Noisy nights

You may have chosen Barcelona for your holidays, internship, studies or new job thinking that you'll be able to party hard at night all year long. That's true: one of the first thing I was told by my flatmate was that the city counts more than 5.000 bars and pubs. It has also more than 30 discos.

But the thing that you probably didn't think about was that there's actually laws against the noise, even in a city like Barcelona.

We, interns in 1GlobalTranslators, are all used to partying together, and the 3 last home parties we participated actually ended with the police's arrival. The fact is that, you won't have any trouble til more or less 2 in the morning, but after that, you should really pay attention to the noise.

The fine for too much noise is 75 euros (the police doesn't come first to warn you guys, they charge immediately), and the price gets higher depending on the number of people. Thus, we all were once in a massive home party. The police came and asked everybody to go out, counting each person leaving the flat: we were more than 80. And the really bad surprise was that when there is actually more than 50 people in a "piso", the "multa" price is 200 euros! Don't trust that they won't come to the poorest neighbourhood because one of the 3 parties was in Raval, the most legendary "barri".

Other piece of advice: be really careful when you drink alcohol in the street because if the police sees you, you may be charged 13 euros.

Now that you're aware of the sentenced you risk, have good night in Barcelona city!

La tentación de Existir: a Black and White Retrospective

The “Fundació Foto Colectania” is a private foundation inaugurated in 2002 in the district of Gracía, Barcelona, whose objective is to diffuse photography and collections through exhibitions and activities such as seminaries and conferences. 

The exhibition "La tentación de existir" (The Temptation of Existing) compares two essential works of two Sweden authors of the second half of the Twentieth Century: Les amies de Place Blanche of Christer Strömholm and Café Lehmitz of Anders Petersen. They are two photographers which have the same way to understand the world around them. In the works of  Strömholm and Petersen, the teacher and his pupil, is present a Nordic melancholy  and a strong empathy for the people portrayed. 

Christer Strömholm (1918-2002) is known for his intimate black and white street photography portrait series. For him photography was not aimed to describe the reality. His idea was that the work of the photographer starts from himself because the image is in his head and not in front the camera.
In the late 1950s and early 60s, he lived in Paris and he created his most famous book, Les amies de Place Blanche, portraits of glamorous transsexuals in the red-light district around Pigalle. He described it as a book "about insecurity, about humiliation, about the quest for self-identity and the right to live".

La tentación de existir: Les amies de Place Blanche

The black-and-white photographs, shot at night capture a lost Paris, subterranean yet lively, at a time when General de Gaulle was intent on creating an ultra-conservative France with strict Roman Catholic values. The "night birds", as he called them, worked the streets around Place Blanche hoping to raise money to travel to Casablanca for the expensive operation that would complete their gender transformation.
Strömholm like his subjects, worked into the early hours, sharing with them their early afternoon breakfasts, watching them put on make-up and clothes, going down with them to the streets as they solicited for clients. This was a sort of insider reportage based on trust and friendship. 
More than once he affirmed that “Working with photography is a way of life. When I looked to my photos I see that each one is a self-portrait, a part of my life”

La tentación de existir: Les amies de Place Blanche

The transsexuals of Place Blanche led a hard life and often struggled to survive, but in the photographs, what is visible is a sense a camaraderie between the "girls" and between the photographer and his subject. Besides, Strömholm's surprisingly intimate portraits form a magnificent and vibrant tribute to these girls. His photo-essay raises profound issues about sexuality and gender. The subjects' exaggerated self-image shows their often unrealizable dreams and desires. A book of longing and desire, a true classic of postwar European photography.

La tentación de existir: Les amies de Place Blanche

Anders Petersen, a Swedish photographer born in 1944, had been Christer Stromholm’s pupil for one year, between 1966 and 1967. Then, in 1967, he started a project called Café Lehmitz, which takes its name from the bar in Hamburg (Germany) where Petersen used to photograph the late-night regulars - prostitutes, transvestites, drunks, lovers and drug addicts. 

