At Barcelona SAE, the health, safety, and overall well-being of your students is our top priority. We understand our responsibility to design and operate programs that not only offer meaningful academic and cultural experiences, but also uphold the highest standards of preparedness, timely response and care.
We recognize that international education carries inherent risks. Our role is to proactively mitigate those risks while maintaining the transformative experience of study abroad, so that our students can explore, learn, and grow in a safe and supportive environment.
To do so, we follow industry-leading standards as outlined by the Forum on Education Abroad and NAFSA (Association of International Educators), ensuring our policies and protocols align with best practices in the field.
Our on-site Health & Safety Team and Crisis & Emergency Response Team is trained and equipped to respond to a range of incidents promptly, compassionately, and in close coordination with your institution’s designated contacts.
We monitor local and global events in real time, and our emergency phone is staffed 24/7 by members of our Barcelona-based team.
We also emphasize proactive student preparation, which starts with comprehensive pre-departure outreach and medical self-assessment followed by detailed orientations upon arrival, and safety reminders throughout the semester. These efforts ensure students understand local laws, customs, and emergency procedures, as well as how to navigate care abroad, including physical and mental health resources.
Our tiered response framework, developed internally and informed by global standards, enables us to calibrate our response appropriately to the nature and severity of any situation, always keeping our partner institutions informed and following their policies, with student well-being at the center of our decisions.
Our university partnership is grounded in collaboration, responsiveness, and student-centered care. As local experts in Barcelona, we are deeply committed to supporting our students with professionalism and compassion from arrival to departure.
CRISIS & EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM
Our 24/7 emergency phone is always carried by a trained Barcelona SAE team member and serves as the first point of contact for any urgent, time-sensitive emergency.
Our Crisis & Emergency Response Team works closely with onsite staff, students, and home institutions in the event of an emergency. The team:
- Meets regularly and mobilizes immediately when needed
- Monitors local and world events and developments
- Coordinates with U.S. university partners to align responses with institutional protocols
TIER SYSTEM & REPORTING
TIER 1: MINOR INCIDENTS THAT DO NOT NECESSARILY AFFECT THE HEALTH OR SAFETY OF THE PARTICIPANTS BUT IMPACT THEIR DAILY ROUTINE/LIFE.
Individual Incident:
- Losing a passport, losing personal items, a student being pickpocketed
- Mental health issues, feeling homesick
- Health concerns with no doctor visit
- Health concerns with a doctor visit for a problem that can be treated easily or is considered minor
- A student missing class, failing or almost failing a course, missing a mandatory orientation
- Death of a homestay, supervisor, professor, or anyone who is in contact with the participant during his/her/their time abroad (that is not close to the participant).
Wide-Scale:
- Non-violent strikes in Barcelona, taxi strikes, metro strikes, security control strikes at the airport, non-violent demonstrations, and marches.
- Severe abnormal weather alerts in Barcelona (heavy snow, heavy rain).
- A power cut in a Barcelona neighborhood
- A toxic gas explosion near Barcelona
TIER 2: AN INCIDENT THAT MAY PUT A STUDENT'S HEALTH AND SAFETY AT RISK, HOWEVER, NOTHING MAJOR HAS YET BEEN REPORTED BY PARTICIPANTS.
Individual Incident:
Any type of reported incident regarding a participant that needs evaluation and investigation by Barcelona SAE staff. This incident may put a student’s health and safety at risk.
- When it is necessary to visit a doctor, medical professional, or mental health professional (psychologist/psychiatrist/rheumatologist/etc…) for a problem that requires treatment or a follow-up visit/s
- Mental health crisis
- When a police report is made
Wide-Scale:
An isolated emergency that affects a small group of people, that happened either in Barcelona or in a large city in Europe, and there is a small likelihood that a participant is in the area.
- A major accident (plane/train) in Europe or Spain with injuries and/or casualties
- A major natural disaster (fire, earthquake) in Europe or Spain with injuries and/or casualties
- A terrorist attack in a European city, violent protests or demonstrations in Barcelona specifically in neighborhoods where we have participants
- Contagious disease in Catalonia but none of our participants are ill (that we know of)
- Robbery in a building where participants are living
TIER 3: INCIDENTS THAT ARE A SERIOUS RISK TO THE INDIVIDUAL OR OTHERS.
