Feria de Abril de Cataluña

Do you want to breathe the Seville's air in Barcelona?

Then you cannot miss the Feria de Abril (The April Fair) in Parque del Fòrum! It is the Catalan version of the Andalusian Fairs. The most famous one is held in Seville (that is why the fair is also called “Feria de Abril de Sevilla”).

The word Feria originates from the Latin term feria, feriae. With this word Romans marked the days with no civil activities devoted to religious cult. The first Feria dates back to 1847, thanks to the authorization of Queen Isabel II. During 1920s, this celebration reached its peak and became one of the symbols of the Andalusian culture.

The Feria in Barcelona does not have, as you can imagine, the same popularity as the Seville's original celebration, but it is certainly a great event and an occasion to discover the traditional Sevillanas dance and much more.
The Feria de Abril is divided in two different areas as per two different themes.
The first one is the amusement park area, with many attractions like candy floss, shooting galleries, ferris wheel and similar attractions.

The second and main theme is the “casetas” area. The term casetas, individual decorated marquee tents which are temporarily built on the fairground, means little houses in Spanish, and in each of them you can find different groups dancing Sevillanas, eating Spanish food – such as chorizo, patatas bravas, bocadillos – singing traditional songs aloud.

In my opinion, the most beautiful feature is the huge amount of colours, dresses and people – from children to the eldest of grandparents – that you can find in the Feria. You will be fascinated by sophisticated dresses, different sounds and people.

Regarding to apparel, men wear the traditional “traje de corto” (short jacket, tight trousers and boots) and women wear “faralaes” or “trajes de flamenca” which is a flamenco-style dress.

If you love folklore, to be in the middle of crowd, singing and dancing flamenco, next year you should visit the Feria de Abril. You will absorbed by the Andalusian atmosphere.

Barcelonian tips

When moving to a new country, there are some unconditional things to deal with, in order to live in peace. By reading this article, you'll become familiar with the Catalan regulation and organisms that aim to help you with it.

First of all, your situation depends on your country of origin. If you are a citizen of the European Union (EU), and/or if you are from a State that is member of the Schengen Area, it's gonna be easier for you to live in Barcelona. 

Indeed, as you may know, the Schengen Area, formed by 26 countries, abolished any form of border control. Moreover, if you are from the EU, you don't need a visa to move from a country to another.

    Full Schengen members (EU member states which have implemented the Schengen Agreement)

    Associated Schengen members (non-EU member states which have implemented the Schengen Agreement)

    EU member states which are bound to implement the Schengen Agreement but who have not done so yet)

    EU member states outside the Schengen Area

If you come from the rest of the world, you should ask for a visa in order to be allowed to take up residence in Barcelona, and in Spain in general.

Once you're in the city, you must think about paperwork. The very first thing to do, if you're here to work, is to ask for a NIE - Número de Identidad de Extranjero - compulsory to sign an employment contract. After that, you should get some information about "la tarjeta sanitaria", that is to say, the Spanish medical card. The first year that you own this card, you'll be able to read "acces catsalut primer nivel", meaning that you only have access to general practice. However, if you need a specific care, a committee regularly meets in order to define the real needs of each one. From the second year that you have the medical card, it's indicated "acces catsalut segon nivel", and you'll have free access to every kind of medecine.

Lots of organisms in Barcelona are here to help you to understand the functioning of Spain. The first one is the SAIER - Servei d'Atenció a Immigrants, Emigrants i Refugiats - located in Avinguda Paralel·lel, 202-204 (metro station: Espanya, L1, L3). It has existed since 1989 and its goal is to help imigrants and refugees who live in Barcelona. Then, the SOAPI - Servicio de Orientación y Acompañamiento para personas inmigradas - counts an office in each districte. It gives general information about rights and duties, administrative steps, the area knowledge, etc. The OACs - Oficines d'Atenció Ciutadana - also exists in every districte. It aims to facilitate the administrative steps.