La tentación de existir: Café Lehmitz

The photographs are not intended to judge, they are really close to the soul and the mood of the people depicted, they offer a glance of reality. About the experience in Café Lehmitz, he says:

"The people at the Café Lehmitz had a presence and a sincerity that I myself lacked. It was okay to be desperate, to be tender, to sit all alone or share the company of others. There was a great warmth and tolerance in this destitute setting."

The book - published in 1978 by Schirmer/Mosel in Germany – became a milestone of European photography; one of its photos was used by the American songwriter Tom Waits for the cover of his 1985’s album, Rain Dogs. 

La tentación de existir: Café Lehmitz

On Erik Kim’s – a street photographer – blog, we can find the list of the 10 things Anders Petersen may teach you about street photography:

1. Shoot with your heart, not your brain: “I am more using my heart and stomach and I go for that, it keeps me going”, he says. “I don’t use the upper-half so much when I am shooting – it is more after when I am shooting when I am looking at my contact sheets, and then I try to analyze and put things together”.
2. Create photographs with more questions than answers
3. Use a simple camera
4. Style isn’t something aesthetic: Petersen’s style is more related to the approach – empathic and human – he as with the people he photographs than with aesthetics.
5. Be a maniac, obsessive, photograph a lot of subjects.
6. Get close to people
7. Photography is a self-portrait of yourself
8. Focus on content, not form
9. Photography is about solutions, not problems: as Petersen declares, “photography offers a lot of opportunities. For me, the camera is like an entrance to the private lives of other people. And if you are curious like me, it is a fantastic tool”.
10. Keep an innocent eye, watching things as if it is the first time you do that. 

The exhibition was inspiring: both the artists are original and they allow subjects usually unpopular or discriminated to find their legitimate space in the history of photography. 

Federica and Carlotta

El Raval, the true essence of Barcelona

Barcelona is a multicultural city, having absorbed elements of a lot of cultures from all over the world. It is characterized by a wide range of different locations, you can have a good time at the sea, have a walk through the mountains, appreciate modern areas, or visit the old city centre. 

However, if you really want to enjoy the true atmosphere of this incredible city, the only thing you have to do is to get lost in the Ciutat Vella, a magic neighborhood full of small streets, hidden bars and shops, and secret places to discover. Ciutat Vella is divided in four main areas: the most famous Barri Gotic, Barceloneta, Sant Pere and last but not least, the Raval.

El Raval in particular is one of the most attractive and fascinating neighborhood in Barcelona, one of the most authentic and genuine. It was born as an expansion of the medieval defensive walls of the city, surrounded by Poble Sec district, Sant Antoni district and Barri Gotic. It hosts 50000 inhabitants from all the world in just 1,1 square kilometres. 
Originally it was home to giant vegetable patches grown to meet the needs of the city, then with the Industrial Revolution they were transformed into factories, but it is only in the 20th century that the Raval became more and more populated. The south area of the neighborhood became the real "red light district" of Barcelona, characterized by overcrowding, prostitution and drug trafficking, and the situation didn't change until the government decided to start designing an urban renewal plan in preparation for the 1992 Summer Olympics Games. New houses and streets were built, as well as new parks and squares. In addition, they built the famous Rambla del Raval in the hearth of the district, characterized by the enormous cat sculpture designed by Fernando Botero.

Today Raval is a neighborhood full of life, where art and night life meet in colourful streets. It is home of many theatres, cultural centres, galleries, academies and museums like the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) or the Barcelona Centre of Contemporary Culture (CCCB), that allow new artists and intellectuals to emerge. Moreover, its lounges, nightclubs, bars and lots of live music will entertain you all night long for sure!

There are even some classics gems such as the Bar Marsella or the London pub, where the likes of Hemingway, Picasso or Dalì often went to drink a cup of absynth or beer. Finally, the Boqueria indoor market, the vintage shops in Ribera Baixa and the Filmoteca de Catalunya are some of the many treasures that reside in this fascinating neighborhood.

