Solidarity Rose for Sant Jordi

Next week is Sant Jordi in Catalunya, and is always a popular and well celebrated day. I compare it sometimes to England, as Saint George is also the patron saint of England, and the day goes by pretty much unnoticed. Ask any Catalan the date of Sant Jordi, and they'd tell you the 23rd April like a shot. I'd wager that around 20% of English would know!

As is customary with the day, Barcelona council supports a cause and promotes the idea on the web. This year the very worthy cause is the Solidarity Rose project which is in its 18th edition and is an initiative from amics del gent gran. The idea is that citizens buy either a rose or a book (as per the tradition) and take it to an elderly person they know, spend some time with them and thus raise awareness of the large numbers of old people who are lonely and much of the time alone. Participants are then encouranged to share their tale on Facebook and Twitter with hashtag #rosascontraelolvido. So you can take a real rose or you can pick up the one that has been made specifically for the day in many different outlets (200 in total including supermarkets, shops, etc.) and the price is 3,50€. Good idea I think and I hope it is a success. Being self employed I don't keep a strict clock with work, and have made lots of friends in and around my neighbourhood who are all retired and who I bump into a lot. I know that some of them are lonely despite having families here, so this is an even better idea for those people who have no-one.

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Football Frenzy Begins!

Last night saw the start of many a groan from a supportive wife as a 9 day football frezy begun. Real Madrid were (deservedly, in my opinion) beaten by Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena - site of the final of this year's Champions League competition. That was the first of a two-leg semi final, and this evening sees the mouth watering Barcelona travelling to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in their first round tie.

Mourinho - ex-Chelsea boos - has already dismissed Chelsea's chances of progressing past the seemingly invincible Barça, and despite Di Matteo doing a preety good job at chealse since Villas Boas' departure I have to say I agree with him and can't see Chelsea toppling Barça over two legs. I'll predict a tight tie tonight, possibly not much fgootball being played, and it may even end up a draw.

That means next week, Bayern travel to the Bernabeu with a huge advantage of being in front, although Real have that all important away goal. And Chelsea will come to Camp Nou knowing they are still the underdogs.

Sandwiched in between is the small matter of La Liga fixture of a certain Barça vs Madrid this weekend! I still don't know why the Spanish press call this a "derby" when the two teams are hundreds of miles away, but I've kind of got used to it by now, so a derby it is. THE derby. These ties are always hot-blooded affairs  - perhaps more so since Mourinho's arrival at Madrid - and usually cards are dealt out left right and centre. I expect this game to be exactly the same and it may even be a showcase for the possibility of the final everyone outside of Germany is expecting in the Chamopions League final, too. Mourinho always moans that it's impossible to win at Camp Nou but I sometimes think that their players don't do a lot to help themselves either.

It's all shaping up to be a veritable feast of football, right?!! Any predictions from you guys and gals? Let me know in the comments!!

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Third Annual Puppet Festival! TOT Barcelona!

Well, time flies. I had a few posts ready as drafts for the rest of February and beginning of March, but that's too late now! I'd actually like a refund on February, cos it was terrible. My kids were ill, I was ill, then they were ill again. Never seemed to stop, really. So, apart from me being super busy with work, I'll try and keep up with the blog!

What better way to start, then with another one for the kids - big and small. This weekend sees the return of the Festival TOT  - the third annual festival of puppets and theatre. Puppeteers using their feet as puppets (no, really), different versions of The Emperor's clothes, shadow shows, giants there's all sorts going on this year and as always, there are workshops for families, kids, and shows for both young and old in the evening, too.

The festival starts tomorrow night, and takes place in Poble Espanyol which is a great place to host the event up on Montjuic. This year sees the Polish company, Bialostocki, offer a puupet version of Robert Scott's journey to the South Pole in the evening for the adults. Family tickets cost 25€ and then you have to pay for the individual shows that you want to go into, but this ticket also includes entrance to Poble Espanyol, where you can spend the whole day (they have kids gyncanas and all sorts of arts and crafty things like glass blowing and pottery making, etc.) so not a bad way to spend your Saturday or Sunday, right? Anyone been before? Thinking of going this year ? Let me know in the comments!

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Cosmo Caixa Celebrates Barcelona's Forgotten Saint

Just in time for the Carnival celebrations this coming week, we have another reason to celebrate something dear to the children of Barcelona (or aren't we all children of Barcelona?) and that's the celebration of little Laia - Barcelona's forgotten Saint. Santa Eulalia, as she is better known, was a little girl who endured torture and a pretty gruesome death from the old Barcelona heirarchy due to her protests about the treatment of Christians. However, she's also remembered as the Children's patron saint of the city, and each year, the council prepares her festival, specifically centered around children's events.