About specific needs, you should take note that the PIADs - Puntos de Informació y Atenció a las Donas - are here to help women when it comes to discrimination or violence. There's one of them in each districte. The "oficinas d'habitatge" aim to help people to buy or rent social accomodations in each districte. Barcelona Activa, located in Carrer de Llacuna, 162-164, is an organism that may help you to set up your company in Barcelona. Finally, the "oficina d'atenció del consorci d'educació de Barcelona", located in Plaça d'Urquinaona, 6, helps families to put their children into the educational system.

Some interesting phone numbers:

- emergency phone number: 112

- Police: 092

- Firemen: 080

- ER: 061

By the way, you may wonder what a "districte" is. Actually, Barcelona is divided in 10 districtes that are administratives areas, in order to facilitate steps. In these districtes, you can find barris, that are neighbourhoods.

Barcelona's districtes

Barcelona's barris

I really hope that this is gonna facilitate your arrival in that beautiful-sunny-hot city! =)

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.

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!

Poble Español, a city museum in the very heart of Barcelona

Spain is a country full of history, wonderful places to visit and explore, great cities like Madrid and Barcelona, and little Spanish villages and towns with centuries of history as well. From Andalusia to País Vasco, from Galicia to the Baleares, you can appreciate really different traditions, cultures, and architecture as well, since Spain through the centuries has been influenced by many different populations like Arabic and even South American ones.

So, if you love Spain culture or you are interested in architecture as well, you would be surprised to know that you can find the entire Spain in an only village, in the very centre of Barcelona: its name is Poble Español.

Poble Español is an architectural museum that contains a selection of buildings from different parts of the Peninsula. It is situated in the very heart of Barcelona, near Plaza de España and the incredible Fountains of Montjuïc, and it was concieved for visitors to enjoy an open-air Spanish architectural museum while walking around its squares, gardens and streets. The most amazing thing is that, in fact, in order to reproduce different places and Spanish areas, the Poble Español with its 117 full-scale buildings creates a real suggestive village, with its own houses, parks, theaters, school, artisan workshops and restaurants.

It was built in 1929, for the Barcelona International Exposition as a synthesis of Spain's architecture and culture by the architects Puig Cadafalch, Francesc Folguera and Ramon Reventos, the art critic Miquel Utrillo, and the painter Xavier Nogués. After many trips around Spain to collect the iconographic material which they needed, hundreds of photos, notes and drawings, the team was able to build a complex synthesis of cultural and architectural essence of Spain.

The museum contains 117 buildings of 15 different autonomous communities of Spain: Andalucia, Aragón, Asturias, Cantabria, Castilla, Castilla y León, Cataluña, Valencia, Extremadura, Galicia, Islas Baleares, Madrid, Murcia, Navarra and País Vasco.

Poble Español isn't just an architectural museum, it mixes architecture with contemporary art, crafts and gastronomy. The museum Fran Daurel for example, inside the village, is in fact one of the most beautiful museums in Barcelona, where you can appreciate more than 250 works between paintings, sculptures, drawings and ceramics from some of the most important contemporary artists of all time like Picasso, Dalí and Miró.

So, if you are in Barcelona I really advise you to visit this wonderful open air museum. You can find further information on Poble Español's website. Enjoy!

Spring has come! Let's start it with a new festival: Brunch Electronik Barcelona '15

Spring has arrived, and with it a new great festival starts here in Barcelona! Temperature are rising, hot sunny days are coming, so it is the moment to put aside plaids and dvds and spend the weekend outdoor instead of staying at home.

The Brunch Electronik Barcelona offers you a different plan to enjoy this beautiful season of the year with music, cuisine and culture, so if you are bored of wasting your time on the sofa come and have some good fun! In fact in the Brunch Electronik Barcelona you will have the chance to join culture and leisure together, you can rest under the sun and at the same time you can be involved in a lot of cultural activities like shows, cinematic projections, flea markets where you can buy second hand books and vinyls, reading spaces, activities for children and more. Moreover, as you can understand from the name of the festival, you will find a tasty brunch menu if you're hungry, and you will have the chance to dance to the music of the best national and international djs of the moment.

