I did my ERASMUS internship in a research group on plant ecology in Almería, Spain in November of 2023.

Originally, I wanted to study in Spain via a ‘normal’ ERASMUS, however, all of the partner universities asked for a B1 Spanish level already at the timepoint of the application. I didn’t have that level so I had to search for other ways to go abroad. After some more research I found out about the opportunity of an ERASMUS internship and I realized that this option was a much better fit for me. I wanted to gain further insights into scientific research before doing my master thesis, wanted to go abroad, and learn a different language.

For an ERASMUS internship you ‘just’ have to get an agreement with the hosting organization/enterprise etc. as long as they are willing to take you, you don’t have to have a minimum level of f.e. Spanish. Also, from my experience, the organization was a lot easier at the central ERASMUS internship office compared to my department’s application process (biology). So, when I decided I wanted to do an ERASMUS internship, I asked professors and other teaching personal and members of the research groups if they’d have connections to interesting research groups in Spain. In the end, I decided to go to the Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (EEZA) in Almería in the south of Spain.
The research center called EEZA (Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas) is part of the official research centers of the Spanish government and is governed by the CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas). The research focus of the EEZA is on the ecology of arid zones their conservation and sustainable use. It is located on the campus of the university of Almería (UAL) but is an independent institution. Nevertheless, researchers of the EEZA usually collaborate with their colleagues at the university. Its independence from the university also explains the relatively small number of students, as there is thus just a smaller influx of students. There are some PhD students, but there are almost no bachelor’s or master’s students other than the occasional ERASMUS students doing an internship. The institute has a second branch in the city center which is a facility containing a big breeding program of extinct or threatened antelope species. Other than that, there does not exist a specific focus on model organisms even though there are some reoccurring species for birds and plants other than the antelopes for the mammals. Furthermore, another focus is the analysis of soils and its microbiota. In general, the institute is especially adapted for field work, all laboratories that are necessary for basic analyses (and also some more specific ones) are available. However, something like big greenhouses is missing (although there are climate chambers). For the field work, the institute has some specific experimental areas and maintains a car pool with jeeps and off road vehicles.
I worked on a research project that was designed based on earlier collaborations at the EEZA of my supervisors, mainly during a PhD thesis. Afterwards, one of the researchers went to Germany where I got to know her and we returned to the EEZA to follow and develop this research strain further.
The first experiment I conducted was a field experiment on the effect of facilitation, microplastics, and their combination on communities of annual plant communities in drylands. After leaving the communities to grow in the drylands, the experiment was ‘harvested’. Following this, we took different measurements in the laboratory e.g. on respiration, root traits, soil pH and conductivity and gas exchange (photosynthesis rates) of one species.
Afterwards, a second experiment was planned also on the effect of facilitation, microplastics, and their interaction, but this time on the germination of selected annual species of drylands. This time the experiment was conducted in climate chambers in the institute and we measured the according traits like germination success and speed. Furthermore, I got to see various other projects in the institute and could take a look at different experiments in very different fields of work including field work on the long-term effect of management on urban grassland ecosystems, theoretical invasion theory, effects of nanoplastics on the physiology of crops, and biocrust formation in drylands.

Almería is a rather small town. Furthermore, the south of Spain tends to be a bit more conservative. Thus, there is quite a big difference to the offers compared to Berlin especially regarding more ‘alternative’ or specific shops, sports, cultural activities and so on (more on that in the regarding sections underneath the report).
Overall, I enjoyed my time in Almería at the EEZA a lot. The people are really nice and open and will help you learning Spanish or communicate with you in English if you don’t speak Spanish. There are a lot of interesting work groups and their researchers are more than happy to show you some of their work. It’s a bit harder to make friends in an age group of early to late 20s within the institute, however, the university is right next to the institute and you can get to know people there in language classes, sport courses, or one of the many different ERASMUS activities the local ESN group is organizing. And outside of the university there are even more options of course even though the city is small and doesn’t offer as many different things as Berlin does. Nevertheless, living at the Mediterranean Sea with almost no rainy days and a lot more hours of sun during the winter compared to Germany is also nice. Additionally, I was able to improve my level of Spanish even though the dialect in Andalusia can be strong, which was one of my goals. So, all in all, I’m really grateful for the opportunity to do this ERASMUS internship, I learnt a lot regarding professional skills, Spanish, and also I think it’s always a good opportunity to challenge yourself to experience something new. Therefore, in the end, I especially want to thank my supervisors and the ERASMUS internship office for all the support!

