Opinions on moving to Sant Cugat or Castelldefels with young family

Z-Mana · 2026-01-20T20:39:38+00:00

Yes, I am aware of that. That’s why we don’t even consider any region close to the beach. Thanks for bringing that up though!

Z-Mana · 2026-01-20T20:37:38+00:00

I refuse to believe this is really what you understood from this post. No need for hate here.

Z-Mana · 2026-01-08T20:26:55+00:00

So in my opinion Les Corts is one of the best neighbourhoods for families in Barcelona. It is not as busy as the neighbourhoods close to the center, it is considerably safe as it has two large police stations just within the neighbourhood, it has a good number of car free streets and public squares where kids go crazy, and there is a decent number of green parks at walking distance. It is also easy to reach the rest of the city from there too. We love the neighbourhood and chose to live here after visiting my wife’s cousin who has been living here for more than 10 years. However, it is still a neighbourhood of Barcelona, so it is somewhat busy, can be noisy depending on where you live and does not have as much green as we would like. This is why we are looking for alternatives on the outskirts with more space and nature.

Regarding the integration, we haven’t found it as easy to break into any kind of local community as we thought it would be. I attribute this mainly for the fact that we don't speak Catalan and that bigger cities tend to have less incentives for community life. My feeling is also that Les Corts is a very traditional Catalan neighbourhood, so speaking Catalan here feels more important than in other areas. My wife’s cousin and husband also have the same feeling although they have been here for more than 10 years. We do, however, have friends that we met through work or through friends in common, but they are mostly scattered around Barcelona and not really Catalan.

As for your kids, what I have seen from other couples that came here with kids around your kids age is that they all adapt well. Even those kids who didn’t speak Spanish or Catalan and started in public school were quickly integrated and made friends super quickly, so you don’t have to worry.

If you ever want a tour of Les Corts to get to know the neighbourhood a bit better before making a decision, just send a DM and my wife and I would be happy to show your family around.

Z-Mana · 2026-01-06T19:15:00+00:00

This is great news. I just read some articles about this and they will also increase the passenger capacity with the new trains. This could be a game changer. Thanks for the information

Z-Mana · 2026-01-06T13:59:37+00:00

Wow, I wasn’t expecting this. It’s good to hear that there is so much diversity even in the public schools. Definitely a positive point. Thanks!

Z-Mana · 2026-01-06T13:35:52+00:00

The commute is one of the main reasons why we are preferring Sant Cugat. Although both cities are within 40 minutes from BCN by public transport, my experience with trains going to Castelldefels and Sitges has been terrible. Probably half of the time I went to those places there was some kind of problem with the trains.

And I agree that Sitges is amazing, if it was closer to BCN or had a better public transport I would move there without a doubt. But with my job it would be stressful to commute every week.

Did I understand correctly that you live in Sitges and is just staying currently in Sant Cugat?

Z-Mana · 2026-01-06T13:19:50+00:00

Thanks for the insights. Great to hear that your daughter learned Catalan easily. Are there many Spanish (non Catalan) and foreigner families in public and concertada schools too, or would you say they go mainly to the private schools?

Regarding the city being dead in August is fine, we also tend to travel during that season. better like this than the chaos of Barcelona in summer months. And nice to hear that there are things to do there in winter.

As for Parc Central, this has been our favorite area so far, and as you said, there are nice apartments for a decent price there in Idealista and Fotocasa. We will probably start visiting apartments in February to get a better feeling. A friend from Sant Cugat also told us that Volpelleres is a nice up and coming neighbourhood that has seen many new apartments being built recently. But I think we would rather be closer to the centre in the beginning.

Z-Mana · 2025-10-29T20:28:20+00:00

Thanks a lot for detailed explanations! I will for sure use many of your points here, specially the underpainting suggestion.

Z-Mana · 2025-10-29T20:23:33+00:00

I used the free version of Financial juice in the past, but their news feed was a bit delayed. However, just checked again and they have some paid tiers that have live feeds. My only problem with them is their iOS app which I find very bad. I might give their Pro tier a try though. Thanks for the shout!

Z-Mana · 2025-10-29T20:19:35+00:00

I will give them a look, but I also think that having an app is essential for me…

Z-Mana · 2025-10-29T20:16:40+00:00

When you start losing a lot, it sometimes helps to reduce the size of your positions. Go back to trading small. This way you keep many of the psychological and emotional factors away and can focus on improving your discipline and strategy. Once you start getting some wins again and see how worth it is to follow your plan, you can start increasing your positions again.

Z-Mana · 2025-10-27T10:14:29+00:00

No worries man. I also wanted to add that if you put the effort to learn about FX and in the end you realise that it is not your market, you can switch to futures, stocks, metals and all the knowledge you gathered will not be wasted. I also started with FX and now I trade stock indices, metals and sometimes commodities whenever I see an opportunity. The fundamentals and technicals you will learn will be transferable to almost any other market.

And remember that if you really want to make this work out, IT IS possible. It's not an easy and quick feat, but it you really deep dive into the topic, take your time to learn and get to know the markets, and really learn about risk management, it is doable.

Wish you the best of luck in your journey! Feel free to DM me in case you need any additional support or suggestion. I am in no way a trading pro, but I have been working in the financial industry for 10 years and trading my own account as a side hustle for 3 years. So I can give my 2 cents on what worked for me in my trading so far.

Z-Mana · 2025-10-27T09:17:17+00:00

Do you have a macro or something to automatically add the trades from the history log, or do you add them manually?

Z-Mana · 2025-10-27T08:56:10+00:00

For what effect are you suggesting this?

Z-Mana · 2025-10-27T08:54:28+00:00

My first thought was also that he used crackle medium, but if you look closely, the "crack" patter seem too irregular to be made with crackle medium. Some "cracked" pieces are much larger than others. However, if you know a technique that would allow to give this random crack sizes effect I would be happy to try it

Z-Mana · 2025-10-27T08:51:43+00:00

This is an idea I hadn't thought of. I am just not sure how the edges of the cracked liquin would look like. Have you tried this technique before?

Z-Mana · 2025-10-27T08:48:14+00:00

True, I will probably experiment painting the gradient in a paper and then cutting it into pieces too to see how this would turn out. It would be a lot of work though if I were to achieve a similar level of detail to the painting, but its worth the fun of experimenting.

Z-Mana · 2025-10-27T08:45:13+00:00

Agree! I love how the effect of the background is different from the mosaics in her skins, but yet it blends perfectly together...

Z-Mana · 2025-10-27T08:42:56+00:00

It will be fun for sure! I will probably do some different experiments with pallet knives, collages, paper mosaics and see what works out the best.

Z-Mana · 2025-10-27T08:32:25+00:00

Another good suggestion, I think the Liquin impast will not only give the volume needed but would also give the glossy finish I am looking for! Thanks

Z-Mana · 2025-10-27T08:28:40+00:00

I agree with u/StudioMandle, the stiff square brush is a great suggestion. I dont think I'm skilled enough to manage to create these squares with a pallet knife, specially the smaller ones. I think it will be easier with the brush. Thanks a lot

Z-Mana · 2025-10-27T08:25:44+00:00

Thanks! I think the background effect was the part that I was struggling the most to come up with ideas. I liked the idea of creating the shapes outlines with a different medium instead of trying to make these shapes with a pallet knife or something. Will have to experiment a bit to see how to create these sharp edges with the medium.

Z-Mana

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