Moving to Barcelona can be a wonderful experience. The city offers a wide variety of activities, places to visit, shops and restaurants. If you are planning to move to Barcelona, you are probably looking for an apartment. In this article on renting an apartment in Barcelona with dogs, we tell you about our experience and tips for doing so, especially when you have two dogs.
First, decide the budget you have for the rent according to what you want or need. You must also take into account other expenses, such as electricity, water, gas, internet, etc. And after all that, have some flexibility.
Once you’ve decided on your budget, it’s time to start looking. There are many websites where you can search for apartments in Barcelona. Some of them are: Idealista, Fotocasa, Pisos.com, etc. You can also look at real estate websites.
TIP: We recommend that you do the search once you are in Spain, or a few days before arriving, because it will be easier for them to show you and give you information. At the same time, you can become familiar with the area where they are located.
TIP 2: Do not check the option “pets allowed” as it will limit your options and it is better to discuss it directly with the owner/realtor, as it may be negotiable.
Once you have found some apartments that fit your budget and what you were looking for, it is time to contact the owners or realtors.
In our case, we were looking for a furnished apartment, for a short stay (from 32 days to 11 months), 2 bedrooms, that accepted dogs and in a particular area. And that they accepted us with the type of Visa we had, which indicated that we would not have payrolls (a crucial requirement to rent in Spain).
When we began to contact the real estate agents, we began to come across the harsh reality… we could not find any apartments that met these requirements.
Visiting an apartment that more or less fit the bill, except for the location, the real estate agent gave us our first light on the road. We could opt for long-term apartments, since after the sixth month one could terminate the contract with prior notice. While it wasn’t what we would think to do, it opened up more possibilities for us.
It was then that our search changed 1/ to a long-term, and having so many “no’s” for dogs in furnished apartments, 2/ we decided to look for unfurnished ones. These were cheaper than what we had budgeted for, so we decided that we could use that remaining balance to furnish it ourselves.
And that’s how we finally found right apartment BUT with some but’s… They asked us to pay 6 months of rent in advance, plus an additional month of deposit, of the month that is usually stipulated.
SIDE NOTE: We had seen in many groups that asking for more deposits or advance payments was very common, especially for foreigners, so we were not surprised. And since it was the apartment that suited what we needed and above all they accepted us with the dogs, we accepted!
This is an issue that creates a lot of controversy, both among the local people, who say that this is illegal and affects the market. And foreigners who think they shouldn’t be so demanding or ask for so much. Unfortunately, in Spain there is no protection for the owner, so it is their way of protecting themselves regardless of whether it is ideal or not.
Once the terms, payments, move-in date, etc. have been agreed. The real estate agency will generate a contract, make sure you read it carefully before signing it and if you have any questions, ask them, or ask someone to help you understand it, if you do not speak Spanish.
They themselves will sign you up for all electricity, water and gas services, if applicable. As in the renter’s insurance, which has an approximate cost of 125 euros and includes incidents in the house and others. The internet will be something that you will have to choose, here we will tell you about that process and the company we chose.
It is also important that you make sure that the apartment is in good condition. Therefore, it is important that you take the time to inspect the apartment before signing the contract and mention any damage at the time of move-in.
TIP: we suggest taking photos of the apartment, appliances and/or furniture that are in the property.
We hope that our experience and these tips will help you in the process of renting an apartment in Barcelona with dogs and make the process as “easy” as possible.
If you have any doubts or questions, contact us or send us a DM via Instagram.
Como cuando… the search for a home sweet home is not always a sweet process!
