RITA BLUE

Bohemia meets modernism at this chilled-out spot near the Ramblas. The funky, retro interior includes 50s-style lamps and lanterns hanging from low ceilings, a swish upstairs bar, and a dark basement dance floor that gets crowded later on for live acts during the week and house and techno sets on weekends. You might want to start off with a beer at a table on the terrace in the square first, before graduating to martinis or margaritas in the upstairs bar later. Food is pretty basic Mexican and Mediterranean fare but the great drinks will get you grooving. Rita is not too blue.

Placa Sant Augusti 3 , Barcelona, 8001
Telephone: +34 93 342 4086

More info: www.ritablue.com

CAFÉ DE L’OPERA

Another classic, with that afterglow of golden, olden days adding to its charm. Here girls hold hands with boys, or boys with boys, and it’s all very relaxed. The decor’s rather English but the atmosphere’s more like a siesta. No better place for people watching in the Ramblas.

La Rambla 74 , Barcelona
Telephone: (00 34 93) 317 7585

More info: www.cafeoperabcn.com

Bar LA FIRA

A fairground ride for dedicated revellers, the owner of this bizarre booze boutique brought the rusting scraps of a disused fun fair here piece-by-piece. Drinkers can gaze into distorting mirrors, try out the dodgems or roundabouts or have their fortunes read. Part fairytale, part Fellini, we say sit back on a swing, take a sip, and enjoy the ride.

C/Provença 171 , Barcelona

More info: www.lafiraclub.com

BAMBÚ LOUNGE

Bambú puts the ‘bar’ into Barcelona, for not only is it decorated to great effect in the Oriental style, it has cocktails for which you would sell your own grandmother. After midnight an atmosphere so electric it could light up a room. Bambú is the gathering place for Barcelona’s it crowd, staying open until the early hours. Arguably the foremost bar in the Gracia district of the city, here you can recline on low slung-sofas while sipping a perfectly mixed mojito, your ears gently massaged by the chillout music in which Bambú specialises. Proceedings tend to start a bit late in Spain, so wait till the witching hour to make an appearance

Vallfogona 23 , Barcelona, 08012
Telephone: +34 93 368 6883

The Flamenco Festival of Ciutat Vella is a chance to enjoy the voices, dances, and guitars of both famous flamenco artists and emerging talents. The shows will take place from May 19 to 22 at the CCCB and Mercat de les Flors and is ideal for those who want to experience some of Spain´s most traditional dance and music. http://www.flamencociutatvella.com/

On 11 Mai you see in the street C / Hospital many stands with honey, herbs and spices, fruits, wines, herbs and other natural products. This is part of the celebrations of the Holy Sant Ponç, the patron saint of beekeepers and herbal specialists. The fair has been done for centuries. Its origins date to the 16th century, when in Spring herbalists took medicine to the sick. Today Sant Ponç fair is celebrated to preserve the antique customs.

 The mountain Montserrat with the Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat lies about 45 km northwest of Barcelona. Already from afar, the about 1,200-meter-high mountain is a grand sight. Even from above, you can experience a view far into the landscape of Catalonia.

The monastery of Montserrat is no specific architectural landmark, however excited the backdrop in which the ruins are build. Many of the tourists travel alone because of the statue of the Black Madonna, patron saint of Catalonia. The figure of the 12th century throne on the high altar in the basilica of the monastery. Her to honor Gregorian chants will be sang daily by about 50 choir boys (Mon to Sat 13:00 and 19.15, Sun 12:00).

In the Museum of Montserrat monastery, you can see work of major artists such as Dali, El Greco, Monet or Giordano. In addition, you see liturgical and archaeological exhibits.The monastery itself is only about 300m from the summit of Montserrat. Here are some well-marked hiking trails. When this is too difficult you can take one of the cogwheel railways almost to the summit.