- A missing participant for more than 24h
- Missing participant for less than 24 hours, but with suspected danger or death (last seen in deep water/skiing/hiking/very intoxicated)
- The arrest of a participant
- Sexual Assault committed by a participant
- Serious accident or illness (car accident, drug overdose, heart attack, loss of consciousness, severe allergic reaction)
- Psychiatric emergencies (displaying disruptive or psychotic behavior, suicide attempts or threats, disruptive behavior due to drugs or alcohol)
- Assault of a participant leading to serious injury
- Sexual crime against a participant (Rape or sexual assault of a student, violence from an intimate partner)
Wide-Scale:
An incident that has a broad scope within Barcelona and/or Europe and it directly affects our participants’ health and safety.
- A major accident (plane/train/bus) and a participant is hurt
- Natural disasters (earthquakes, flooding, avalanche, severe/dangerous weather where participants are nearby and/or hurt, serious enough for the city/area to go on lockdown)
- Terrorist attack in Europe and we have participants that are nearby, hurt, or cannot travel back to Barcelona
- Violent protests in Barcelona and a participant is hurt
- A terrorist attack in Barcelona or in Spain
- Unrest or violence targeted towards Americans/our participants’ nationality or identity (violent protests or otherwise)
- Loss of electricity/water/resources in the area that requires an evacuation from the city
- Fire/gas leak that requires evacuation of participants (from housing, university…)
- A pandemic
TIER 4: HIGH-PROFILE EMERGENCY CASES RESULTING IN THE DEATH OF THE PARTICIPANT OR WHEN A PARTICIPANT IS ACCUSED OF HOMICIDE.
Individual Incident:
- A participant death
- The arrest of a participant accused of murder
Wide-Scale:
An incident that has caused deaths, such as:
- A major accident (plane/train/bus) resulting in participants’ death
- Natural disasters (earthquakes, flooding, avalanche, severe/dangerous weather) resulting in participants’ death
- Terrorist attack in Barcelona/Europe resulting in participants’ death
- Pandemic and some of our participants are casualties
OUR RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN
EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION
Our Emergency Communication Plan has been developed to protect the safety and well-being of all program participants, protect Barcelona SAE and its partners, and to inform all relevant stakeholders – home universities and families of participants.
Even with the complexity of events happening in multiple time zones, we pride ourselves on our ability to communicate accurately and efficiently with all relevant persons. The following outlines our procedure for reporting, responding and evaluating our response to crises that may impact any of our program locations.
DEFINITION OF A CRISIS/EMERGENCY
A crisis is an unexpected event or situation that requires immediate attention and action. The effects of these crises can often be minimized with proper planning and preparations. This can include anything from a natural disaster, political uprising, and terrorist attack to personal injury. These crises can affect the entire group or an individual, however, individual crises often have an impact on the entire group.
Major Crises
- Natural Disasters
- Terrorism
- War
- Political Emergencies
Individual Crises
- Life threatening accidents or illnesses
- Crimes against a student (rape, assault, mugging, etc.)
- Arrest of a student
- Death of a student
- Missing student
Crises in the U.S.
Events in the U.S. that are not physical threats to participants abroad (individual or major crises).
CONTACT INFORMATION
You can view contact information in the footer of our website for both the U.S. and Barcelona offices.
U.S. Office:
- Monday-Thursday: 9:00 AM–6:00 PM (ET)
- Email: advising@barcelonasae.com
Barcelona Office:
- Monday–Thursday: 9:00 AM–6:00 PM (CET)
- Friday: 9:00 AM–2:00 PM (CET)
- Closed on weekends and Spanish holidays
- Email: health@barcelonasae.com
If you need to reach us for a true emergency outside of office hours, you can call our 24 hour emergency phone at+34 675 23 56 56. Please note that this emergency phone is held by our Barcelona-based team and that Barcelona is typically 6 hours ahead of EST.
COMMUNICATION WITH PARTNERS
For Standard Barcelona SAE Programs:
- For Tier 1-2: The onsite team will communicate the situation with our US team through a detailed incident report. Our UR representative in the US will filter the incidents according to the severity and communicate accordingly in line with the university’s requirements.
- For Tier 3-4: The onsite team will notify the university immediately via email or phone.
For Faculty-Led Programs (CFLPS):
- For Tier 1-2: The onsite team will report the incident to the faculty onsite and open an incident report. The faculty will decide which incidents to communicate with the university.
- For Tier 3-4: The onsite team will notify the faculty immediately, and report the incident to the University.
“The Barcelona SAE staff was AMAZING and did such a good job of looking out for all of us. They were very sweet, attentive and made sure we felt safe and happy during our time abroad."
Julia DeVere | Seattle Pacific University
