Experience report
Name: Anna Samotycha
E-mail: anna.samotycha@gmail.com
Exchange semester: Spring
Academic year: 2013/2014
Host University: Universidad Pontificia de Comillas (ICADE), Madrid
Country: Spain
When I arrived to Madrid for the first time, I took a taxi from the airport to my hostel, which cost
approximately € 30. From there I was organizing the viewings of rooms. The university provided the
incoming students with a quite extended list of landlords who had one or several apartments for rent,
but also websites like idealista.es, pisocompartido.es and segundamano.es were quite helpful in my
search for a new place to live. I found my center-located room on idealista.es and arranged the
viewing already before my arrival. After viewing some more flats, I signed the contract and moved in
within 3 days after my arrival. Even though housing in Madrid is not very cheap, it is quite affordable
compared to other major European cities. A middle-sized room in the center costs between € 400500, outside starting from € 300. A quite decent studio apartment can be found for €600-750 including
the bills, price depending on the location. The deposit is normally 1-1.5 month rent, but there are little
documents (prove of income etc.) required by the landlords. I think the best way to find a suitable
place to live is to compare the prices on the Internet and arranging a few viewings a couple of days
before arrival. Facebook can be really helpful with that.
Madrid itself is really a city that never sleeps. There is an unlimited amount of bars, cafés and
nightclubs, which are almost all constantly full (even during the weekdays!). With thousands and
thousands Erasmus students around, you will never get bored. Prices however, vary strongly from
place to place. A drink in an average nightclub for example costs between €10 and 15, while there are
also places like 100 Montaditos and El Tigre, where one can eat and drink for € 5 altogether. Luckily it
is quite easy to get to know the city (it is very logically designed), so everybody will find his favorite
places within a short time.
Besides the fun part, Madrid is also a very cultural place. Museums like Reina Sofia and Museo del
Prado have works of the world’s greatest artists and places like Palacio Real and Templo de Deboda
are examples of the finest architecture. From the rooftop of Circulo de Bellas Artes one can overlook
the whole Madrid, which is absolutely one on the most stunning views ever.
Another great thing about the city, which makes life a lot easier, is its metro. It’s affordable, really
extended, with a lot of lines and stations, but really easy to understand (at first look!). Thanks to that
and the simplicity of the city itself, you will find your way from one place to another in no time.
People of Madrid are friendly, helpful and outgoing. However, they tend to walk really slowly which
can be annoying at times on the overcrowded main streets like Gran Via. The best and only way is
just to adjust. Luckily, as the streets are full of people day and night, Madrid is a very safe place to
live. During my 7 month stay I hadn’t experienced any difficulties, nor heard about any unpleasant
events. I would even dare to say that I felt more comfortable and safe there than in Tilburg (perhaps
good information for parents!).
The faculty of business and law is located in the center; the social sciences are in Campus
Cantoblanco just outside of Madrid (reachable by cercanías).
I am quite positive about the University itself. It is quite small and even though the central organization
can be a little bit confusing at times (but not as extremely as one may expect), it is also less
bureaucratic than Tilburg University, which makes it easy to arrange things in more informal way, for
example directly with the professors.
The groups are small, which makes education personal. I was lucky to be thought by some great,
passionate professors which made the classes really interesting. I would definitely recommend the
subjects Economics of the European Union and the Spanish Economía Mundial. I chose them to get
some background in Economics in addition to my regular law program and it was definitely a good
choice. The classes were great, of a good level and added significantly to my general knowledge.
Also the Spanish language course was very good and helped me to increase my level very rapidly.
There is lot of choice in English courses, but with an intermediate level of Spanish one can also easily
follow the Spanish-taught ones. It can seem hard at the beginning, but it is definitely worth the
challenge.
In general, the system of teaching is slightly different than the one in Tilburg. There are more exams
and assignments during the semester, some courses grade the participation and the final exam is just
a part of the final note. This prevents a huge workload in the exam period, but also demands more
organization during the ‘normal’ weeks.
What needs to be mentioned is that Comillas is a very elite university. Thanks to that the level of
education is much higher than the Spanish average, but the student culture also differs a lot from
Tilburg University. However, the students are very nice, motivated and helpful.
The university organizes a lot of social activities, from workshops (drama, photography) to
conferences (during my exchange semester given by the British ambassador and the Spanish
minister of finance) and trips (like Toledo, Aranjuez or Granada). All of them are really helpful to get to
know new people and the Spanish culture.
Most exchange students in Madrid tend to travel a lot. There are plenty of interesting things and
events to see across the country (from Alhambra, Barcelona, Easter in Sevilla, Fallas in Valencia,
Segovia, sunny Mediterranean to wild shores of Asturias). Buses and rental cars are affordable and
there are also many national Ryanair flights from Madrid, which makes it almost impossible to not to
explore the beautiful Spain.
Also the Spanish culture is addictive. The people, as I already outlined, are really friendly, outgoing
and positive, despite the crisis (which is quite hard to see). They will be more than happy to tell you
about their country and traditions. Even though the Spaniards tend to ‘live the day’ (also known as the
mañana-mentality) and know less rush than here in the Netherlands, you probably won’t experience a
huge culture shock. People show up on time on the appointments (unless it’s a party), reply on emails quickly and you can arrange all kind of practical stuff really easily. Government institutions seem
to be bureaucratic, but luckily as an exchange student you don’t have to have any contact with them.
I look back at my exchange semester as the best period of my life. Everything, from people I’ve met,
to places that I visited, to my academic experience was fantastic. I would definitely recommend a
study period at Comillas, Madrid to everybody that wants to broaden their horizon and experience a
different way of living. You will be surprised how quickly you will adjust to the new environment and
feel at home. The only problem is that you will never want to come back.