: I'm not trying to make out this place is a social Shangri-La, but most people here find that in fact they end up overdoing it on the socialising front, not the other way around

[MO39]

Try posting a message at www.multimadrid.com, a very friendly and helpful website for all sorts of expats living in Spain, most of them in Madrid.