The Shadow of the Wind: a Barcelonian story

"This city is a sorceress, you know, Daniel? It gets under

your skin and steals your soul without you knowing it."

You can easily guess the name of the city described above: Barcelona, of course. The quote is taken by a novel I've read some years ago - and again and again over the years, The Shadow of the Wind, written by the Barcelonian writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón in 2001. The novel has quickly become a worldwide bestseller, and it has sold 15 000 000 copies all around the world. 

The Shadow of the Wind

The story unfolds in Barcelona, in 1945: on one cold morning, a librarian brings is only child, Daniel, to visit the Cemetery of the Lost Books, hidden in the gloomy alleys of El Raval. The librarian wants his child to adopt a book, hidden in one of the old library's shelves, and Daniel chooses La Sombra del Viento by the unknown artist Julián Carax.

Daniel is enchanted by the book, the first one that has stolen his heart:

"Few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first images, the echo of words we think we have left behind, accompany us throughout our lives and sculpt a palace in our memory to which, sooner or later - no matter how many books we read, how many worlds we discover or how much we learn or forget - we will return".

He decided to inquire into Julián Carax mysterious life, incapable of understanding why nobody knows the talented author. The plot follows Daniel's investigation over Julián's life, bringing to light a bleak, long story that has been buried within the depths of oblivion, unmentionable secrets and obsessive romances, surrounded by the horrors of the Spanish Civil War - which is over during the narration, but revived through flashbacks and the characters' memories.

The novel's genre is difficult to define: Bildungsroman - since the novel is shaped on Daniel's personal growth, noir and, above all, gothic, because of its gloomy atmospheres and its light and dark contrasts.

Regardless of its literary value, I suggest you this novel because of the setting, too. Reading it, you will explore Barcelona's barrios and travel across the city. In the following map, the crucial spots of the novel are listed.

The Shadow of the Wind walking tour

In conclusion, if you are searching for an interesting, exciting and intriguing novel about this beautiful city, you definitely have to read The Shadow of the Wind, which the Daily Telegraph describes this way:

"The Shadow of the Wind is a triumph of the storyteller's art. I couldn't put it down. Enchanting, hilarious and hearthbreaking, this book will change your life".

No review could depict it better. 

Carlotta Neuenschwander

El castell: a Catalan tradition

Last Sunday, in front of the Sagrada Família, a typical Catalan tradition was taking place: human pyramids, called castells. 

Castell

The custom was born in Tarragona almost 200 years ago and it spread across all Cataluña. A castell is a human tower of different heights – depending on the number of people who take part of it, divided into various segments:

• La pinya: it is the base of the castell and the segment composed by the hugest number of people. People who constitute la pinya not only sustain the tower, but they cushion possible falls. La pinya amortises between 40 and 60% of the fall. 
• El folre, las manillas, and los puntals standing upon la pinya to reinforce el tronc.
• El tronc is the most visible part and it determines the difficulty of making the castell, determined by the number of people involved and by the height and number of rows.
• El Pom de dalt is the superior part of the tower, crowned by the enxaneta, a kid who puts his feet on the top, raises his arms and does the aleta, a form of victorious greeting to the crowd. 

The enxaneta

The origins of castells have their roots in the Baile de los Valencianos, a dance realized during some religious processions and characterized by different sequences, among which there is the development of a human construction, too.

The first documented castell happened in Cataluña, in 1770, in Pueblo del Arboç (Tarragona). Only twenty years after it the name castell was adopted, in order to differentiate it from el baile valenciano.

A special and fascinating characteristic of these human structures is the motto, which is: "Força, equilibri, valor i seny" (strength, balance, courage and common sense). 

In fact, castellers – the people who made up the castell – need to have some features:

• Strenght: indeed, the first castellers were farmers, able to hold great weights. Nowadays, a casteller is still a stocky person.
• Balance – and trust. In these situations, trust in the others is crucial, in order to feel supported by those who stand below the tower and who have to hold you.
• Courage - especially for children forming the highest levels of the castell. 
• Common sense – performing requires a huge concentration and good sense. Any distraction or error can cause the fall of the structure.