The trip by train to Montserrat takes about 1.5 hours. A special highlight of the Route is certainly the trip by cable car or cog railway “Cremallera” on the hill.
Get off at the subway station in the Plaça Espanya train the FGC (Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat) in the R5 line in the direction of Manresa. The train departs hourly from 08:36.
At the station “Aeri de Montserrat”, in orbit around the cable, or you drive a station to “Monistrol de Montserrat”. From there, every 20 minutes a cog railway runs up to Montserrat, directly to the monastery. The 15-minute ride is worthwhile. The price for adults is € 7.20 (return ticket).

Here you will find the Montserrat monastery on the map.

Taken from: http://www.barcelona.de

It’s that time of year again! As Barcelona’s winter continues to fling a surprising array of nastiness at us, we’re already getting the occasional day that lets us dream of spring. And spring in Barcelona means one thing: the Primavera Sound festival. This year’s festival takes place from the 27th to the 29th of May, at the Parc del Fòrum.

This is the line up so far. It’s pretty much final, though a few more acts will likely be named. The big names so far appear to be The Charlatans, The Fall, Gary Numan, Orbital, Pet Shop Boys, Pixies, Wilco and Wire.

Confirmed artists: A Sunny Day In Glasgow, The Almighty Defenders, The Antlers, Apse, Atlas Sound, Beach House, Beak>, Ben Frost, Best Coast, The Big Pink, Bigott, Bis, Biscuit, Black Lips, Black Math Horseman, The Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77, The Books, Boy 8-Bit, Broken Social Scene, Built To Spill, The Bundles, Camarón: La Leyenda Del Tiempo 30 Años Después (Kiko Veneno, Duquende and Chicuelo amongst others), The Charlatans performing “Some Friendly”, Circulatory System, The Clean, CocoRosie, Cohete, Cold Cave, Condo Fucks, Crocodiles, Delorean, Diplo, Dr. Dog, The Drums, Dum Dum Girls, Emilio José, Endless Boogie, Fake Blood, The Fall, The Field, Florence + The Machine, Fuck Buttons, Ganglians, Gary Numan, Grizzly Bear, Half Foot Outside, HEALTH, Here We Go Magic, Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions, Japandroids, Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard, Joker featuring Nomad, Junip, The King Khan & BBQ Show, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Les Savy Fav, Lidia Damunt, Liquid Liquid, Low perfoming “The Great Destroyer”, Major Lazer, Marc Almond, Matt & Kim, Mission of Burma, Moderat, Monotonix, Mujeres, Nana Grizol, The New Pornographers, No Age, Nueva Vulcano, Orbital, Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy), Panda Bear, Pavement, Pet Shop Boys, Pixies, Polvo, The Psychic Paramount, Real Estate, Roddy Frame, Scout Niblett, Seefeel, Shellac, Sian Alice Group, Sic Alps, Sleigh Bells, The Slits, The Smith Westerns, Spoon, Standstill, Sunny Day Real Estate, Superchunk, Surfer Blood, Thee Oh Sees, Titus Andronicus, Tortoise, Ui, The Wave Pictures, Wilco, Wild Beasts, Wild Honey, Wire, The XX, Yeasayer.

TICKETS:

Next Sunday 21st of February is the last day to buy the full festival ticket at the price of 140€ (+ booking fee). From Monday the 22nd of February these tickets will cost 150€ (+ booking fee). The sales points are: Ticketmaster network (Tick Tack Ticket), Servicaixa, Atrapalo.com Spain, Atrapalo.com Italy, Codetickets, the CD Drome shops, Seetickets UK, Fnac France and through PayPal on the festival webpage.

