Can you use it?
Barcelona Activa runs several services under one name, and they do not all have the same door. Find the one you want, then read the papers column before you travel.
- Open whatever your papers
- Wants a NIE or NIF
- Only through a referral
Labour rights advice
Open to anyone- Who it is for
- The service’s own page says it plainly: anyone, regardless of where they live or their administrative status. Free legal advice on employment law and social security, in person or by phone, run with the CCOO and UGT unions.
- Papers
- None stated. This is the one Barcelona Activa service that says in writing that your status does not matter.
- Start here
- Call and ask for the Punts de Defensa dels Drets Laborals.
+34 900 533 175 Mon–Fri 9.00–18.00
What the service covers ↗
Careers guidance
Wants a jobseeker registration- Who it is for
- People looking for work or changing career. A 30-minute first appointment, in person or online, then ongoing support with an adviser if you want it.
- Papers
- The page tells you to “remember the importance of being registered with the Employment Service of Catalonia as a jobseeker”. That registration needs a residence permit that allows you to work.
- Start here
- Book an appointment ↗
or [email protected]
Free courses and training
Enrolment wants a NIE or NIF- Who it is for
- Priority goes to people who are unemployed or looking for better work and who live in Barcelona or the metropolitan area. Living here is what counts, not where you were born.
- Papers
- Enrolling online goes through a Barcelona Activa account, and that registration form offers two document types, NIE and NIF. There is no passport option.
Walk in and ask
No appointment- Who it is for
- Anyone who wants to know what Barcelona Activa has and which part of it fits them. Seven points across the city, listed further down this page.
- Papers
- Nothing is asked for to walk in and ask a question. The papers question starts with whatever they refer you on to.
- Start here
- The seven points and their hours
Pròxim — help if you can be regularised
Referral only- Who it is for
- People without papers who meet the conditions for regularisation, and people who held a NIE and lost it. Legal help with the application and a work plan, with one named caseworker throughout.
- Papers
- This is the route built for people who have none — but you cannot sign yourself up. A municipal service has to refer you.
- Start here
- Go to SAIER and ask about Pròxim. SAIER is first on its list of referrers.
SAIER, on this page · What Pròxim does ↗
Starting a business
Session open to anyone- Who it is for
- Anyone with a business idea. The welcome session runs every weekday, morning and afternoon, in person, streamed, or online whenever you want.
- Papers
- Nothing to attend. Actually registering a business in Spain is an immigration question before it is a business one — ask SAIER’s free lawyer first.
Unverified: whether the walk-in points ask to see a document before they will talk to you. No Barcelona Activa page says either way, and this guide is not going to guess. If you are worried about it, the labour rights line above answers on the phone and asks nothing.
The papers question, in full
Three different documents get asked for at three different doors, and they are not the same thing. Knowing which is which saves an argument at a counter.
The padrón
Registering as a resident of the city. You can do it with no papers at all — Barcelona City Council says so in as many words. It is what proves you live in Barcelona, and living in Barcelona is the condition Barcelona Activa’s free training actually states. It is the most useful document on this list and the easiest to get. How to register →
A NIE or NIF
The foreigner identification number, or its Spanish equivalent. The Barcelona Activa online account asks for one of these two and offers nothing else — no passport, no other document. So the online route into courses and appointments is shut without one.
Registration as a jobseeker with the SOC
The Servei Públic d’Ocupació de Catalunya keeps the register of people looking for work, and the careers guidance page points you at it. Getting on that register needs a residence permit that allows you to work, so it is the furthest door of the three.
What this adds up to. If you have no papers yet, two things here are still genuinely yours: the labour rights advice line, which says your status does not matter, and Pròxim, which exists for exactly your situation but has to be opened by SAIER. Everything else will ask.
Where you can walk in
The Initial Attention Service — someone who listens to what you need and sends you to the right part of the organisation. No appointment. These are its seven points and the hours it keeps at each.
- Porta22 · Barcelona Activa headquartersCarrer de la Llacuna 162-164Monday to Friday, 8.30 to 18.00Sant Martí
- El Convent · youth servicePlaça de Pons i Clerch 2Monday to Friday 10.00–14.00; Monday to Thursday also 16.00–18.00Ciutat Vella
- Sants-Montjuïc ActivaCarrer de la Constitució 19Monday to Friday, 9.00 to 13.00Sants-Montjuïc
- Nou Barris ActivaCarrer de Vilalba dels Arcs 39-41Monday to Friday, 9.00 to 13.00Nou Barris
- Sant Andreu ActivaCarrer de la Residència 13-15Monday and Wednesday, 9.00 to 15.00Sant Andreu
- Eixample district officeCarrer d’Aragó 311Tuesday and Thursday, 9.00 to 13.00Eixample
- InnoBA Ca n’AndaletPassatge d’Andalet 11Tuesday and Thursday, 9.00 to 13.00Horta-Guinardó
Porta22 is the big one — the headquarters, open all day, and the only point staffed from 8.30 in the morning to 6 in the evening. The district points keep short mornings, so check the day before you travel. The council’s own list and map ↗
Not printed here on purpose: nearest metro stations. Barcelona Activa does not publish them and this guide is not going to invent them. Put the street address into a maps app, or call +34 900 533 175 and ask.
