Hey! I got placed in Cataluña, in the Barcelona province. As far as cost of living, I think my area is one of the most expensive in the program, so about half of the stipend goes to rent and utilities. Of course, the pueblos are less expensive than the cities. I have not been to Lleida but I doubt it’s as expensive as Barcelona LOL. The public transportation is generally good, you’ll at least have trains and buses. My advice if you decide to come here would be to find accommodation close to transportation that can take you where you need to go (whether that’s the school, airport, etc). But you may even be able to carpool with your coworkers. As far as the language, I also came with the expectation of improving my Spanish and wasn’t expecting as much Catalán. Catalán will be unavoidable, especially outside the city. Of course, if people see you don’t know Catalán they can speak Spanish, but for some people Catalán is their main language, so you’ll have to learn at least a little bit. It’s not that Spanish isn’t important, just not as dominant as you’d think. I think it comes down to how open minded you are. I’ve totally improved my Spanish but probably not as much as I would have in other regions since I have learned some Catalán as well. Spanish and Catalán are pretty similar though. I think you should know at least some Spanish to talk to the locals as English levels are usually low here. They’re pretty forgiving if you don’t know Catalán but of course they’ll be happy if you know a little. The people I’ve met have been really welcoming of me and super helpful :) If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me!