Peruvian Immigrant in Barcelona Shares Insights on Spanish Education System and Integration Challenges

Spain continues to attract South American immigrants due to job opportunities, safety, and cultural affinity, but integration poses significant challenges. Erika, a Peruvian mother living in Barcelona for one year, uses TikTok to share her family's educational and cultural adaptation experiences. She notes that public schools in Barcelona provide a higher level of education than public schools in Peru and are comparable to Peru's private institutions. However, her son Thiago faced a confusing placement process; though he had completed first year of secondary school in Peru, he was placed in sixth grade in Spain based on age. Ultimately, the curriculum matched his previous schooling, easing adjustment.

Language barriers remain the biggest hurdle. Erika emphasizes the difficulty her children had adapting to Catalan-language classes and her own struggles during parent-teacher meetings conducted in Catalan. She highlights this linguistic challenge as one of the most pronounced obstacles for immigrant children in Spanish schools.

Erika's candid account sheds light on the nuanced realities South American families face during educational integration in Spain—balancing improved academic standards with linguistic and cultural adaptation hurdles.