Mobile youth in Barcelona
One of the most frequent insults lobbied at those darned kids today is that we’re immobile. Inert. Unwilling to move for work, our tendency to stay put in our hometowns contributes to economic decline. The veracity of the findings cited so frequently in news articles can’t really be questioned, but I’ve found several exceptions while travelling, apparent outliers in my generation’s sedentary patterns.
Obviously, staying in hostels has skewed my perspective. Everyone here is travelling somewhere else. Nevertheless, the mobility and the sheer number of these travellers—abroad to study, vacation or work—bears examination.
Even in Barcelona, one of the bleakest European cities for youth 18 to 24, I found several young people who had moved to the city for work. Ida, 25, a full-time hostel receptionist and live-in caretaker with her boyfriend, is an excellent emblem of the underreported moving, working segment of European youth. On June 30, she kindly agreed to an interview.
Pip Speaks: How did you come to Barcelona?
Ida: I came here last year in February, the end of February. I was traveling around and I just liked it, so I stayed.
Where are you from originally?
Sweden, the north of Sweden.
How did you get to work in this hostel?
My boyfriend is the manager of this hostel, so it is through that that I originally found the job.
Do you like working here?
I do. I love the city. The city’s amazing, and I like to work here because I get to meet so many people.
Have you seen the recession affect Spain at all since you’ve been here?
[...] I remember when I got here the first time and I realized I wanted to stay, there were no jobs. There were like, I don’t know, 20 percent unemployment rate, I remember hearing. So, yeah, it is obvious. It’s something that’s noticeable here.
Has the recession at all affected your career or your career choices?
I guess, maybe. I studied psychology back in Sweden, and when I graduated there weren’t really any jobs that I thought were... You know. So I just thought, okay, use the time to do something else like travel instead. Yeah, of course, it affects. I have so many things that I’d like to do, but it’s difficult and I can’t. And I feel that I’m privileged. I come from a good place and I studied, and it’s still difficult. So, for all the other people, it’s tough.
Do you find that your friends are having trouble finding work, or finding meaningful work?
In Sweden it’s better. Here, it’s more difficult. Here, you take what you get.
Do you think that there are any sort of generational divides, do you find that at all in Spain where young people are having harder time than older people, or vice versa?
[…] From what I know–the young Spanish people I know–it’s very difficult. I met one guy who was living on the streets here, he’s from another city in Spain, and he didn’t want to live there. So he came here, he got a job, it didn’t work out, and there was no other jobs. So, he was living on the streets, and he’s about to again. So, yeah, it’s difficult.
What advice would you give to your friends who are struggling?
Nothing’s impossible. Whatever you want to do you can do it, and don’t be scared. The braver you are, the better.