Madrid or Barcelona?

[Codrina]

Hello everyone. 

I left England 3 weeks ago. I finally got the budget to give me some time to work on my art.

I want to live in Spain, so I thought Barcelona is a good cultural city which could open doors for me and it has the sea as well. I was planning on getting rent there and a part time job until I make enough money from my art.

I am near Madrid now, at my parents house. I've spent time with them, because I haven't seen them in two years.

People here advise me not to go to Barcelona now. There is a lot of tension there with the Catalan Independence and businesses have been leaving for this reason.

There is also my brother, who is living with my parents now, he doesn't have money and is not working right now.

My father is a narcissist. My brother and I have a lot of trauma to overcome. I think my brother is still largely unaware of how he is affected by this. I was too, and I am still looking, as I am sure there is more to understand. 

I have the opportunity now to help him. I could get rent in Madrid for the two of us. It would give him at least 6 months of free rent. He is self employed and wants to get his business going, but in my parents house he doesn't even have his own room. And my father perceives us as an inconvenience quite often, which is very unpleasant.

I am excited about the opportunity to help, but I also can't help but wonder if it will turn out all right.

I am slowly getting better. I managed to give up smoking (weed and tobacco) and alcohol. I am excited about creating a different life for me, of my own choosing, not being pressured into anything because of necessity and I am afraid I won't be strong enough.

I don't know the level of consciousness my brother has, but I feel he's still trapped in the whole smoke, party, play poker, get laid. And I don't think it is who he really is, but in tough times he had friends who took care of him and those were their interests. 

I easily absorb what is around me. I want to be strong enough to be an influence to my brother, but what if I'm not and I end up being the influenced one?

Next week I'm supposed to go to Barcelona and look at some places. What do you think? Madrid or Barcelona?

I would love to hear some opinions. 

Thank you all for your time. I really appreciate this forum. I don't write a lot because I don't think I know enough to give advice, and I usually try to figure out the answers to my questions on my own. But I spend time reading and learning from your experiences. Thank you

[universe]

Could you not rent in Barcelona to host your brother, too?

Follow your heart.

Ive never been to Madrid but I love Barcelona

[oMarcos]

I was in Madrid for 3 days, and I lived in Barcelona for 4 months, so for me Barcelona is way better. You have some Language Exchanges every Friday on the train station, which is a very good place to meet people. You also have the mountains to move away from the city noise for a while, Tibidabo, Montjuïc... Madrid seems a little bit cold for me, I don't know, maybe it was just my impression, Barcelona feels more Opened and receptive. Good luck, moving to a new place takes some balls and vision, if you have any questions regarding Barcelona feel free to ask me.

ps: I also attended some yoga nidra sessions in barcelona, and I did some Improvisational theatre, went for some nice walking tours (all this experiences were for free), with this said, you have lot of healthy options to spend your time, you just need to choose your track.

Edited November 9, 2019 by oMarcos

[Javfly33]

Madrid is a more serious city. Barcelona is kinda more fun. Both have plenty of interesting job opportunities. Both are good options to be honest. 

[Codrina]

@universe  I could, but I don't think he will want to move there. (Might be better for him to take him away from his friends, though) He was there a few times and his experience was of people being rude because he was speaking Spanish and not Catalan language - of course these were your every day people - I am sure he did not go tracking, nor to any yoga classes or improvisational theatre.

@oMarcos  Thank you, although I have been moving constantly since I was 20. Changed a couple of cities in my country, then changed a few countries. When were you in Barcelona? I see Barcelona as a more opened city, but apparently not so much now with all this Catalan non sense. My Spanish is not so great, so I could just learn Catalan... I don't know. 

My heart hurts for my brother.

 @Javfly33  I am not worried so much about a job, as I am about opportunities for an artist to present her work and find creative circles to explore. You don't see many creativity on the streets of Madrid. It doesn't seem like art is something they care about much. There is a level, but it seems tiny compared to Barcelona.

A little community of artists means two things. If I am good I can easily make an impression, if I am not as good as I like to think I am, I will easily be dismissed. And I am Romanian. People are kind to English speaking nations, for some crazy reason. They are not as kind to Romanians.

[Codrina]

I am aware that all this analysing is done with limiting beliefs. I'm not sure how to look for an answer outside of them

 

[effy01]

i live in Madrid , which kind of art are you doing ?

[Codrina]

I paint

[effy01]

i think both cities offer a wide art painting craft , Malasaña ,Lavapies , are good place to start here in madrid , if i were you i would write the pros and cons of every city , don't care much about the catalan prob its not your FIGHT its theirs it has always been this way years ago , you can easy talk Spanish and English and survive in Barcelona or Madrid if surrounded  with the right people , here is pretty cold in  winter and very hot in summer , im Moroccan and don't care about what people think of me and i barely feel racism only when i go to do some paperwork  ,people gonna treat you in the way you are projecting your self ,not your ethnicity ,and artistic circles are pretty open minded in that way .both cities have similar rent cost , if you love the sea go to bcn , remember you can always refine your vision and expand your art in different cities , follow your intuition don't listen to people .

[Codrina]

@effy01 I hear you. My dilemma is more of the sort : go to my favourite city or stay and help my brother. How do you know the right thing to do?