So this year Cosmo Caixa is organising 3 events free of charge  - but with limited places - to tie in with the other festivities. There is an exhibition of stick insects, a seperate exhibition of fossils and dinosaurs from the Gobi desert, and a puppet show of different kinds of animals showing children the differences in nature through theatre. With more cold weather looking to come our way, might be an idea to get the kids in somewhere warm and entertan them!

There are of course, many other activities going on throughout the city to celebrate and remember Laia, and the official website for the full programme of events is here. The festival dates also co-incide with the festival of light in the city, which embraces the idea of the illumination of some of the city's best buildings and offers a different look at some of the most-seen edifices in the city - like the spectacular live "Magic House" which is broadcast onto the town hall facade and not even the rain from La Merçe last year could prevent people from "ooh-ing" and and "aah-ing". Clever stuff. There's also a clever instagram competition going on over the two days of the festival, so if you think you'll be a good snapper, check it out.

Expect all the usual cultural shenannegans like castellers, gegants, xocalatadas, dances, parades, all sorts. And of course, many of the museums open their doors during the festival too, so it's a great opportunity to soak in some more culture for free!

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Transport Strike threatens smooth run of 3GSM

With Spain facing a tough 2012 by all accounts, it was with great joy that the majority of businesses wiped their brow with relief when last summer, the World Mobile Congress decided to stay in Barcelona for its annual get together, rather than move cities as had been feared. The Congress injects a great deal of must needed cash into the city, and whilst the main winners are the hosteleria industry, it also goes a long way to promoting Barcelona on the world stage.

Each year, the congress has gone from strength to strength with keynote speakers for all of the biggest names in Mobile technology (actually over 800) as well as CEO of Google, for example. With 120 million Euros floating around to fund the congress, you can see the benefits outweigh the investment. Indeed, this year organisers are
expecting a 40% increase in visitors - surpassing the 60,000 mark.

The World Mobile Congress is held at the Fira de Barcelona

However, not everyone is happy about the arrival of the world's eyes on the Catalan Capital, and transport union along with TMB have decided to strike from the 27th February till the 1st March - the exact dates of the conference. There was a proposal to only strike for the 27th, but finally it was agreed to go whole hog and do the full confrernce dates. Some of the many complaints about the conference in previous years  - apart from security on the city streets - have been precisely about the lack of taxis to ferry people to and from La Fira. Last year saw extra taxis put on in an attempt to keep the flow of visitors running. Obviuosly this is a blow not only to the organisers of the conference but also the city council who have criticised the move claiming it will damage the brand identity of Barcelona - something the tourism board has been working on intensively for over two years.

I can completely understand both sides to the story and suspect the strikes will give rise to make people taking advantage of the situation in illegal taxi services for example, given the level of unemployment and opportunity. What do you think about the planned strikes? Can the city be held to ransom by TMB like the air traffic controllers a few years back?  Do you have anyone directly affected by the proposed strikes? Surely schools and work places will suffer as a result? Can an agreement be made before then? Let me know your comments, I'd love to hear.

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Festa Major Sant Antoni

Happy New Year everyone! Well, I'm a bit late with the well wishes but it's been a busy start to 2012 for me, so there you go. Here's hoping this year is great for everyone.

There's no messing about in Barcelona, no moping about the cutbacks (ok, maybe just a bit) and shortly after the craziness of the King's parade, we're straight in with another local festival. Yes, from the 13th to 22nd January, it's the Festa Major Sant Antoni. No matter that the market itself is undergoing a (very slow) refurbishment, there's plenty going on all week for people of all ages, and if I'm not mistaken, it's a fairly long festival for just being a neighbourhood one.

This weekend just gone I wandered along with the kids and my wife to check out the opening parade. It had all the usual things I've come to expect with gegants, castellers, drummers and dancers, but what surprised me the most was the beginning, or rather, the people at the front.

I could probably look up somewhere the significance (or if anyone knows, please leave me a comment) but the people at the front had kind of fake old-style shotguns and fired EXTREMELY LOUD  shots into the air. We heard the procession from about 6 blocks away, and when the pistoleros were actually in front of you it was really deafening, like shake your body deafening. Very cool.

My wife and kids put their fingers in their ears, and some of those participating also had ear plugs in. Some of the guns also fired cofetti all over the floor, and it was great fun.

There was a comedy fire truck which was helping animate the crowds, and spraying paper all over the floor (and the BCNeta guys were not far behind!).

Mini-castellers:

Diablos with flares and the most attractive swine:

There are activities going on all week, so check out the programme in the link above, and leave me a comment if there's anything you'd like to specifically highlight or reccommend. Thanks!

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