Los castells were recognized as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, on Jordi Roigé’s proposal. The proposal, dated back to 2006, was welcomed by the entire country and it got the solemn support by the Parliament of Cataluña in April 2008. In Julio 2009, the Spanish State approved the proposal, and the application was formalized on August 28th, 2009, in UNESCO headquarters in Paris. Finally, on November 16th, 2010, los castells became part of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, among other 200 elements coming from different parts of the world and relevant for their peculiarity.  

Why do they perform this tradition in front of the Sagrada Família? There are two main reasons: first, Antoni Gaudí – the famous Catalan artist who projected and designed the Sagrada Família, whose building started in 1882 – was inspired by los castells in the conception of the cathedral, especially for the creation of its towers. Gaudí himself, talking with the architect Cèsar Martinell, established a parallelism between los castells and the towers of his cathedral, since they were built with the same principle: a strong and solid basis and a structure that gets progressively thinner.  Second, in el barri de la Sagrada Família there is a group of castellers, called els castellers de la Sagrada Família. 

Castellers de la Sagrada Família

The group was founded on October 20th, 2002, on Sunday: that is why each year, on Sunday closest to October 20th, they celebrate their birth performing this tradition. 

El castell is something that you should see to better perceive Catalan atmosphere and to learn more about Catalan history and traditions, so, keep you updated about the upcoming events!

Carlotta Neuenschwander and Dario Morra

The Poblenou Cemetery: a Journey into the History of Barcelona

                           

Why Cemeteries are important? They are important because if you know them, this will help you to know the history of the city and the nature of its people, since they represent a patrimony of the place.

In ths case The Poblenou Cemetery (in Catalán “Cementiri de Poblenou”) is the most ancient cemetery of Barcelona. It is located in Poblenou district in Barcelona and it is an authentic open air museum waiting for a restoration necessary to preserve its artistic and historical richness.

Historically it was conceived as a solution to the  unhealthiness of the parish graves present inside the city. It was inaugurated in 1775, but destroyed few years later by the Napoleonic troops. In 1813, it was request to a young Italian architect, Antonio Ginesi, to build the outdoor area. The Neoclassical style reflects the tastes and the political aspiration of the new emerging classes of the city,  the businessman and the indianas manufactures. In 1821 it was used in almost its totality, due to a terrible epidemics of cholera which caused thousands of dead.

Since its inauguration the Cemetery has had a lot of modifications and amplification: the most important one was in 1849, where Joan Nolla build the open area of the pantheons where is concentrated the majority of the works of well-known architects and sculptors of the time. In this new space is evident the will of the new Barcelonan bourgeoisie to exhibit their social prestige.

Apart from the artist values, a cemetery is important also because is the witness of the historical and social processes that marked the evolution of the city. You could see the ideals and the ambitions of its citizens. Besides, you could see not only the success of the new businessman, but also the misery of the poor, relegated to a common part with very modest graves.

You should know in fact that in 1854 the was the fall of the city’s wall and the consequentially expansion of the urban city. Such event symbolized the strengthen of the Barcelonan bourgeoisie which is visible in the Pantheon area, where the will of social and cultural differentiation can be noticed.

In the Cemetery there are the graves of a lot of men and women relevant for the history of Barcelona, such as the businessman Bonaplata, the men who first construct the steam loom in Spain and imported the new one from England, the engineer Narcís Monturiol, who invented the first submarine,  the novelist Narcís Oller, the most important catalan realist and naturalist writer of the period.

Besides, you could see also a lot of people awarded for their social virtues. Indeed, the popular Barcelona has its heroes. Some of them lost their lives helping ill people during epidemics, such as doctors, others fought to defend freedom during the Napoleonic invasion. However, the most popular “hero” is Francesc Canals Ambrós, known as “el Santet”(the Saint). He was a young man of modest origins which was well-known for his goodness and charity. After his dead, at 22 years old, became object of popular religious devotion. The “Santet” cult is still practiced nowadays.

