Erasmus experience in Badajoz, Spain by Valentina

Why did you choose to go to Badajoz, Spain?

When I applied for the Erasmus scholarship, I hoped I would go to England, but on the other side, I wanted to make sure I would be able to go abroad, and as England is the destination everyone longs for, I preferred to choose Spain, whose culture I like quite a lot. The only destination available for my course of study was Badajoz.

My scholarship was for 6 months, but it obviously depends on the faculty and on the university. I later asked for an extension of the programme and ended up staying there for 12 months. The 6 months added later were at my expense, whereas for the first 6 I got a scholarship of around €230 per month.

The university isn't that good. It's located inside a very nice university campus, located on the other side of the river, which can be easily reached on the bus.

Source

Bajadoz is a nice city, but a bit small and isolated. The university itself is quite small as well, if you compare it to the usual Italian one. I would recommend it to those who don't want to live in large cities like Madrid and prefer quieter and more decent cities. As for the university, since it is rather small, professors aren't used to dealing with Erasmus students and they haven't always been understanding.

Excellent food though! Especially the jamón ibérico (Iberian cured ham), a pure delight. Together with huevos rotos (scrambled eggs), golden salted codfish, pork cheeks and other thousands of dishes!

Was it hard to find accommodation in Badajoz?

No, it wasn't. We moved into a flat in which there was living a guy who was going back to Italy in less than a month. There's a ton of houses and flats to rent. A piece of advice: don't rent anything in advance and wait with the house hunting until you get there.

How expensive is it to live in Badajoz?

Very little. Both in terms of food costs, entertainment and rent.

Did you attend any language course there?

No, I didn't attend any because I had already attended some courses in Italy and I already had a language certificate, but because I hadn't spoken Spanish for two years, it took me a while before I actually got the hang of it again.

How did you go to Badajoz from your city?

I flew with AirEuropa from Milan Malpensa with a change in Madrid. As a matter of fact, there is a small airport in Badajoz too. However, in those days, it was way cheaper to fly there than it is today. In order to fly back in July I took a flight from Siviglia to Milan.

All of the bars are in the centre and in the end, after the first few months when everything seems new, they end up being always the same ones. We mainly went to Movie, Chat Noir, Atenea, Guinol and a disco called Palapa which was a bit further away.

In any case, you only have to wander around the centre a bit to find many nice and typical places to hang out, for instance the bar Postigo or else, if you'd like to have a beer with friends, go to Aldaba or Esponja!

Since buses connecting Badajoz to other cities are not very frequent, it's very convenient to use BlaBlaCar.es, which works pretty well in Spain. This way, since Badajoz is just at the boarder with Portugal, there are several amazing destinations and cities which you can! The trips to Andalusia and to Lisbon, Sintra and Cascais are definitely worthwhile!