Barrio de Gràcia

If you are a tourist, and you are searching for something to do or see in Barcelona, you should go to the district of Gràcia!

I have been living there for three months, and I guess I won’t live in a place like this anymore.

Gràcia was an independent municipality until it was annexed to Barcelona in 1897, along with other villages in the area of Barcelona. For that reason, walking in this district is like take a walk in another city.

Gràcia is a really creative, artistic and residential area. There are a lot of different squares like Plaça del Sol and Plaça del Diamant, where you can sit in and enjoy the good atmosphere.

Moreover if you want doing some shopping or drink something with your friends, here there are so many little and cheap shops, bars and restaurants that you will never forget!

Finally, if you are lucky enough to be here from the 15th august to the 21st, you can enjoy, as the majority of people say, the best “Fiesta de major” of Barcelona. It’s an amazing tradition where many streets are decorated following different specific themes, with ornaments done manually by young and older people with recycled objects. In these days there are also lots of concerts and different events.

If you want to get lost in this fantastic district you can take the green metro and stop in Fontana, or also take different buses: the 22, V17, V15.

Enjoy it!

The pleasure of eating: Pollo Rico

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” 

― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

“Blood may be thicker than water, but it's certainly not as thick as ketchup. Nor does it go as well with French fries.” 

― Jarod Kintz, This Book is Not FOR SALE

When you live in a foreign city, you are interested in searching for places to visit, museums, bars, discos and so on, but there is another aspect of great relevance that should intrigue you - and that we unforgivably disregard on this blog: cooking.

You’re not fully enjoying your stay in a city if you don’t explore the local dishes, flavours and spices. The hugest mistake you can do is trying to reproduce your native country’s cooking in another place: if you want to integrate yourself, you have to be open-minded and to discover the typical cooking of the country you’re living in. Cookery is an important feature of each country's culture: you cannot say that you really know one place without tasting its cooking. 

The pleasure of food

I’m not here to suggest you restaurants in which you will taste haute cuisine at very expensive prices: we are students or interns, so we are searching for something good, but also cheap. That’s why I am going to present you a very rustic, cheap and cheerful place located in one of the most historical and characteristic barrios, El Raval. The restaurant is called Pollo Rico and takes its name from its main dish. This restaurant is a little bit unrefined, but there you can breathe the real atmosphere of El Raval and – above all – you can give a try to the typical Barcelonian cooking at very low prices.

Pollo Rico

As said, the main dish of this restaurant is chicken (‘pollo’). Pollo rico means 'succulent chicken' and it describes perfectly the course, which is really tasty. The combination ½ pollo and patatas al horno (or fritas or – for the gluttons – bravas) is the one I suggest you. If you’re not that hungry, you can choose the ¼ version. After the main course, you can end with crema catalana, the most famous Catalan dessert. 

If you don’t like chicken, anyway, there’s plenty of dishes among which you can choose, and with 8-10€ you can satisfy your appetite completely. 

Pollo y patatas fritas

Moreover, in this place you can enjoy the spirit of this barrio, goliardic, rustic and familiar. I strongly suggest you to go there once: if you’re not searching for fancy places, but for something down to earth, you’ll appreciate it. 

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! =)

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!

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.

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

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 ;)