Tips for other Interns

Preperation

Speaking Spanish helps a lot to organize and communicate with the people, because not everyone speaks English. On the other hand, I wouldn’t discourage anyone without prior Spanish knowledge from going to research groups in Spain, because there the majority speaks Spanish. If you want to improve your Spanish you can take classes at the university, unfortunately you have to pay for them.

Visa application

As I have the German nationality I did not have to apply for a visa in Spain.

Search for an internship

I talked to the German research group in which I worked before if they’d have any connections to other research groups in Spain. One of the researchers did have collaborators in Spain that were open to host me.

Search for an Apartment

In Spain in general, searching for flat usually works via applications like “WG-gesucht” etc. The biggest one is called “Idealista” and has by far the most offers. Afterwards, there are also

“Milanuncios” and “Wallapop”, but these applications are rather like “Ebay” and more for buying something second hand. Furthermore, there are agencies that you can contact and lastly there are ERASMUS group chats on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and so on where you can find other ERASMUS students looking for another room mate. Especially due to the distance, finding a flat can be hard. There are numerous scams where you have to pay the caution of a flat before hand and there is no flat available when you turn up etc. However, finding an apartment in Almería takes a lot less time compared to Berlin. Also, the prices are much lower. Therefore, I would advise you to take a AirBNB, Hostel, Hotel for the first couple of days and take a look at different flats to ensure that you won’t get scammed (Watch out there are also some AirBNBs that are scams).

Here the owner of the flat or sometimes an agency will offer a flat/a room in a flat. Sometimes you get the opportunity to get to know your roommates, sometimes not, that’s very normal. Therefore, some foreigners try to rent an entire flat and look for ‘Untermieter’ themselves. From what I heard this is illegal or at least more regulated compared to Germany.

Also, it is very normal that the landlords do not answer on the application itself, but usually they will add their phone number and respond to texts on WhatsApp right away. Afterwards, they will usually let you visit the flat. In general, because most of the landlords do not care too much about the group dynamics of their tenants it’s like a first come first serve scenario. I would advise that you inform yourself about what the landlords want (usually a contract of ERASMUS to make sure you will have the necessary financial support and a copy of your ID) so if you like the flat you can hand in everything straight away.

Another peculiarity of flats in Spain and especially in Almería is that the majority is already furnished. This is due to the fact that the majority of the flats is converted to AirBNBs during the summer (July and August). You should be aware of this beforehand as during this time usually landlords will just kick every student out of their flats. There are some flats that do not turn into AirBnBs especially in the city center, but you usually have to discuss this.

Insurance

I used the offer of the DAAD for an insurance in a foreign country, because it was the most inexpensive option as they offer special deals for ERASMUS students.

Formalities on site

Telephone/Internet

Usually, all flats already provide an internet connection, therefore you should have at least WIFI at home. Regarding your phone some ERASMUS students get another SIM in Spain, for some things this might even be necessary, because in some official situations your foreign phone number will not be accepted. However, personally during my entire stay I didn’t encounter a situation in which a Spanish phone number was absolutely necessary, and I ended up keeping only my German number. Because

of the situation in Europe, you will have the same service as in Germany (given that you have a phone number of a European state). Like in Germany WhatsApp is THE way to communicate. It might seem a bit shady at first but even smaller companies and landlords sometimes use it as their official media of communication (this doesn’t mean that there aren’t any scams especially regarding flats).

Bank-/Accountopening

As long as you have a European bank account you don’t need to open another and don’t have to pay extra fees for money transfers, but often you have to pay a small fee to extract cash.

