Catalan Women: An Expat’s Guide to Dating (#1 Guide In 2020)

Updated October 2019 – This article about Catalan women is by Spain Secrets.

While Spain is well-known for beautiful women, they vary radically within the country. Among them, the Catalan women of Barcelona are independent, slim, and sexy. As a foreigner living in Barcelona, it’s taken me a while to learn the secret to getting Catalan women to open up, soften their tough exterior, and show their soft and feminine side.

So here you go – after four years of “research”, here’s the inside scoop on these Catalan beauties!

The Amazing Bodies of Catalan Girls

Slim. Long brunette hair. Long legs and small breasts. If that sounds good to you, then keep reading. If not, maybe check out Latina Girls.

Seriously, Catalan women know how to take good care of themselves. They are fit and impeccibly groomed in general. You will hardly see any overweight girls here. This is largely thanks to a healthy Mediterranean diet and an active culture.

Picture Penelope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”. Admittedly, she’s actually from Madrid—but her body is typical of girls here. And you should totally see this movie anyway- they might as well rename it, “How to have a threesome in Barcelona!”

Gaming Catalan Women

Because Catalans tend to meet people within their social circle, they’re very shy when it come to meeting new people outside of this. Especially foreign guys! This means the biggest hurdle you face is making them feel comfortable around you, and assuring them that you’re not dangerous.

If you meet through Tinder, she’s probably already open to meeting new guys. But honestly, most Catalan girls are not on Tinder, so you’ll do way better to meet them face-to-face.

I’ve done a lot of daygame in Barcelona and in smaller towns of Catalonia. If you can break through their two defenses—being bitchy or being scared—most Catalan girls will tell you that no one has ever stopped them on the street before to give them a compliment.

That’s because Catalan guys don’t daygame. They either slowly get to know a girl through mutual friends, or they hit the discotheque and let alcohol do all the work for them. Sure, you can go either of those routes, or you can jump the queue with daygame. That said, indirect game tends to have better results than being too strong and direct.

Warning! Feminism Is Strong In Barcelona!

Sorry guys, this isn’t Eastern Europe—most Catalan girls aren’t looking for a macho man to lead them around and let them cook for them. They are fiercely independent, and want to be treated as such.

Also, it’s much more common to see girls wearing jeans than dresses here.

On the bright side, this does mean that they don’t expect you to pay for everything on a date. The usual way here is to split the bill, either by paying for what you ordered or just dividing it by two. (For anyone who’s been in Russia and been out with girls who go on dates just to get a free meal, this will be a welcome change!)

So is it even worth dating Catalan women? Yes, definitely! And there are three types of girls to look out for here. (At least three that are worthwhile dating).

1. Normal Catalan Women
2. Alternative Catalan Girls
3. Expats / Tourists in Barcelona

Let’s break it down…

Normal Catalan Girls

Most girls are normal. They dress pretty conservatively, hiding hot little bodies underneath. And they tend to be shy. Unlike girls from Andalucia, the average Catalan girl is unlikely to hold your eye contact.  This is the biggest challenge of dating them. Simply by approaching them, you’re going to stand out, and they’re likely to see you as a sexual prospect. All you need to do therefore, is help them to relax in your presence.

The best dates are low key. It’s normal to start by inviting a girl for a casual drink. The phrase here is, “a tomar algo”, to drink something. This is great, because it doesn’t even lock you in to drinking coffee, or beer. It could roll either way!

If a date goes well with a typical Catalan woman, it all comes down to logistics. Being conservative by nature, they do not tend to respond well to being asked, “So, wanna come back to my place?”. 

It’s just way too direct. You gotta be subtle here. Even though you both know what’s likely to happen, you’re gonna need an excuse to get from the bar (the classic date venue) to one of your bedrooms.

Be warned, unless you meet a wealthy Catalan girl, almost all of them live in shared apartments. And being conservative, it’s not usually comfortable for them to bring a new guy home to their place, unless maybe it’s really late at night.

For all purposes, this usually means it’s much easier to find some excuse to invite her to your place. And to be honest, there’s no need to be super original with excuses—the classic ideas like having a bottle of wine at home, showing her a book or some music you have, or your amazing view are tried and true.

And clearly, don’t stay in a hostel gentlemen. Airbnb has plenty of affordable shagpads on offer. If you’ve traveled all the way to Barcelona, met a sexy Catalan women, and she wants to be alone with you—do you really want to be thinking, “But I’m staying in a hostel dormitory”?

Alternative Catalan Girls

Like anywhere, some girls just stand out. Alternative Catalan women are no exception. While they are rare, they are the God’s gift to men in Catalonia. Let me explain.

