Monumental Curtains

It's widely accepted that the Catalans don't like bullfighting. That's something very Spanish - Osborne's monstrous black silhouettes around the country's highways and festivals such as San Isidrio in Andalucia are huge events for local people, and it has to be said that as an imagery to foreigners most people recognise Flamenco, Paella & Sangria and Bull fighting as a typical weekend in any Spaniard's diary. Not so in Catalunya. They mock the bull.

While the city has been the home of two bull rings over the years - Las Arenas and Monumental - it will be the proud owner of none come this Sunday. Saturday sees the very last appearance of bulls within Monumental, at least in  front of Matadores for the viewing public that is. Across town, Las Arenas has been converted (albeit very slowly) into a rather snazzy shopping mall with gyms, Rock Museum and endless shops and restaurants.

You can't say it hasn't been coming. From locals recording disgusted tourists on camera and then uploading the videos to youtube, to official protests and demonstrations, the whole thing went to court and the new law will be introduced and enforced as of 2012 - No bullfighting in Catalunya. I think if you ask the majority of locals what they think about, they'll agree that it doesn't bother them one bit. In fact, it's true to say that the majority of the seats at Monumental over the past few years have been filled by tourists, so it's hardly going to be missed.

So what will happen to Monumental? I have no idea, so welcome any comments of people who may be in the know. Of course it can stay as a concert venue, or sports venue of sorts, I don't think there's a need for another Mall of sorts, but surely the structure will be kept - as much as the locals don't like what goes on in there, it's become part of the urban landscape of the city and is extremely distinctive. Feel free to comment if you do know what's planned!

Thinking of visiting the city this Autumn ? Check out these apartments for rent via BCN Rentals for a great deal on accommodation. And for a quick heads up of what to see and what not to miss, check out their Barcelona Guide.

La Merçe 2011

Well, it's that time of the year again. It just seems like a little while back we were enjoying the summer festivals of Gracia, and squeezing the very last drops of summer out before the routine starts again, when the big one sneaks up on you without you quite realising it. Yep, it's nearly time for La Merçe.

This year looks to be fairly short in terms of the actual days that the festival runs, as the 24th is actually the Saturday. For those of you not in the know, the 24th is the actual feast day of Our Lady of Mercy - one of the patron saints of Barcelona, and the whole reason for La Merçe festival. Other years the festival has been spread over 4 or 5 days (and more) but this year it's squeezed into the 22nd - 25th September.

I've blogged before about the several activities to do with kids in La Merçe and some of those are equally as fun for adults, too. The weather looks like it's going to stay fine so download your programme here and get planning!! Like every year, there are over 500 different activities going on all over the city, as well as the Mas i Mas Music festival and BAM, too. Street performers, traditional ceremonies, fire attractions and the festa del cel on the 2nd October again tie it all in before the autumn arrives.

As usual, there'll be a circus big top up in the gardens of Montjuic, with plenty to see looking at the promotional video on the site, with special guests from St. Petersburg this year.

The evening events are mainly musical apart from the typcial correfoc (fire-run) and are a great showcase for newer bands to get an audience through Barcelona Accio Musical (BAM mentioned above) as well as the Mas i Mas pulling in the big guns like Mando Diao at the Old Damm factory on Rossello. Over the years I've just wandered around the old town mainly from Plaça Reial to Plaça Catalunya or Plaça Angels just seeing who seems decent depending on my mood! Never been let down yet!!

So, are you planning to go to La Merce this year? Anything in particular you're looking forward to? Let me know in the comments!! And if you're coming to Barcelona this autumn, check out these barcelona apartments as a great alternative to a hotel.

When Will It Change?!

A fairly small news short this morning caught my attention, re-affirming the incredible stupidity of the laws regarding petty crime here. I know I've complained about this in the past so forgive me for going over old ground, but it really annoys me.

The news story reports nothing new - that one of the hot spots for pickpockets in the city is around the Magic Fountains of Montjuic. I've blogged before about my aunt being robbed on the metro just after going to the fountains. This morning's news bulletin details an operation by the Mossos to round up some of the theives targeting tourists while they watch the show. Funny that they've waited until a Thursday evening in September to try this rather than the height of summer when you generally have busloads ( or coach loads literally) of tourists happily distracted by the jets and flumes of the fountain.

So undercover agents are deployed amongst the public to catch the scumbags en fraganti and inevitably find a fair few. These are then taken to a less crowded place, searched and if anything stolen has been found, then rounded up in yet another more secluded location until the fountains have finished. In this particular evening, FIFTY ONE  people were detained - mostly Eastern Europeans including women (quel surprise) - and (here's the best bit) of those 51 people detained, the police arrested ONE person. For drug trafficking. Yes, that's right. And what happened to the other 50 ? Well, they were let on their merry way, of course, once the fountains had finished. This is Spain, you fools!

Yes, unless any thief is caught red-handed (like these were) with MORE THAN 400 EUROS ON THEM, then they are simply given a stern talking to by the police. It's no wonder they laugh in their faces. Of course, they'll be back tomorrow night and will likely recognise the undercover cops now, so it's just become even easier! I mean, who carries 400 Euros around with them?! And even if it's accumulative over various robberies, I've seen footage of thieves immediately dropping any booty in plant pots and the like, for another person to come along and collect, ensuring they never have anything on them other than loose change.