Impressing is not only the amount of flowers and gifts left near to its grave, but also the numerous piece of paper, postcards, or sheets put inside the case of his grave to ask him for graces or just to thank to him for a received grace.

Nevertheless, despite the fact that important monument and works of art are present, the cemetery is still almost unknown also to Barcelonans. Undoubtedly this is due also to the abandonment suffered during decades. Fortunately, this tendency was reversed in the last years thanks to the Funeral Services of Barcelona which are aware of the artist value of the cemetery.

The municipality organized twice per month guided free tour visits, both in Catalan and Castellan on Sunday morning, for more information visit the official website: http://www.cbsa.es/

Holi, it's raining colours!

Holi is a Hindu celebration that more or less takes place in the spring equinox. During Holi, people throw coloured chalk on the others with a special signification for each colour: the red one refers to happiness and love, the green one wishes harmony, the orange one optimism and the blue one means vitality.

Originally, Hindu people celebrated Holi as the last funny thing to do before working hard while planting. The celebration starts with a huge fire for the first night, reminding the cremation of Holika, a deamon who was killed by Vishnu, the Preserver God in the Hindu religion.

Vishnu, the Preserver

During the day after, write-dressed people walk with pigments and throw them on the others in the street. After that, they apologise saying "Bura na mano, Holî hai" - Don't be mad, it's Holi.

This year, Holi was celebrated on the 6th March in Hindu religion. But in Barcelona, where Holi is celebrated every year as well, the date was the 12th April.

After travelling to the very North of the city, and climbing a horrible slope, you finally could arrive to a nice area, and face a huge multi-coloured crowd.

During the day, there were some "explosions" of colours, during when the crowd was literally bleue-green-orange-red painted, enjoying the warmth and the joy of the celebration. It was also possible to buy chalk bags for some Euros and have a lot of fun throwing chalk on friends as well as on strangers.

Holi in Barcelona is also the occasion to listen to very good music under the sun, but also to be watched weirdly in the metro and to be asked about why and where you were painted that way. In short, a very fun experience that you should try and enjoy too!

El Born and its antique charm

El Born is a part of La Ribera neighbourhood, but sometimes – because of its relevance – the entire barrio is called El Born. Its antique name was La Ribera del Riego Condal – because of the irrigation channel that passed through it, whose remains are conserved in Mercado del Born.    

El Born is delimited by Paseo de Picasso, calle de la Princesa, calle del Riego, el Paseo del Borne, Sant María de Mar, el Pla de Palau and avenida del Marqués de la Argentera. More easily, it covers the area between Via Laietana and La Barceloneta, so it has a strategic position, being close to the city-centre (La Rambla) and to the sea at the same time. 

Paseo del Born

El Mercado del Born – that, as the name suggests, was traditionally a market – has been transformed into El Born Centre Cultural, since it bears the signs of the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714). During this conflict, the neighbourhood had been almost completely demolished in order to build la Ciutadela, whose purpose was to allow Felipe V to dominate the city after conquering it on September 11th 1714. La Ciudadela was a really huge fortress, between the biggest ones in Europe, and it was built together with Montjuic castle to allow Felipe V to rule over the city. 1,200 houses and convents of St. Augustine and Santa Clara were demolished in order to build the fortress, and the Riego Condal deviated. In total, about 4,500 people were evicted, they did not receive any compensation and were abandoned to their fate.

La Ciutadella was eventually demolished during the Revolution, in 1868, and El Parque de la Ciudadela was built in its place for the EXPO, in 1888. 

El Mercado del Born is important for its Modernist structure, too. It is a striking example of the Cast-iron architecture, typical of Modernist movement and very popular in Catalunya. 

Mercado del Born

El Mercado is not the only thing that makes El Born an attractive and interesting neighbourhood: El Born is one of the most sophisticated and modern area of Barcelona, without losing its antique charm. It is full of cafes and bars in which you can taste tapas and drink cerveza, sangria and mojito. Moreover, if you like exclusive shopping, there are very nice, vintage shops – even if quite expensive.  

El Born hosts art and culture, too: you can visit Museo Picasso, Museo Textil - which is located in this district because of its long-time tradition of textile guilds, and the beautiful cathedral Santa María del Mar.

El Born: Santa María del Mar

I love this barrio: it’s antique, but up to date; it’s lively, but quiet; it’s sophisticated, but not snobbish. And, if you are a hearty eater, there is another place in Born where you should absolutely go: it is a self-service chain called La Paradeta – the others are located in Sants, Sagrada Família, Meridiana and Sitges. It is close to El Mercado del Born and you can eat fresh fish at cheap prices: you can choose the type of fish you prefer (mussels, shrimps, prawns, tuna etc.) and they will cook it as you like. It really deserves a visit, because of its high quality and the cheap price! I advise you to go to the Born’s one because, after a huge dinner, you can walk around the barrio and drink something there ;)

Palo Alto Market in Barcelona ( 4 – 5 April 2015 ): The Power of Creativity and Music Together

ThePalo Alto market is a new idea of market: it is a handcrafted and sophisticated street market based on the idea to promote creativity and quality of the products. It is located in an urban island with a wonderful view where talents are mixed the five senses.

Why the five senses?

An area was completely dedicated to food and testing different kind of street food: from Thai and sushi to vegan, but also Spanish and Latin American.

Another area was dedicated to workshops: touching and transforming materials, such as recycled materials, cardboard, but also learning to construct of vegetal puppets and decorative objects. 

Three galleries were dedicated to fashion and design: the design gallery, with handcrafted decorative objects, the Boehme and the fashion gallery, mainly with handmade shoes and clothes.

Creativity and quality were the key words. A huge number of Spanish designers and fashion designer were present there to promote their cretions and let them know to the public.

Music & Performances were also present:

In order to create the right atmosphere, music could not miss in such an event. Two places were dedicated to music, an open air space with dj set and a bar where you could taste martini and vermouth, called “Jazz Club Martini”. There, a fantastic trio, Khaoula & Friends Trio, exhibits in a captivating show full of rhythm and different sonorities: jazz mixed with African and South American influences. Incredible was the energy and the positiveness released by the singer; she was able to live up all the public of the bar.

Here is a video:

What about the location?

Actually it was not in the city center but in a new area, called Poblenou. Poblenou is one of the few areas that has grown independently, keeping away from mass tourism and maintaining its identity. As a result it has become one of the most genuine and prolific metropolitan scenarios of Barcelona city.

In recent years, a series of creative atelier have found their home in Poblenou, since cultural and commercial spaces are present to offer innovative proposals. It is there where new buildings coexist with art galleries, foundations, design studios, advertizing agency, hotels and restaurants.

The area is living an incredible transformation due to the creative community of “Poblenou Urban District” which promotes, reinvents and creates ideas to transform this postindustrial zone in a Barcelonan vanguard and referring point.

We shuould wait for the next Palo Alto market, the 2 and 3 of May to see the community at work again to revive the magic of the place where creativity and music mixed together.

Costa Brava, the wild coast of Catalonia

Tossa de Mar medieval village

Costa Brava is the Catalan shore, that runs through 255 km (158 miles), from Portbou, France, to Blanes, Spain. It is composed of five regions that are Alt Empordà, Baix Empordà, Gironès, Pla de l’Estany and Selva. 

The name of "Costa Brava" - wild coast - was first used in 1908 by Ferran Agulló, a poet inspired by the wild beauty of the shore. 

As Good Friday and Easter Monday are bank holidays in Spain, we almost all decided to escape Barcelona and get a change of air. After looking for A LOT of potential destinations, we finally chose to go to Tossa de Mar, municipality in the province of Girona, in Selva.

Tossa is a village of 6,000 inhabitants that have lived principally from tourism since the movie Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (staring Ava Gardner) was shot there. Formerly, the population depended on wine, cork and fishing.