Firstly, you can spot them a mile away. Alternative girls dress very differently. They stand out from the crowd with lots of colors, with skirts or dresses showing lots of olive skin, and with multiple piercings. A choker-style necklace is a dead giveaway. And chances are she also smokes weed.

Even better, alternative Catalan girls are not shy. You can be direct with them and they love it. They tend to be flirtatious and attracted to foreign guys. So if you see one of these beauties, don’t let her slip through your fingers.

While this kind of girl is unlikely to be looking for a long-term steady relationship, what she can offer is likely to be fast and furious! Welcome to the spicy Mediterranean!

This kind of girl is unlikely to be worried about bringing you back to her place or even accepting an invitation to go directly to yours. Still, it never hurts to offer a token excuse for going. The best reasons are always something that you’ve already talked about. Maybe she has an unusual collection at home, or she showed an interest in something you have back at your apartment.

And a gram of the green stuff is bound to get an alternative Catalan wet as the Mediterranean sea!

Expats and Tourists in Barcelona

Barcelona is an international metropolis. People flock here for the sun, the great lifestyle, really good work opportunites, and the international vibe. There’s a thriving international / expat scene, and it’s easy to jump in fit into this. This makes it a great way to meet expat girls who are living here.

The best part about expat girls is that by moving abroad, they have self-selected themselves as adventurous, and open to meeting new people. If you don’t speak a word of Spanish, you may find it a whole lot easier to start dating expats.

Beyond expat’s, the tourism scene is frenetic in Barcelona. You can meet girls from all over the world, just by walking around the typical touristic areas like Las Ramblas and Plaza Catalunya. And if you’re daring enough to talk to bikini-clad girls on the beach, you’ll also find them all along Barceloneta.

Girls vacationing in Barcelona are looking for a good time. They’re practically waiting for a confident and fun guy to come and talk to them and invite them to have an adventure. Sure, most tourists are to be found in groups, but that’s great- you can meet all of them, and see who you click with.

One thing to avoid though. You don’t want to tag along with them as they do their tourist stuff. Or even worse, shopping! No way. Just meet them in the day, get their number, and arrange to meet up in the evening for a drink. That way, they can do their sight-seeing, you can do your thing, and then you both know what’s on the agenda for the evening. It’s definitely a date.

Catalan Women Versus (Other) Spanish Women

In personality, Catalans are most comparable to the Northern regions of the Basque Country and Galicia. They are all strong and independent. As I’ve said, this has its pros and cons.

By contrast, girls from Madrid are more classically feminine. Wearing dresses and high heels, they flaunt their beauty. And girls from Andalucia are even more vivacious. They tend to be extremely extroverted, laughing loudly and smiling to all the world.

Maybe it sounds like I’m too critical of Catalan women. Sure, maybe I wish they’d let go and be a bit more feminine at times. But on the positive side, they do tend to be really easy going. They’re not fussy and pretentious like say, a stereotypical French or Russian girl can be. They like beer, they like a good meal, and they like to laugh and have a good time. All these qualities make it joy to date Catalan girls.

Catalan Women: ONS, Open Relationships, Commitments, etc.

Girls are girls. From Boston to Barcelona and I suppose, even to Baghdad. That said, every culture has it’s own morals of social acceptability.

Here’s the deal:

In the big city of Barcelona, lots of girls are down for one-night-stands and casual flings. Even open relationships are not uncommon. As I said, Catalan women are easygoing. If you venture out of Barcelona to Catalunya profunda however, things get really conservative, really quickly. It’s not uncommon for people to marry their childhood sweetheart. But that’s another story…

So basically, women in Barcelona are modern and open to all kinds of relationships. If you’re the exciting foreigner visiting the city, they’re unlikely to be harbouring fantasies of settling down any time soon.

Summary: Do’s & Don’ts With Catalan Women

DO:

• Daygame, but don’t be too direct about it
• Expect them to be independently minded with strong opinions and feminist ideas
• Look out for “Alternative Catalan Girls”
• Expect sexy, slim brunettes

DON’T:

• Stay in a hostel or make your date logistics to complicated. Stay in the centre.
• Criticize the Catalan independence movement
• Waste your time sight-seeing and hoping that it leads to sex
• Scare off the shy Catalan girls with too much eye contact or strong direct game

Barcelona is a city that attracts young people from all over the world for its great lifestyle. Here, people love to go and and “pasarlo bien”, or have a good time. The Catalan women are no exception. While they may act independent and dress quite conservatively, underneath they are just girls who want an adventurous man to lead the way and show them a good time.

And they have smokin’ hot, tanned little bodies to boot!