Barcelona is a city that when it comes to going shopping, you have plenty of options of all types for all tastes. If you want to spend a lot of money, you won’t need fashion shops and the best known brands to buy different clothes, from trousers, jackets, shirts, blouses, shoes, skirts and everything that you need is within reach. In the same way, and with the change in season, many shops offer big offers and sales, prices that are much more affordable so you can fill up your wardrobe.

If you want to explore Barcelona looking for quality clothes and style, begin with a long walk around the Gothic and the Born district. These districts are located in the oldest part of the city, in the centre. In these small shops, lost among different cellars, bars and small markets, you’ll be able to find exclusive designs of the highest quality and that’s because many young designers from all nationalities and styles meet around these areas presenting their best products and styles in these shops. The prices are variable of course, so don’t hesitate to haggle if you think it’s right.

In the centre of Barcelona, towards Passeig de Gràcia, we can find some of the most famous fashion brands in the world. As such, the prices can be a bit higher in this area, or even a lot higher depending if it’s the beginning or the end of the season, or even sales that can go up to 50% off. If you’re on Rambla Catalunya, you can also find exclusive clothes shops, as well as different cafés and restaurants. The best possible time to visit these shops is probably in spring or the end of summer when, once again, sales go hand in hand with the change in season.

Shops like El Corte Inglés or H&M guarantee you some discounts in clothes that can be considered pretty conventional, but they will definitely solve your ‘problem’. These shops offer discounts all year long, you just have to be aware. You also can’t forget about a walk in the Gràcia district, which despite being a place more about food and entertainment, it still has small shops where accessories, hats or clothes for all seasons are also available.

Get information on flea markets and artist markets that take place in the city frequently. Offers of clothes, as well as gifts or accessories for the home, are within your reach at these markets. When it comes to finding affordable prices on modern fashion, flea markets in Barcelona are places where modernistas and hipsters gather in search for the best in vintage. Don’t be afraid to go with retro fashion; fashion always becomes retro and it’s now in fashion to re-discover styles.

Alexa Ray

Get apartments in Barcelona and enjoy its diverse cultural lifestyle and the shopping offers in clothes and footwear. In Barcelona you’ll be able to find all the styles that you’re looking for.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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Barcelona has a lot to offer if what you’re looking for is some night time action and excesses. Many tourists come to Barcelona during weekends to have some fun and have a great time in this city, that goes crazy when it comes to party and fun. This is undoubtedly one of the characteristics that attracts the most visitors. Here are some options for a crazy weekend and for you to be part of this ongoing party.

Friday: A Friday in Barcelona can begin early in the morning by walking down the busy Ramblas. You’ll see a lot of tourists and people from all over the world browsing the stalls and watching street shows. Walk a bit more and go down the promenade towards the district of the Barceloneta. There you’ll find a large diversity of bars and exquisite seafood restaurants. After the food, the Gothic district awaits you with plenty of modern bars with indie and hipster waves, where beautiful guys and girls will show off more than they should. After a few drinks, go to Plaça Reial, where the famous Sidecar awaits, a club with the best rock DJs that will make you dance until 6am. After, you can have a beer in the street and go back to your hotel.

Saturday: The next day, after a light breakfast or lunch, have some cocktails or gin & tonics in the multicultural Raval district. People from all over the world are on its streets. You can get to know Barcelona’s own history by seeing its old shops, bar and the changes that this popular district has experienced. A 20 minute walk will take you to Plaça Espanya, from where you can see Montjuïc. Once at the top, visit the MNAC, a museum that stands out for its important Romanic art collection. On your way down, you can eat a delicious kebab at a reasonable price while you drink in a bar in Poble Sec. You can then attend a concert at the popular music venue Apolo where, after midnight, you will be able to dance until 7am non-stop.

Sunday: After some hours of light sleep, walk down Passeig de Gràcia and visit some of Gaudí’s important buildings. On this route, take the metro and go to Parc Güell, on the hill of Carmel, a park that will fascinate you for its designs and columns, as well as giving you a fabulous view of the whole city of Barcelona. You can have another beer at the bar in the park and then walk down to the Gràcia district, where restaurants with cuisines from around the world as well as old bars await for give you a warm welcome and say “see you soon” while you enjoy some patatas bravas with your last beer.

Alexa Ray

Get apartments in Barcelona and don’t hesitate to enjoy its vibrant nightlife. A lot of action and fun await you in this city visited by people from around the world all year long. The heat never leaves Barcelona.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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The exhibition organized around videos and photographic material that’s owned by the Martin Z. Marguiles fund collection in Miami, and it’s set up on 150 photographs and five audiovisuals that belong to 50 authors. Through them they explore the way that mankind lives on the earth, its interaction with it and the way that he has altered nature to satisfy his emotions, everyday life, survival needs and beliefs.

The exhibition was titled taking one of the last poems by the German lyrical writer Friedrich Hölderlin, who dedicated the last years of his life to read Hyperion and his vision on the balance of the stars and the movement of the sun. Based on those thoughts, in his last poems he deals with thinking aspects, who is said to have influenced Hegel and the development of the concept of dialectics.

From those thoughts and investigating the collection of Martin Z. Marguiles, it was possible to generate the main concept of this exhibition and, for that, they created three sections that gather each of the main concepts as: Being in the World, existence of Fluxes, signs and symbols, building, living, mapping. A true space for thought and contemporary outlook on the world.

Martin Z. Margulies began his collection in 1976, led by a passion for beauty and human creation. His first work in the collection was the work by Isamu Noguchi, until he managed to gather one of the most important collections of contemporary art in the world, with American and European artists.

The photography collection of Margulies is renown as one of the top 25 in the world. Many experts, critics and gallery owners consider that it’s one of the best in its field. An important part of its paintings and sculptures are located in his house in Florida, in Key Biscayne, United States.

To preserve the collection of photographs, videoinstallations and sculptures of great size, an interesting rescue plan was developed for an industrial warehouse that was abandoned in 1999, in the art district of Wynwood in Miami, where they’re preserved to develop didactic activities.

Among the authors we can find James Casebere, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Lee Friedlander and Ed Ruscha, whose works are moving due to the metaphysical exploration on the action of mankind on the planet and nature.

For more information: http://www.colectania.es/index.php?i=1&p=2

Nancy Guzman

Renting apartments in Barcelona is a wonderful encounter with nature, where you can dispel all your metaphysical doubts on mankind and the environment by attending this exhibition at the Foto Colectania Foundation.

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On the Montjuïc mountainside, Avinguda Marqués de Comillas 6-8, there’s one of the most extraordinary complexes of industrial modernism in Catalonia, the Casaramona factory. This was a project by the architect Puig i Cadafalch, ordered by Casimir Casaramona i Puigcercós, a cotton factory owner, who substituted the previous factory that was destroyed by a fire. The factory was built between 1909 and 1912, the year that the Barcelona Council named it as one of the best constructions. In 1913 it was inaugurated, the same year that its owner died.

It’s a horizontal building that has two great towers that used to be a water deposit to prevent fires from spreading. Its exterior appearance is made of brickwork, typical of the Catalan construction system, with a lack of decoration other than a ceramic or two on the towers, a mosaic with the owner’s initials and some stone decoration. Even so, the shapes achieved with the bricks on its façade and the forged iron ornaments give the result of a beautiful building that doesn’t need decorative elements.

There are large windows and the ceilings are very high, where light and air comes in. And, differently to many other factories of the time, it doesn’t have a chimney because it worked with electrical power.

But the cotton industry did not last long. In 1920 it closed its doors to become a space that down the years had different uses. In 1929, the Universal Exhibition celebrated in Montjuïc used it for storage. From 1940 onwards it was a stable and a vehicle storage location of the Spanish Police.

It’s worth noting that on the 9th of January 1976, it was declared a Cultural Interest Site because, since its closure, it had slowly deteriorated. Before, in 1963, ‘la Caixa’ bought the complex but it wasn’t until 1992 that it decided to give it back to Barcelona, giving it a new social and cultural purpose. And so, in 2002, after restoring it, modernizing it and adapting it to the new times, CaixaForum was born. Actually, if we visit the building now, we can see that the restoration fully respected both the structure and its elements.

Today, CaixaForum offers a wide range of cultural, social and educational programmes. It’s a place where you can visit temporary exhibitions, concerts, film screenings, conferences, debates… All of this in a modernist industrial complex from the beginning of the 20th century, perfectly preserved and adapted to new structures and, most importantly, with a new cultural and artistic role to be practiced and enjoyed by everyone.

For more information: http://obrasocial.lacaixa.es/nuestroscentros/caixaforumbarcelona/caixaforumbarcelona_es.html

Cinta Blanch

You can enjoy apartments in Barcelona after having seen this unique industrial modernist building, now a cultural and artistic reference centre, where you can see an impressionist exhibition and even a jazz concert.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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A cafe in a magical world of enchanted forests, gnomes and fairies. Are you interested?

It seems incredible, walking through the crowded Ramblas, that these very special magic places may exist. It is an essential stop on your visit to Barcelona, which will surely not leave you indifferent.

Bosc de les Fades is the name of the establishment, this cafe is owned by the Barcelona Wax Museum and has existed for years. It is towards the end of the Ramblas, near the monument to Columbus, and although it is a bit hidden is quite easy to find, because you only have to look for signs towards the wax museum, and to our right we find the door to a world of fantasy.

The place is quiet, with few tables, so it is best to go during the week because on weekends, and at certain times, you may find it full. And as you go, you leave behind the hustle and bustle of the city. The decoration is overwhelming. A bucolic representation of nature leads you to a magical world where everything seems possible.

A Perfect spot for any occasion. To relax with a beer in the middle of your sightseeing with friends in a unique and original atmosphere. To share a romantic moment with your partner enjoying its many hidden corners, the sound of water flowing and the discreet lighting blending with the light from the candles. Or to go with your family, and find that within its walls there is  a play area for children with puppets and antique toys, which completes the charm.

The decor pays extreme attention to details. Explore the enchanted forest, discover new details each time through the trees on the roof, at the waterfall … It will not stop to amaze you!

Return and become a child to believe in fairies. Travel to a magical world without leaving the center of Barcelona!

http://www.museocerabcn.com/es/index.html

Noelia-san

Do not forget to rent apartments in Barcelona if you’re going to see this pub with its forest of fairies. Located at the end of the Ramblas, a site that you can not miss if you visit Barcelona

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Translated by: Marc
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Every country has its own dances and traditions, the way of representing itself on a stage. But further than representing a region, one dance seems to be some sort of conjunction of moments and steps that surpass mere performance. And so, if we realize, history goes through a dance since its very beginning or since the first times that it was tried to be performed, proposed or dared to be dance. Anyway, the regional character of every dance is present in the staging of dance. The details of that way of life of a population can in some way be portrayed in a specific dance, jump above all the rest with a little hip movement and a hand in the air: the identity that is formed from the dance itself.

You don’t have to think about it too much to remember that flamenco is probably the dance that most relates to Spain. It is, undoubtedly, a dance that has gone around the world and that thousands of professionals and fans practice with fervor and joy. Flamenco condenses, in the spirit of its sound, a grave melancholy that moves, a sensuality that culminates in a voice and rhythm, in the clapping that echo during one step and the other, the shoes dialoguing with the floor in a constant recognition of time that is made with the clash of the sole and the floor. The sensuality of singing and body combine, as well as a histrionic load dose.

Flamenco was undoubtedly born in Andalucía and it has been influenced and has evolved from the gypsy and Sephardic dances. Considered intangible heritage by UNESCO, this important dance is still conquering fans all over the world. Equally, despite that flamenco is still a traditional dance, at present it explores new branches and representation techniques; it is known that its musicians have a knowledge of jazz among other genres and also that the dancers have undergone courses of performing art and ballet. It’s more frequent, also at present, to see flamenco sessions on the street and, of course, in Barcelona, where one can get closer and get to know more on these rhythms. Due to all of this interest, also, they celebrate the De Cajón! Festival, that is ongoing until the 29th of March.

This sixth edition of the De Cajón! Festival has four unmissable dates if you’re in Barcelona and you want to see four fabulous performers of this art. On the 22nd of December they present the great Estrella Morente; on Saturday the 11th of February there will be José Mercé; on the first Thursday of March there’ll be Los Evangelistas and on Thursday the 29th of March, to close the festival, Miguel Poveda. Book your tickets in advance. For more information and direct purchase on the internet, visit the following website: http://www.theproject.es/en/festival/festival.php?idfestival=52

Alexa Ray

Get apartments in Barcelona and let yourself be captured by its vibrant music scene. If flamenco is your thing, rest assured that you will come across different presentations and events that will bring you closer to this interesting song and dance genre.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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If Real Madrid was declared by FIFA as the best football club of the twentieth century, the XXI century so far seems to clearly belong to Barcelona in a  fourth place in the rankings that crowned its rival as the most dominant team of the last century.

Indeed, Barcelona has not only raised three European Cups, two European Super Cups, one World Club Cup, five Spanish leagues ,the Cup of Spain and five Spanish Super Cup since 2003 but, even more significantly, has astonished the world with one of the best teams in the entire history of football, possessor of such a daring, dazzling, magical and seductive style of play, as overwhelming as it is dominating, which safely can be said marked a before and an after and set a standard that we dare to suggest will take long time to be matched.

All this would be a reason enough to awaken the desire in the football enthusiast to visit the of FC Barcelona Museum http://www.fcbarcelona.es/camp-nou/museo with its flagship and beautiful stadium the Camp Nou, with the largest capacity in Europe which can take almost 100,000 followers  along with and the cute Mini Stadium, the Palau Blaugrana (home of the meetings of the very powerful and very prized other sport disciplines that includes basketball, handball, roller hockey and indoor soccer ), the Palau de Gel, the official store and club offices.

One of the highlights of the visit to this environment is the FC Barcelona Museum , ​​where  the countless trophies won by the different sections of the club in its 112 year history (up to 33 European Cups between them all)not only can be seen  but through different interactive video walls you can understand and enjoy  an institution whose motto and hallmark is  “more than a club”

The museum is structured around four areas defined by what the leaders of the Barcelona-not without some controversy, recently revived by the signing of a multimillion dollar contract with the Qatar Foundation in exchange for advertising the Foundation in the players’ shirts – consider the four essential and indispensable values ​​of the club, ie, the Catalan feeling , universality, social engagement and democracy, which must be added to the time devoted to different samples and the exhibition of the six cups won brilliantly under the direction of Pep Guardiola in the memorable year of 2009 when the football team won all the competitions in which they participated.

Paul Oilzum

The Museum visits include a tour of the stadium, including the players tunnel and the press area that regardless of their color, will not leave football fans who rent apartments in Barcelona indifferent.

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Translated by: Marc
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Barcelona is a city with a lot of History, not only of its political movements of resistance, Franco’s dictatorship or its constant quest for independence, but also because of the unique and individual stories of its inhabitants, common people but with a long list of public figures, artists, politicians, musicians and writers. Those stories are still tying and untying the streets of Barcelona. Its players today are also different. In addition to the hordes of tourists who seek a place for relaxation, wildness and adventure in the city as well as the variety of immigrants currently living in this beautiful city, give a rich cultural scene in the Catalan capital.

Barcelona is home to citizens from Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The great migration has occurred for many reasons including the economic boom in construction for several years and the open frontiers of the European Union, among others. With the current economic crisis in Spain, it is very easy to blame it on the immigrant or foreigners, as an automatic reaction of the crisis. On the other hand, the variety and cultural enrichment that the city has got thanks to the immigrants is negated. Xenophobia seems to be daily bread in Spain. Talking about personal stories and experiences, the city grows, and with it the appliances, utensils, objects and clothes that you can also find in Barcelona. These stories create new culture, new movement in the streets, new meanings, new scripts.

Sant Antoni Market can give you a clear mapping of this phenomenon. And if what you like is going in search of trading cards, comics, magazines, cards, postcards, posters, movies, old books, records, etc., Every Sunday you will be able to find that on the side of Sant Antoni Market; a variety of unique gadgets, which will transport you in time. If you look carefully at all these, what some people call “garbage”,  you will see the rich culture that is forming. All these artifacts of collection; from stamps to coins, in languages and backgrounds that were previously unsuspected, and have big fans due to the memories of other times that they bring. An old book condenses all the power of reading, all other meanings given to them.

You can find all this, on Sundays, from 8 am until 3 or 4 pm. We recommend you to come early and find the best things with fewer crowds around. Bargaining outside Sant Antoni Market “is a must”. It is always affordable for everyone and suitable for all ages and interests.

Alexa Ray

Get apartments in Barcelona and enjoy its cultural diversity. Barcelona is a city with a very rich cultural life coming from all latitudes. Feel at home just one step from the Mediterranean.

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Translated by: Hans
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Until the 4th of March, Arts Santa Mònica in Barcelona has opened the exhibition Invisible Fields. Geographies of the radio waves. (‘Campos Invisibles. Geografías de las ondas de radio’ in Spanish). The exhibition addresses the outlook of technique and science from conceptual art, and it’s produced by Plataforma Cero, Centro de Investigación, Producción y Recursos de LABoral.

The exhibition is commissioned by Honor Harger and José Luís de Vicente, and it looks to shed light on the imaginable landscape that’s built from radio waves. For that, they’ve designed an interdisciplinary work platform that analyzes through sociologic optics what culture and social change encompasses, scientific communication and artistic practice.

The exhibition includes works by the artists Trevor Plagen, Thomas Ashcraft, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Anthony DeVicenzi, Timo Arnall, Joyce Hinterding, Job Ramos, Semiconductor, Matthew Biederman, Clara Boj y Diego Díaz, Rasa Smite & Raitis Smits (RIXC), Luthiers Drapaires, Irdial Records, Guifi.net, Luthiers Drapaires and Plataforma Cero LABoral.

From the appearance of radio in 1897, when Marconi installed the first radio transmission in the Isle of Wight, up until today, a lot of water has gone under bridge. Radio began as a non-profitable technological scientific crusade and only man’s dreams were involved to change the natural barriers of communication. Shortly after it became a way to transmit more complex messages and bring the events that were taking place to its most immediate environment. Radio, together with the telephone and later the teletype, were inventions that managed to unite continents and turn communications into something instantaneous during the 20th century. Thanks to it, the events of WW2 and the great historical landmarks that shaped mankind were got to be known live.

However, we don’t know much about what’s behind the radio and how do those waves are transmitted through the atmosphere. We also don’t know how a radio works and what interests it has behind it. We also don’t know how much it has actually influenced us in our behaviour and in the actual form of society but we do admit that nobody can be without it and that it’s part of our everyday customs.

Also, this interesting exhibition has given way to the making of a series of workshops that Arts Santa Mònica has organized with Plataforma Cero de LABoral. David Pello is in charge of an introduction to the world of satellite technology, while Pedro Soler and Joanna Griffin will explore imaginary space and the satellites through its stories, names and origins, as well as how the future is shaping up for these space intruders. The activist and investigator Alejandro Duque will show his critique vision on satellites and will show how to trace them down, hack into them and decode the secrets that they have inside.

For more information: http://www.artssantamonica.cat/EXP/EXPOSICIONS/tabid/128/any/201110/language/es-ES/Default.aspx#exposicio51

Nancy Guzman

Don’t torment yourself with the prophecies for 2012. Rent apartments in Barcelona and forget about all the bad vibes that the futurologists are predicting by enjoying the best days of the year.

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Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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Petritxol Street is the perfect meeting place for hardened gourmands and art lovers. The street is only two hundred meters long, but on it lies the Sala Parés, famous for hosting the works of such important people as Ramon Casas, Santiago Rusiñol and Pablo Picasso. This famous gallery opened in 1840 and marked the evolution of the area, becoming an attraction for artists. It ‘led to the opening of numerous exhibitions and shopping centers of articles for Fine Arts, but also to chocolate shops that constituted the perfect meeting place for Bohemians artists. How many world famous works emerged thanks to the smell of hot chocolate?

We will never know the answer to this question, but we are so fortunate that we can still taste the sweets that of our ancestors ate. Two of the farms of yesteryear have survived in time and are still delighting us with the same traditional recipes. The oldest of these, is La Granja Dulcinea, a place whose origins date back to 1789, although it was in 1930 that it passed from being a tavern to become a farm. Through its door illustrious people as Salvador Dali or Angel Guimerà have passed. They were all delighted by the high quality of its products. Neither we can forget the Pallaresa, the farm in the number eleven Petritxol Street, which was founded in 1947 by Mr. Magin Cases, formerly occupied by a dairy shop. It is an ideal place to taste a good Swiss and has nothing to envy to its predecessor.

Many bars have tried their luck in Petritxol Street, but not all have endured over time. Fortunately, the ill-fated Xocoa left us an enviable legacy. Xocoa is a chocolate store “franchise”, which opened a chocolate shop and a café in this historic street, but succumbed to its competition and closed the doors of the bar. However, its shop still delights us with the best chocolate recipes from the city, so it has become the perfect complement to their former competitors. If you have time, do not hesitate to try a delicious hot chocolate in these places full of history. by the way, you can take home some chocolates. I assure you, you won’t regret the experience. At the end of the day, the Petritxol Street holds the title as first Pedestrian Street in Barcelona, not only because of its three meters width, but also because of the charming stores that makes it a perfect visit.

Enrique Ríos

If you like chocolate you know, Petritxol Street is where you go. Do not forget to rent apartments in Barcelona for you to have a nap after your hot chocolate

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Translated by: Hans
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