You can open a Spanish bank account only with your European passport, nevertheless, the conditions are far from ideal and only a handful of bigger Spanish banks like “BBVA” can open these accounts.

Furthermore, they tend to oblige you to sign an insurance that goes with the account. To avoid this, you need to have the so-called NIE, which is a document for identification for foreigners. The entire procedure takes quite some time, but in general, you should get it anyways when you’re staying longer than 3 months in Spain. Also, having a NIE gives you the opportunity to have an official digital signature and some other things that can be really useful. In the end, it depends on the case if it’s worthwhile getting a NIE.

On another note, barely anyone here uses “Paypal” and the majority uses an application called “Bizum”, which works similarly. However, you can only open an account in “Bizum” with a number of banks which are majorly Spanish. So if you want to use this application you might need to open a Spanish bank account.

Everyday life/Leisure

Going-out activities

There are a lot of bars and restaurants that are quite inexpensive. Almería is one of the most affordable cities in Spain, however, it is also a small city in the rather conservative South of Spain therefore sometimes it is hard to find a vegetarian option. Vegan options can be even harder to find, especially if you’re going out because it is quite common that one cannot find out if dishes contain certain ingredients and also the staff doesn’t know sometimes and might not have heard about what is defined as being vegetarian or vegan. Nevertheless, the majority of the people will help you to find a suitable option and there are also traditional Tapas and dishes that are vegetarian or vegan and you can simply order those without having to discuss your dietary habits too much. Additionally, supermarkets do offer vegetarian and vegan options.

In the city there are some clubs and bars and especially the ERASMUS group organizes a lot of activities and parties.

Other

Regarding cultural activities there are some smaller museums on art, photography, and history. Some of them with changing expositions and the majority for free. Furthermore, there are some archeological sites from the period of the Muslim conquest like the ‘alcazaba’ and also some of the period of the civil war. Additionally, Andalusia is famous for its Flamenco and I would definitely recommend everyone an authentic Flamenco show (e.g. at La Guajira). Finally, of course there are also concerts, plays and so on.

Regarding the offer for sports Almería is surprisingly diverse for its size. Almería is situated directly at the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, therefore you can do basically any sport that is related to

water/beach. Furthermore, the mountains aren’t far away either so you can also do any sport related to mountains.

If you are flexible regarding the time period of your stay one of the most important factors could be the weather for. In general, the weather is very stable. Almería is located in an arid area and there are basically no rainy not even cloudy days, but there are from time-to-time days of very strong winds. The temperatures from late September until mid-November and from mid-April until the

beginning of June are nicest at 20 something °C in the day. During the ‘winter’ the temperatures drop a little further, but usually not further than 10 °C and you can even have some days of 20°C. But this also leads to many of the buildings not being built to reduce the cold. The majority is insulated poorly and often there are only small heating systems installed. During the summer on the other hand, which begins at the end of June and lasts until late September temperatures can become unbearable. The impact of the sea will prevent temperatures rising to more than upper 30 °C which are very common temperatures for cities further inland such as Cordoba or Sevilla. Usually, temperatures are around lower 30 °C, however, the solar radiation will make it very hard to stand and UV values of 9-11 are very normal during the day. The real problem of these temperatures is not during the day, because most shops, public transport, and other infrastructure like the university and also the EEZA have AC, but at night the temperatures will not drop under 25 °C. That means you

won’t experience lower temperatures than 25°C for three months which can be exhausting if you don’t have AC.

Due to its good weather Almería hosts a lot of tourists each year, nevertheless, one cannot compare it to other cities like Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia and even smaller cities like Alicante, Granada, Sevilla and Malaga have a lot more tourists. The tourist season lasts from July to the end of August. Regarding security, Almería is pretty secure in general. Thefts do happen e.g. leaving a good bike outside tends to be rather risky even when it’s locked. Also, I heard of some people being robbed at night, but the risk compared to other Spanish cities is comparatively low. Nevertheless, there are some areas that are a bit more dangerous like the neighbourhoods of las Pedrizas, la Chanca, and el Puche, but these areas are easy to avoid.