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Expat life in Nijmegen: Eduardo, Spain

In the series "Expat Life in Nijmegen", expats talk about their lives in the Netherlands' oldest city. How did they end up here? What do they do in daily life here and what do they think of the city and its surroundings? 

Here's the story of Eduardo from Spain...

"I’m originally from Spain – I was born in Madrid – but I moved to Nijmegen for work. At the moment, I’m an industrial engineer for NXP, a semiconductor company. I moved in December 2019, so I’ve been living here for exactly five years now.

Before moving to the city, I didn’t know Nijmegen. But I found it to be a nice place. In a way, it reminds me a bit of a city where I used to live in Spain – not Madrid, but a place in La Rioja, which is a bit north of Madrid. Nijmegen also has a cozy city center with a lot of traditional buildings.

There are, of course, differences between living in Spain and living in the Netherlands. The social life, for example. That’s really what you notice first. In Spain, you have a lot of traditional bars where people go and just hang out – I wouldn’t say every day, but two, three times a week. Nijmegen has a lot of places to hang out too, the terrasses for example, but in the Netherlands, it’s way pricier to go out that often.

One thing that really surprised me was, funnily enough, the traffic lights. In the beginning, I didn’t know why they activated and deactivated the way they did. I eventually found out that they identify the cars and bicycles – so they’re intelligent. It was strange adapting to that at the beginning, but now, when I’m going back to Spain or I visit Germany, I prefer the Dutch traffic lights to the time-based ones.

I just moved a few months before Covid hit, so meeting people was tough at the beginning. But after Covid, it was an explosion of new people, new expats, coming in. Since then, we have become kind of a big family.

If I could a tip to any expat coming to the city, I’d say: join an expat group to meet people. There are plenty of groups – and plenty of opportunities. Maybe go to the library every Thursday to, maybe not get fluent, but start learning Dutch. That’s where I started, and it helps making the first steps. Learning Dutch wasn’t easy for me, but I think it’s worth it. I think if I hadn’t learned Dutch, I would have moved back to Spain years ago. You need the language to feel integrated and to communicate."

More expat stories - Life in Nijmegen

Studying & working in Nijmegen

Nijmegen has a lot to offer in terms of studying, working and business. The oldest city in The Netherlands is also one of the largest student cities in the country. The city presents itself as a leading global player in solving social issues and problems. With its significant position in the Health & High Tech sector, Nijmegen belongs to the international top when it comes to improving the quality of life, healthcare and the development of high-quality technology for various social applications.

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