The city you choose dictates your whole experience
Choosing where to study isn’t just about looking at the degree programme or the university; it’s also about deciding what sort of city you want to live in. Studying in a major capital like Madrid, with millions of inhabitants and endless things to do, is not the same as studying in a city that’s 100% university focused, such as Granada or Salamanca, where everything revolves around the students. Your daily routine, your budget and even the way you make friends will change quite a lot depending on the option you choose.
Madrid: a huge city with infinite opportunities
Studying in Madrid means being in one of Spain’s major university cities. There are several public and private universities, a wide range of undergraduate degrees, dual degrees, master’s degrees and specialist schools, all concentrated in the same city. This translates into more academic opportunities, but also more opportunities for work placements, conferences, events, careers fairs and contacts with companies.
Life outside the classroom is also very interesting. Madrid offers concerts, museums, exhibitions, festivals, neighbourhoods that are all very different from one another, and things to do on almost any day of the week. It’s a city where there’s always something going on, and that means your university experience is closely intertwined with the cultural and social life of a major capital city.
On the other hand, everything is on a larger scale: longer distances, more time spent on transport, and more decisions to make about where to live and how to get around. The cost of living is also usually much higher than in other university towns, particularly when it comes to rent and leisure. That’s why many students end up relying on options such as well-located halls of residence, which save them travel time and provide them with a ‘base’ within such a large city.
Granada, Salamanca and Seville: cities that live at the university rhythm
These cities are perfect examples of 100% university cities. In them, the university is not just an institution: it sets the pace of the city. You can see it in the bars, in the libraries, in the squares filled with groups of students, at university parties, and in the way life changes completely between exam periods and the holidays.
Another major difference is the size. In Granada or Salamanca, you can walk almost everywhere: your halls of residence, the university, the city centre, the library, the café. This makes everyday life easier and cheaper, as you need less transport and waste less time travelling. What’s more, the cost of living is usually lower than in a major capital city, whether it’s accommodation, leisure or food.
The atmosphere is different too: you see students everywhere, you hear a variety of languages, and you’re likely to bump into people from your class or hall of residence almost every time you go out. If you fancy the feeling that the whole city is in ‘university life’ mode, this sort of destination usually suits you down to the ground.
If you’d like to find out more about university towns in Spain, have a look at our blog: “10 must-visit university towns in Spain”
University life: what it’s like to study at university in different places
The university atmosphere in Madrid and in cities such as Granada or Salamanca feels different, although experiencing it in either place will be a great experience.
In Madrid, the university atmosphere is intertwined with many other aspects of life: people at work, tourism, families, neighbourhood life, offices. There are areas with a strong university feel (such as Ciudad Universitaria or Moncloa), but as soon as you move to another neighbourhood, you can experience a very different reality. That’s great if you like the mix and the feeling of being connected to everything, but it means your ‘university bubble’ is less cohesive.
In Granada or Salamanca, on the other hand, student life is evident everywhere. The university calendar sets the pace of the city, social plans tend to centre around student areas, and it’s very common to bump into familiar faces on the street, in bars or in libraries. Everything is on a more human scale, and if you like that ‘big village’ feel where the student community makes up almost the entire population, you’ll feel right at home.
Cost of life: Your budget can make all the difference
Your budget really does make a difference when choosing a city. Madrid tends to have higher rents and leisure costs than cities such as Granada or Salamanca, where the cost of living is more student-friendly. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible to study in Madrid, but it does mean you’ll need to manage your budget more carefully and make the most of things that save you time and money, such as a good, well-located hall of residence.
In cities that are 100% university ones, many things are tailored specifically to students: daily set menus, tapas, bars, libraries, transport and activities. It’s easy to find affordable things to do close to home, which means your day to day life isn’t so expensive, even if you go out and about quite a lot.
If you’d like to see the difference more clearly in figures, you can check out our blog post entitled ‘How much does it cost to live as a student in Spain, by city?’.
How your daily life changes if you live in a student residence
The city you choose and the fact that you’re living in halls of residence come together to shape your experience.
In Madrid, living in a well located hall of residence means saving a lot of time every day. Being close to the campus or well-connected by public transport avoids endless journeys and means you can make the most of what the city has to offer without ending up exhausted. What’s more, the hall of residence becomes your ‘safe haven’ in a very big city, with people who are at the same stage of life as you and a team on hand to help with practical matters.
In Granada or Salamanca, the halls of residence are even more closely integrated into university life. You often walk to lectures, into the city centre and back home, and your day revolves around the campus, the halls and student areas. The halls are literally the hub around which almost everything revolves: studying, eating, meeting up, relaxing. It’s a very intense (in a good way) way of experiencing university life.
If you’d like to find out more about halls of residence, you can read the blog post “Nobody tells you this about living in a hall of residence” here.
So, which city suits you best?
There is no one size fits all answer, but there are certain profiles that tend to be a better fit for each type of city:
- Madrid is usually the perfect choice if you’re looking for plenty of academic and career opportunities, love the cultural life of a big city, and don’t mind travelling a bit further to make the most of everything it has to offer.
- Granada or Salamanca are perfect if you’re looking for a 100% university atmosphere, a walkable city, a lower cost of living and a city with a distinct student lifestyle.