What language it runs in
In person, expect Spanish and Catalan. Barcelona Activa says it directly: the service points will assist you in Spanish and Catalan, and if you want information in English you should call +34 900 533 175. Read that as what it is — English is a phone service here, not a counter service.
- The website has a full English version, and the course calendar and service pages are all readable in it.
- The business welcome session runs in Catalan, Spanish and English, and you can choose the language when you pick a session. It is the one part of Barcelona Activa with English built into the timetable rather than bolted on.
- Individual courses list their own language. Check the entry in the calendar before you enrol; most run in Catalan or Spanish.
Could not establish: whether Barcelona Activa provides an interpreter for an appointment if you ask in advance. Nothing on the site says so either way. SAIER does provide interpreting, with a condition — see below.
Free training worth the trip
Short, free courses in the sectors the city says are hiring. Several of them are the sectors our community already works in, which makes them a route to a contract rather than a change of life.
| Sector | Why it may matter to you |
|---|---|
| Economy of care | Care work, formalised. The training the sector asks for when it hires on a contract rather than in cash. |
| Visitor economy and hospitality | Hotels, kitchens, front of house. |
| Commerce | Shops and customer-facing retail. |
| Logistics | Two strands: warehouse and administration, and transport. |
| Life and health sciences | Healthcare support roles. |
| Green and circular economy | Energy and water, and housing. |
Full list and current dates: sector reskilling ↗. Questions go to [email protected].
Cibernàrium — the IT academy
Barcelona Activa’s technology training arm runs free, certified programmes of about eighteen weeks in web programming, data analysis and cyber security. It is a real retraining route rather than a taster. Cibernàrium ↗
Unverified: Cibernàrium’s street address, opening hours and entry requirements. Its site did not return them to a plain read. Ask on +34 900 533 175.
Starting a business
The way in is a single welcome session, and everything else unlocks behind it.
- Attend the welcome session. Weekdays, mornings and afternoons, in person at facilities around the city, live-streamed, or on demand online. Choose Catalan, Spanish or English.
- You are given a PIN code at the end. That code is the key: it lets you book a meeting with the business advisers, enrol on Barcelona Activa courses, and use the online business-plan tool.
- Then take the immigration question to a lawyer, free, at SAIER. Attending costs nothing and asks nothing. Registering as self-employed in Spain depends on holding a permit that allows you to work for yourself, and that is a legal question about your own situation — not something a website should answer for you.
If the answer here is no
SAIER is the city service that helps anyone living in Barcelona with immigration, and it is free. It is also the service that can open Pròxim for you. If a Barcelona Activa door was shut in the ladder above, this is the next one to try.
| Where | Carrer de Tarragona 141, 08004 Barcelona |
|---|---|
| Walk in without an appointment | Monday to Friday, 9.00 to 15.00, but only if your situation is urgent — a pressing social or legal need, or serious vulnerability. First come, first served, and there is a fixed number of places each day, so go early in the morning. |
| Everything else | Book online. The first appointment is a phone assessment, and that call decides which specialist you see next. Request an appointment ↗ |
| Phone appointment hours | Monday to Thursday 9.00–15.00 and 16.00–19.00; Friday 9.00–15.00 |
| Contact | +34 931 532 800 · [email protected] |
What it does not do
- It does not place you in a job. It advises, trains, and introduces — the hiring is still done by employers. Its own figures for 2023 record 31,828 people served by employment services and 1,093 hires through its matching service, which is the honest ratio to expect.
- It is not an immigration service. Nothing at Barcelona Activa regularises your status. Pròxim is the exception, and it is opened by SAIER.
- It does not check whether an employer is treating you lawfully — unless you ask the labour rights service, which is exactly what that service is for.
Looking for actual vacancies? Barcelona Activa runs its own job board, and we keep a separate list of openings that suit this community.
Jobs on Juan More Chance → · Barcelona Activa job board ↗
Sources and checks · 9 September 2026
Original summaries by Juan More Chance, based on each service’s own published information. Juan More Chance is independent of Barcelona City Council and Barcelona Activa, and handles none of their applications. Requirements, timetables and course catalogues change — confirm on the official page before you travel.
- Barcelona Activa · Labour Rights Defence Points ↗
- Barcelona Activa · Initial Attention Service, points and opening hours ↗
- Barcelona Activa · career guidance, and the reminder to register with the SOC ↗
- Barcelona Activa · Inclusive Employability Service, who it is for ↗
- Barcelona Activa · Pròxim, and the list of agencies that can refer you ↗
- Barcelona Activa · sector reskilling, free short training ↗
- Barcelona Activa · personal-area registration form ↗
- Barcelona Activa · welcome session for starting a business ↗
- Barcelona International Welcome · Welcome Desk, and who it is aimed at ↗
- Barcelona International Welcome · activities programme ↗
- Barcelona City Council · SAIER ↗
- Barcelona City Council · SOAPI, district welcome sessions ↗
- Ley 14/2013 · the law the Welcome Desk uses to define who it serves ↗
Three things this page deliberately does not do: tell you whether you personally qualify for a course, tell you whether you can be regularised, and tell you whether you may register a business. Those depend on your own documents, and the free lawyer at SAIER is the person to ask.