The festival will be hosted at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, in the heart of the city, then it is an opportunity to visit it and get seduced by its beauty, since the entrance ticket will allow you to visit the museum as well.

So, from the third sunday of March, every two weeks, all the families with children, all music lovers, "nihilists", people that love culture, vintage markets addicts, but in general to all the people that want to spend a different sunday, you already have a plan for the weekend: the Brunch Electronik Festival.

For further information, don't waste time and visit the website!

Barcelona + Beer = Barcelona Beer Festival '15

Nothing to do in the weekend? Temperature is rising and you are more and more thirsty? So, let's drink some good beers at Barcelona Beer Festival 2015!

From today to Sunday 15th of March you can enjoy more than 300 different craft beers, you can find a lot of quality food too if you're hungry, and a do a lot of activities! The BBF is a good occasion to start better knowing beer culture and appreciate the qualities of artisan craft beer to the general public.

The fourth edition of this very appreciated festival will be hosted in the Barcelona Maritim Museum, an institution dedicated to the maritime culture with over than 80 years of history. Moreover, in 2006, this museum was declared one of the National Interest Museum.

To attend the festival the only thing you have to do to start drinking is to buy the exclusive Festival's glass and coins to start filling your glasses with the beer you like the most. There are a lot of beers from all over the world, from strong beers (11%) to non-alcoholic ones if you have to drive, and even beers for coeliacs. However, at the entrance you will receive a booklet where you will find almost all the information you need to fully enjoy the festival: how it works, articles about the world of craft beer and reviews of all the beers. 

Moreover, you can even attend conferences, tasting sessions and workshops about gastronomy and meet the brewer that will answer you to all the question you want about beer and brewery.

So what are you waiting for? This is an unmissable occasion to join the magnific atmosphere of Barcelona with incredible beers from all over the world. For further information visit the festival's website!

To-do list in Barcelona

By now, it’s two weeks that I live in Barcelona. It’s the first time in my life that I temporarily live abroad and, at first, I was scared and excited at the same time just thinking about it. For years I have been thinking that I wasn’t strong enough to leave Italy, that being independent was a distant goal and stuff like that.

Now I know that it’s not true: I’m finding my place in this big city, I’m learning Spanish and I’m having my first intern at the same time. 

Barcelona attracted me from the beginning: it's a beautiful city, it really captures you: it’s multicultural, but with its own traditions (like Catalan), it’s big, but liveable, it’s full of people, but not suffocating.

Of course, there are some things that you have to put on your to-do list:

You have to get used to dine at 10 pm, when in your home country you dine at 8 pm, so you have to find tricks not to starve.

What time do people eat in Barcelona?

You have to understand that Italian and Spanish are not so similar: if you know Italian it does not mean that you know Spanish as well (final -s will definitely not save you).
You have to learn to use the metro, to discover the lines, to take the right direction: at first it will happen you to get lost, get over it.

Metro in Barcelona

You have to forget your beloved car – that’s especially for guys, but also for me, since I love driving: in such a big city, you need to move with public transports.
You have to fight with the language: forget about speaking English, here you have to learn Spanish, period. Actually, if you want to live here for a long time, you should learn Catalan as well, but for a short period Spanish is – luckily – enough.
You have to visit Park Guell, to get on Montjuic, to see Tibidabo, to hang on the Barceloneta and so on: stop saying “I have plenty of time”, up your ass and go.
You have to taste paella, tapas and sangria: Spanish cuisine is really good – even not as Italian one, of course ;)
You have to dance sardana at least one in your life.

Barcelona's typical dance

You have to party as only Spaniards can do.

There are a lot of things to do in this amazing city: I can't wait to do as many things as I can, in order to make my stay really special and fruitful.  

Carlotta