It's the system that's to blame, and what gets Barcelona such a terrible reputation online - something that I think is greatly over exaggerated. There are even metro vigilantes taking things into their own hands (hat tip to robbed in barcelona for that one), however, until there's a radical shake-up in the laws, it's just going to keep happening. Don't worry, this is not me gettng political on the blog or wanting to start petitions and the like cos I don't even think it would do any good. Just me venting a bit of public frustration...comments welcome as always guys...

Barcelona is a great city to visit, and I don't want people to be put off by my posts like these. If you're thinking of visitinjg soon, check out BCN Rentals for some accommodation tips.

Strange BBC Short Documentary ?

Last week I came across a strange BBC News clip that left me thinking a lot. Whilst celebrating the triumph of Barcelona as a tourist destination, marvelling at the architecture and art in both Gaudi and Picasso and revealing startling statistics such as the fact that 80,000 tourists arrive in the Catalan Capital per day, the main mini-documentary wasn't congratulating a city whose mother country is firmly established as one of the PIIGS - oh, no, it's that Barcelona as a tourist destination is becoming crowded. In fact, the tourists are "spoiling" Barcelona.



If you've got 9 minutes to spare, go and watch the video on that link above. you might see where I'm coming from (Auntie doesn't let you embed their videos). Go on, I'll wait.

One in ten residents works in tourism-related job and in 2011 Barcelona hosted more conferences than any other city in Europe (and has been granted the World mobile Congress again until 2018). However, it's the locals who complain about the abundance of ice cream stalls after the council closed down the bird sellers and allowed them to open up the ice cream stalls right on las ramblas.

I tire of reading polls in the paper of the citizen's main concerns over safety in the city (after unemployment, usually) or stories of robberies and pickpockets but whilst the law remains the same, the problem will not go away. Surely the politicians should be addressing this kind of problem before building new marinas for luxury yachts.

The video has so many talking points, from losing identity -despite having the most ethnic and diverse neighbourhood in the whole of Catalonia to the simple opinion of "if you don't like the heat, get out of the kitchen...but it's my kitchen" kind of attitude.

What do you think? I'm not completely opposed to everything the video has to offer, and I think this is a platform for discussion, so would love to hear your comments.

Thinking of joining the crowds this summer? why not rent your own Barcelona apartment instead of opting for a hotel room ?

Gracia Festival Photo Review

OK, OK, I know I'm a bit late to be posting about a been-and-gone festival, but hey, Gracia Festival is one of the best in the city. When I first moved to Barcelona, I lived in Gracia for a few weeks whilst flat-hunting, and it's a great neighbourhood which stil retains the small-town feel. The festival is unlike many of the city's other offerings as lots of streets are permanently closed off to traffic and they are decorated, like caves from entrance to exit with different themes. Prizes are given each year to the best-decorated streets, and whilst it would be impossible to give you a full run-down of the amazing designs and efforts that go into the preparations, I thought it'd be fun to show you a few snaps.

I went down with my family (you'll spot them in a few pics) and purposely chose a day which would be fairly quiet to try and show the decorations, rather than the hundreds of people that gather both day and night. Each street has it's own typical meals - huge paellas, sardines on the bbq, and many meats and other typical catalan dishes.

This year, some of the best streets were the Peter Pan tribute (deserved winner), Magic Street, Coffee theme, kids themes such as Spongebob and Jungle Book, sea theme with pirates and mermaids, and even a tribute to the Beatles' Yellow Submarine. Many streets had kids paddling pools out for the heat, and the Alien/space street had great water features like valcanoes and a fountain.



Ingenious inventions with plastic bottles into laterns...
















Check out the steam!!
















Many decorations use recyclable materials...





Grilled Sardines on the barbeque...mmmmmmmmmm








The Jungle Book Tribute Street...








My kids trying to steal King Louie's banana...










great silhouettes of Peter Pan, Wendy & Michael flying through the streets




...with Tinkerbell in the tree!!




London Bus Front in Carrer Tordera...



The Yellow Submarine!!




Did you go the the festival this year? Let me know your comments!! For a quick look at the other city sights, check out this Barcelona Guide. And for some great options on accommodation, check out BCN Rentals apartments.

Calls of a Fix for Last Night at Sala Montjuic

As regular readers will know, tomorrow night is the last night for Sala Montjuïc which is the fantastic cinema under the stars up at the castle. It's a great way to see some fantastic films (after a quick short film) and as tradition, the last night - tomorrow night - is always left open to a vote.

So this year's options were The Dark Knight, Inception and Insomnia. Two great films and one of Al Pacino's to forget, to be fair. Now, according to the website there has been a prety clear winner with 42% of the votes with Christopher Nolan's Batman sequel the Dark Knight the winner. However, I'm hearing rumors of a bit of rigging going on with the votes as you can see from the following video (give it a few seconds):



If Partridge is having trouble, how the hell are the rest of us supposed to vote properly as well ?! I mean, please?!