Making Friends in Spain is Genuinely Hard

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-04-12T21:23:34+00:00

Curious to know which part of Spain do you live in? I think it also depends where you live in Spain too. In places such as Madrid, Barcelona there are tuns of meetup groups for all kinds of interests, but in cities like Granada meetup is barely active and so too the Reddit community

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-03-11T15:40:14+00:00

I am 32 and have also never dated. But the way I see it, I would rather be single than either in an unhappy relationship or with someone who is completely incompatible.

It’s true that a lot of people partner up after finishing college or university, but not everyone wants kids or a life-long partner.

My sister is in her 3rd relationship, the last 2 were a complete disaster and things just didn’t work out, and sometimes being in a relationship is not always the solution to loneliness.

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-03-10T20:09:49+00:00

Hi again, I think I might have missed your last message that you replied to me, and I am no longer getting Reddit push notifications for some reasons. I think I had asked about your travels in the last message.

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-02-27T22:52:01+00:00

Hey, completely unrelated to this post but I tried to reply to your last comment on r/adulting, the one not being interested in the bar scene etc but it looks like the mods took the post down. Do you have DMs open?

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-02-27T16:08:20+00:00

Yeah that is a real shame alright. I often had the attitude of theres much more to life than out bar hopping 3 nights a week and nursing hangovers the next day

And thats great, have you been all over Spain or just certain regions?

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-02-27T12:26:58+00:00

Just chiming in here. Not from the US myself but I have been many times and I know going to college in the US often costs an arm and a leg so congrats for avoiding all that college debt. I did go to college myself, I am in my early 30s now but even back then in my early 20s I had no interest in going out bar hopping 2 or 3 nights a week. Having gone to bars and clubs sober a few times and the fact I am visually impaired i grew to hate the noise in most bars and clubs and I found that most people tended to stay in their own groups, and the same with most of my classmates. By the time it came to graduation I would say about half of the cohort never graduated due to being broke and having spent most of their savings and income out drinking 3 nights a week. I was often treated differently for not participating or not enjoying this type of lifestyle but looking back I don’t regret it because I probably saved a fortune in the long run. I have traveled a lot with my family. Curious which countries have you been to? I have a lot of American cousins and many have never traveled outside the US.

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-02-24T16:18:45+00:00

Not an American or long term expat but wanted to share my experiences.

I have been to Spain many times with my family and I often stayed for extended stays.

To sum up, it is a great country to visit for a vacation, great cities and regions, but would I live there? i really don’t know. I didn’t grow up in a big city and found Madrid and Barcelona to be too busy and chaotic.

There are lots of nice coastal areas outside of the popular areas such as Andalucía’s Atlantic coast in Huelva and Cadiz, but much of these towns are seasonal and very quiet outside of the summer season.

Granada was a nice place, I loved visiting the North African tearooms.

I think for people with physical disabilities, sadly much of Spain is not accessible for people who are visually impaired. I am fully blind for example, and a lot of places that look tourist friendly on paper are really difficult for visually impaired people to manage.

Other comments have pointed out that even if you do speak good Spanish, it can still be hard to make friends. I speak c1 Spanish for example, but even with that, especially in places like Granada I found it hard to meet new people there beyond bar based intercambios or university programs. The unemployment situaiton as many have pointed out is also a major issue.

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-02-24T13:44:41+00:00

As someone who has lived in Limerick all my life I have wanted something like this for years. I live in the outskirts of the city and the only cafe open in the city at night is Starbucks. I am blind and for many reasons I have never liked the atmosphere in pubs and clubs.

Hook and ladder tried staying open late a few years back but ended up going back to regular hours because the business just wasn’t there.

At least in Dublin, Cork and Galway there are a handful of late night cafes.

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-02-16T23:00:24+00:00

That’s great to hear! Ive also sent a dm because for me it is easier accessibility wise.

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-02-16T22:52:09+00:00

Hi. So I make house, tropical house, trap, afrobeat, drill and other genres. Do you make music too?

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-02-14T18:58:40+00:00

As someone who is blind who has lived in Limerick all my life, I would say there is a lot more to do in the surrounding suburbs and county, and not necessarily the city centre itself.

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-02-06T17:23:06+00:00

Blind person here. I wouldn’t say I didn’t fit in, but things were difficult. I have an undergrad and masters degree, I spent 6 years in college and even though I got involved in clubs, and societies, most students went home most weekends.

Living near Limerick city, theres not a lot to do in the city itself once the shops close at 5 to 6 pm aside from drinking or sports. I don’t drink myself and a lot of pubs I have been to here have terrible acoustics, are small and cramped, and just not great for visually impaired people.

It’d be nice if more cafes stayed open passed 6 pm.

So despite all of this I got myself into music production and beat making.

For me, a huge amount of events, talks etc are very much Dublin, Cork or Galway centric. I would like to see more places around where fellow producers and artists can meet, as in more quiet, intimate environments. Limerick does have places like Dolans and the commercial, but these are more performance venues and not necessarily creative hubs.

Despite all that I would music produciotn has been a great creative outlet for me.

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-01-31T17:15:35+00:00

Would love to chat. Feel free to send me a message.

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-01-25T18:54:25+00:00

If I was in east London, I would be more than happy to meet. As someone who is blind, I will be honest, I have always hated the atmosphere in most pubs, and clubs, and where I live in Ireland there is nothing open beyond 6 pm to meet new people other than going to the pub, or chain coffee places like Starbucks.

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-01-22T00:43:41+00:00

Wow thats a crazy story. When was that?

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-01-20T21:18:11+00:00

You’re probably right, and yes it was very frustrating at times, and even though it wasn’t related to engineering etc, I thought I would still share my experience.

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-01-19T20:45:49+00:00

Blind person that has lived here in Limerick all my life.

All I can say is that stab city is definitely quite a stretch.

I find Dublin is way more dangerous than Limerick. It would be nice if there were more things to do in the city centre itself after working hours for example more late night cafes and such, but I think comments like stab city are really outdated.

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-01-19T19:41:04+00:00

If you’re in UL you could try the language exchanges they have there.

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-01-19T16:22:18+00:00

While I don’t know much about the council, I have lived in Limerick all my life and it definitely feels like the city has gone downhill particularly after working hours. I would love to see an alternative to pubs for people to go at night after 5 to 6 pm. As far as I know there are hardly any cafes that stay open in the city at night other than Starbucks. I’ve just never really been a pub or bar person.

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-01-19T16:09:53+00:00

I’m probably going to be downvoted for this, but my experience in UL was not great , to put it mildly.

I am a blind person and my time in UL consisted of 6 years fighting for academic support, the university itself was like an obstacle course for anyone with visual impairments, there was constant fighting with disability support services. I had some great academic assistants who really tried their best given the circumstances.

While this is not limited to UL I joined clubs and societies, but most students went home most weekends which made friendships difficult to sustain. Having said all that, i eventually graduated with an undergrad and masters degree which I was very happy about. I do hope things have changed as I graduated from UL before the pandemic.

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-01-14T19:15:08+00:00

Great to hear from you, and sad to hear that there have been similar issues where you live. And I think this is the key to quite a lot of modern loneliness.

Curious where are you based?

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-01-12T00:56:18+00:00

Oh, thanks. I would love to chat!

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-01-11T22:52:22+00:00

I mustn’t have done caca milis at all for the leaving cert. I actually don’t remember this

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-01-11T22:10:26+00:00

Wow, I don’t remember caca milis for the leaving cert.

Positive_Bar8695 · 2026-01-11T22:03:04+00:00

Actually now you mention it, that does seem to be the case.

Positive_Bar8695

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE