A traditional race in the Rambla / Una carrera histórica en la Rambla

Since 2014, the Association of Restaurants of Barcelona has recovered one of its most emblematic and old city of Barcelona activities: The waiters' race.

A total of 24 participants will have to run in pairs about 50 meters of the Rambla Canaletas with an order that should perfectly arrive.

Do not miss it next May 21st, 2016 at 11am!


Desde el año 2014,  el Gremio de Restauración de Barcelona ha recuperado una de sus actividades más emblemáticas y antiguas de la ciudad de Barcelona: La carrera de camareros. 

De dos en dos, un total de 24 participantes tendrán que correr unos 50 metros de la Rambla Canaletas con un pedido que deberá llegar intacto. 

No os lo perdáis el próximo 21 de mayo de 2016 a las 11!

#DecidimLaRambla

Ahir vam tenir una jornada de reflexió a la Rambla de Barcelona on es va convidar la ciutadania i els veïns a fer propostes al Pla d'actuació Municipal de l'Ajuntament de Barcelona. Per motius mèdics, no vaig poder estar present però no em vaig perdre res virtualment. Vaig escoltar els debats per videostreaming i aprofitar tots els canals disponibles per poder dir "la meva" com a veïna de la Rambla des de 1993. Algunes de les reflexions que vaig fer són:

• Enviat a través de Twitter:

1/imprescindible reducció dl soroll i llum (kioskos llum tota la nit) més regulació. Restaurants oberts + temps q altres barris

2/ Transformar kioskos ocells en kioskos culturals, artístics, musicals, educatius de la ciutat i la Rambla

3/ Tornar La Rambla als Barcelonins: serveis i preus actual nomès és x turistes i els ciutadans estimen + anar a altres carrers

• Proposta oberta a l'espai de l'Ajuntament de Barcelona: Decidim Barcelona

Tornem les llibreries a la Rambla #DecidimBarcelona

http://decidim.barcelona/proposals/tornem-les-llibreries-a-la-rambla 

En tancar-se el període de propostes, les més votades han estat i que crec tots compartim:

1. Regular el comerç de la Rambla
2. Eliminar les noves parades de souvenirs (aquí hi està la meva proposta vinculada)
3. Reformar el passeig (menys soroll i contaminació)
4. Incivisme de la zona sud/raval
5. Recuperar les estàtues humanes
6. Recuperar la foneria de canons
7. i moltes més

Esperem que, per primera vegada, l'Ajuntament ens escolti i ens impliqui també en la implantació d'aquests projectes.

Flea & vintage Markets!

The month of August includes lots of activities in the city center both for tourists and for locals, such as the flea and vintage markets. Some of them focus on second-hand products, others on vintage things or summer clothing. In any case, we highly recommend the Flea Market Barcelona which will take place tomorrow Sunday 10th August in the Blanquerna Square, behind the Maritime Museum, from 11am to 8pm. Don't miss it!

August in the Ramblas: plan for the 1st week

Staying in Barcelona, in August, is somehow new for me but this year we will take the chance to do as much "city" activities as possible and to share them with you. For this week we plan the following:

• Tuesday 5th: War menu, an exhibition at the Museum of History of Catalonia on cooking was in the time of the civil war.
• Wednesday 6th: "Sardines and Rumba" at la Caseta del Migdia, Montjuich mountain. An amazing place on the top of the mountain where all Wednesdays in summer offer sardines and a rumba group plays.
• Thursday 7th: Roman underground Barcelona at the Museum of History of Barcelona. Departing from the amazing Plaça del Rei, an underground tour on the remains of the Roman's in Barcino.

The legend of St. Jordi

St. Jordi 2014 by the Barcelona city hall

Once upon a time, a terrible dragon was terrifying the locals in a village in Catalonia called Montblanc. The dragon caused havoc among the population and ate up the village's pasture animals. To assuage the dragon's anger, the villagers decided they would sacrifice someone every day, chosen by lot and offered to the dragon as a gesture of good will.

But one dark day, the person who was going to be sacrificed was the king's daughter. Before the dragon could swallow her, a splendid knight appeared and attacked the cursed beast. This was Sant Jordi (St George). He thrust his lance into the dragon and from the beast's blood a rose bush with bright red roses arose. Ever since then, it has been a custom in Catalonia to present one's beloved with a rose.

Sant Jordi (St George), the patron saint of Catalonia since the 19th century, became a symbol for Catalan territory with the Catalan Renaissance, a political and cultural movement that reclaimed Catalan symbols of identity.

More information about St. Jordi's celebrations at:  http://www.bcn.cat/santjordi/en/index.html

World Press Photo 2013 Barcelona

One of the most important photo-journalism exhibitions in the World is taking place till the next 8th December in Barcelona, at the CCCB. We visited it today and it's a relevant review of selected facts happening around the world where photographers try to disseminate social, political, cultural and behavioural aspects. For us, Worldpress photo is a forum of knowledge exchange that offers society a snapshot of life.

*The ninth international exhibition of the World Press Photo, organized by the Fundació Photographic Social Vision and the CCCB, brings together the 143 winning photographs in the prestigious international photojournalism award. This year’s selection includes three Spanish winners, Bernat Armangué, Emilio Morenatti and Daniel Ochoa de Olza. The CCCB is the only Spanish centre to show the winning works in the multimedia projects category created in 2011, in which there are two Spanish winners: Pep Bonet and Miquel Dewever-Plana. (*extracted from the CCCB Worldpress photo website)

Market of markets

This weekend we enjoyed the 4th edition of "Mercat de mercats" (Market of markets) which took place at the Cathedral square. Several shops and restaurants offered their specialities, Catalan, Spanish or even international cuisine. Recognised cooks, such as Jordi Cruz, did several open shows and other activities related to food and cooking. A representation of sixteen markets of Barcelona and some special "tapas" created by some of the well-known restaurants of the city have been part of the most relevant activities during this cooking party. A blog offers information about the event but unfortunately is not in English! http://somdemercat.cat/

Fleadonia market

During the autumn, several squares in the city center organise flea markets and other social and cultural activities which worth partipating! The market is called Fleadonia and it's organised in two areas:

FLEADONIA LLEIALTAT Sundays 29th September, 27th October and 24th November.
FLEADONIA FILMOTECA Saturdays 19th October, 9th  November and 7th December.

Dont' miss it!

Santa Eulàlia 2013

Santa Eulàlia has been the weekend with us featuring giants, dancers and "capgrossos". Lots of events took place but we will introduce you here the photos of today's parade full of symbols of the middle ages in Barcelona! Enjoy them! We have shared the best moments through twitter.....

Laia, a symbol of Barcelona

During the 4th Century, when the Roman Emperor Diocletian ordered the persecution of Christians, some of them living in Barcelona escaped or hides. The legend states that a young 13 year old girl called Eulalia, from the district of Sarrià (Northern Barcelona), faced the the Roman militars asking for freedom and equality but she was imprisioned and punished for it, but finally died.

Since then, this girl has been to our city symbol of solidarity, justice and defence of youth engagement and together with the Mare de Déu de la Mercè is the Patron Saint of Barcelona.

During this week the celebrations are devoted to Eulalia or Laia, as we all know her. We will be informing you day by day on the several activities programed from Tuesday 12 till the weekend.

Orfeó Català Christmas Carol Concert

The Orfeó Català is giving a free Christmas Carol Concert in the Plaça del Rei. In this unique setting, which takes you back to medieval Barcelona, the hundred-year-old choral group will be performing the most traditional songs of the festive season.

The repertoire for this musical soirée, on the evening of 28 December, includes mainly songs from the Catalan tradition, together with a sprinkling of other Christmas classics.

Where:

Plaça del Rei

When:

28/12/2012

District:

Ciutat Vella

Area:

El Barri Gòtic

 

Information extracted from the Christmas website of Barcelona City Hall

 

All Saints' day

In Catalunya, All Saints' day consists of a meal of chestnuts, panellets, sweet potato and preserved fruits, typically with moscatell to drink. Around the time of this celebration, it is common for street vendors to sell hot toasted chestnuts wrapped in newspaper. In many places, confectioners often organise raffles of chestnuts and preserved fruit. 

It seems that the tradition of eating these foods comes from the fact that during All Saints' night, the night before All Souls' Day in the Christian tradition, bell ringers would ring bells in commemoration of the dead into the early morning. Friends and relatives would help with this task, and everyone would eat these foods for sustenance.

Enjoy this day in the city center where you will find chestnuts shops everywhere!

Raining? Let's go to visit an exhibition

Today is finally raining in the Rambla! So will take the chance to visit and exhibition in the CCCB where the famous Magnum agency photographer, Martin Parr, on tourist pictures and kitschabilia.
The typical image of tourists wearing sandals and socks, beaches full of sunbathers and countless attempts to take a photo of run-of-the-mill monuments simulating extreme emptiness are just some of the references you will run across every summer and which Parr has now turned into art.
Close to 300 pictures, 150 postcards and 500 banal objects purchased on trips but also true hidden gems of art make up an exhibition which, for all the kitsch forms, essentially questions our contemporary zeal for purchasing and appropriating.

Don't miss it! It's in Montalegre street, number 5, just a few minutes from the Rambla.

Outdoor cinema: Les Gandules 2012

During the month of August, the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), close to the Ramblas, organises an outdoor cinema screening films which, though acclaimed by the public and critics at principal film festivals, have not yet found their way onto the commercial circuit: nine films selected by an excellent committee of experts, plus a tenth chosen by the public to celebrate ten years of GANDULES.



From Tuesday to Thursday, everyday at 10 p.m. a film is screened in the "Pati de les dones" in original soundtrack with subtitles in English and Catalan.

Check the full programme for further information!

From 7 August 2012 to 24 August 2012
Free admission

Address:
Montalegre 5, 08001 Barcelona

"Once upon a time the screen" Exhibition

Exhibition at the Arts Centre Santa Monica, Ramblas n. 7.
From the 28th March to the 2nd June 2012

The history of video occupies an important place within the sum of the FRAC’s fonds, with more than 1600 works in 23 different collections. The medium has effectively consolidated its position in the last 30 years as a vital platform for experimentation at the international level. Performances, self-filming, fictions and autofictions, narratives, experiments with technology, mechanisms and installations: video reinvents the real and recovers a reality in constant evolution.

More info at: www.artsantamonica.cat

A day to sit in the Ramblas

Today the students of the design School ELISAVA will "occupy" a part of the Ramblas with 130 wooden chairs that are part of an exercise carried out in the framework of their studies. From the School website we have extracted this photo of the event preparation, but just walk down the Ramblas and enjoy it!

Carnival has arrived to the Ramblas!

This year's Carnival festivities, which run from 16 to 22 February, take a nod at previous centuries and bring back several historical activities. The arrival of the Carnival King, the masked balls and the sardine burial ceremony will take place alongside the Carnival parades throughout the city.

His Majesty will arrive at Passeig del Born, accompanied by Seven Ambassadors from imaginary nations representing vices and excesses. That will be immediately followed by the Sarau de l'Arribo, a masked ball which, like most of this year's events, will be held in the evening, so all the family can take part.

Do not miss the beginning of Carnival!

More info at http://www.bcn.cat/carnaval/ca/welcome.html

Santa Llúcia Fair

The Santa Llúcia Fair has officially kicked off this year's Christmas celebrations in the city. The oldest Christmas fair in Catalonia is celebrating its 225th anniversary. This year it will be open longer, until 22nd December, and there will be more activities.

For more information, take a look at  http://en.firadesantallucia.cat/

The Ramblas festivities

During this weekend and next week, several events have been organised to celebrate the Ramblas festivities, so called "festa major" or "Festes del Roser". For this year, traditional catalan activities have been scheduled during one week, from the 30th September to the 9th October 2011, such as castellers (human castles), xocolatada (hot chocolate), gegants i capgrossos.

The following link provides information on the programme of this event!

1st of May 2011

Some photos of the 1st of May traditional demonstration at the Ramblas.