After about a 90-minutes bus journey, we finally arrived at the Tossa station, on top of the village. While going down, we could see the Roman villa of Ametllers (1st century BC - 6th century AD) that belonged to the Roman province of Tarraconensis. The villa was discovered in 1914 by Ignasi Melé and is made up of two distinct parts: “pars urbana” - urban part -, and “pars fructuaria” - rural part. The first one, on the top, was the noble part of the villa, were we can still notice thermal baths, a mosaic, a swimming pool, and marble sculptures. The other part, more in the bottom, was the place where the products like wine or grains were stocked.

Our spirit of adventure pushed us to first explore the “Vila Vella enceinte”, that dates from the 14th century. On the very top of the fortifications, that gives an amazing view of the shore, you can find a lighthouse that was built in 1917. But until the 19th century, the Santa Maria de Ripoll Monastery Abbot's castle actually standed there. The place has been a national historical monument since 1931. While bringing back down, you can enjoy the steep, narrow and charming streets of the historical centre.

After admiring the wonderful panorama, we decided to go to the beach and enjoy the sunshine. You should know that Tossa counts three main beaches:

- The Tossa Beach (Platja Gran), that faces up to the city centre and ends up at the foot of the castle

Platja Gran

- La Mar Menuda, on the other side of the shore, that is the most touristic one

La Mar Menuda

- El Codolar, behind the fortifications

El Codolar

On a side note, we spent the whole afternoon there, ignoring the dangers of the cloud-covered sun, having lunch, taking a nap and playing volleyball, and we finally almost all turned beet-red: the very first rays of the spring sunshine are always the worst ones!

The sunburned interns

Tossa del Mar, where beautiful beaches and culture meet

Located on the Girona coast at half way between the city of Barcelona and the French border, Tossa del Mar is an ancient fisherman's village with an important cultural backgroud, that has become more and more an emblematic touristic destination with its unique beaches and landscapes. In fact it is considered one of the best summer destinations in Costa Brava.

On this Easter holidays some of us went there to spend some good time and sunbathe, and at the end we discovered a real beautiful village that can offer more than beautiful sea and beaches, it is a concentrate of culture too, from prehistory until the 20th century.

Tossa del Mar is the only village in Costa Brava that has protected and safeguarded its old defensive wall and castle, built in order to protect its people from the attack of Moors pirates. The original structure dates from the 13th century, composed by walls with four large towers and three cylindrical ones. Among these the best-known ones are Joanàs Tower overlooking the bay, the Clock Tower at the entrance of the parade ground (there was the only public clock in the city), and Codolar Tower, overlooking Codolar beach. Moreover very beautiful is the Villa Vella, with its narrow cobbled streets and typical houses. In the 15th and 16th century, age of splendor, the town was composed only by 80 houses, then it started to expand beyond the walls until it became the village of today. Inside the Villa Vella there are many late-Gothic 15th and 16th century buildings like the old church of Sant Vicenç, substituted by a new one in 1755 built in Plaça de la Iglesia, or the beautiful Chapel of Mare de Déu del Socors. However, as I already said, in Tossa del Mar you can find some prehistoric and roman remains like Els Ametllers, one of the most importants villas in the ancient Roman province of Tarraco, discovered in 1914.

At the same time, Tossa is a good choice even if you're just looking for some beautiful beach with crystal clear water, or if you just want to spend a day in contact with nature. In late Spring in particular, when it isn't too crowded, you can enjoy the silence of nature, appreciate areas of great natural beauty, and have a really good time doing some picnic on the beach or sunbathing.

In Tossa there are four different beautiful beaches: the biggest one is Platja Gran, from the promontory of Villa Vella to Gavina Joan memorial. Then there are Platja del Reig and Platja del Mar Menuda where you can even do scuba diving, and last but not least there is Es Codolar, where old fishermans usually fix their boats.

So, are you ready to go to Tossa? Enjoy the photos below and don't waste more time!