Access to San Miguel Primavera Club / San Miguel Primavera Sound
http://primaverasound.com/

LISTEN TO THE FESTIVAL’S LINE-UP ON PRIMAVERA RADIO
http://www.scannerfm.com/player/player_only_primavera_v0.2.html

Teatro Romea presents a slightly different version of “sleeping Beauty”, performed by Santa Coloma de Gramane Ballet and under the direction of David Campos. He aimed to modernize the classical ballet story, turning it into a more contemporary and cinematic act. To achieve this visual effect, the director has used multimedia projections and virtual sets, making the characters in the story more vivid than ever.
Showing Times: Tues- Fri (incl. 7 Dec.)- 9pm, Saturdays- 6.30pm; 9.30pm, Sundays and Holidays- 6.30pm
Tickets: Teatro Romea. Ticket Office: http://www.telentrada.com/  Ph.902 10 12 12

After triumphing in Madrid with over 300 performances and 200 000 spectators, the musical titled with the simple and open to interpretation letter “A” has been on stage in Barcelona for 2 months now. Created, directed and also acted by the one of the country’s favorite singers Nacho Cano, part of the famous 80s band Mecano, the musical tells the story of a child that enters a family’s life and without even speaking turns many lives around. The performance follows the child on a journey of seduction and revealing of a secret, able to make everyone’s lives much happier.
Watch trailer: click here
Performances: Wednesday- Sunday, 4pm; 6pm; 8pm; 10pm.

Location: Teatre Apolo. Av. Paralelo, 59

Price: 33€-54€

Web: http://www.aelmusicaldenachocano.com/
Tickets:  902 332 211 www.servicaixa.com

If you are looking for a bit of authentic “yesteryear” culture in Barcelona, then visit the fresh food market of Barcelona

• La Boqueria Market is a historic and famous fresh food market located on the Rambla. If you are on La Rambla then you must visit La Boqueria. This is a historic old market famous for the quality and diversity of its wares that come from all corners of the earth. It is said of this market that “if the unicorn existed it would be sold here!” La Boqueria is also known as the Mercat de Sant Josep (Saint Joseph’s market) because it is located on a site that was a convent and originally intended to be later used as the courtyard of the church of Sant Josep. More info: http://www.boqueria.info/

• Santa Caterina Market: Recently renovated food market in La Ribera part of the old centre of Barcelona. Over 100 food stalls, restaurants and an amazing polychrome roof designed as a billowing magic carpet and covered with ceramic tiles. Over one hundred market stalls and one of Barcelona’s best restaurants called  Cuines Santa-Caterina. More info: http://www.mercatsantacaterina.net/

• Sant Antoni Market: Lively and authentic food market in Eixample left district of Barcelona. Also has clothes stalls and and book markets.Opening times: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday 07.00 to 14:30 iand 17:30 to 20:30. Fridays all day from de 07.00 20:30. More info:www.mercatsbcn.cat

Event location:  CCCB, Cine Rex y la Sala 2 of cines Aribau Club – BarcelonaBAFF – The Barcelona Asian Film Festival.  in 2010 BAFF will present a selection of 60 feature films produced in Asia throughout the last year. Since its creation in 1999, BAFF has offered the best in Asian independent cinema and attracts one of the largest, most enthusiastic audiences in the city of Barcelona. Now in its 12th season, the BAFF is also the Barcelona’s fastest-growing film festival: in the course of the eleven editions held so far, the number of sections and films screened have both increased, while audience figures have gone up from 3,000 to 22,000. The Golden Durian Award will be granted to the best feature film directed by a new talented filmmaker with less than three movies in his credits. Thirteen films from Japan, Korea, China, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam will be competing in the Official Selection

Full programme 2010 Barcelona Asian Film Festival (BAFF) website

BAFF movies are screened at these cinemas.

Cine Rex
Gran Vía de les Corts Catalanes 463
Metro: Red L1 Rocafort
Bus: 9, 41, 50, 56, N1, N2, N3, N14, N15

Cines Aribau Club 2
Gran Vía de les Corts Catalanes 565-567
Metro: L1, L2 Universitat L1 Urgell
Bus: Bus: 9, 41, 50, 56, N1, N2, N3, N8, N13, N14, N15

Espacio cultural Caja Madrid
Plaça de Catalunya 9
Metro: L1, L3 Catalunya
Bus: 9, 14, 16, 17, 24, 41, 42, 55, 58, 59, 66, 67, 68, 141, NIT BUS: N1, N2, N3, N4, N6, N8, N9, N11, N13, N15

CCCB Auditori and CCCB Hall
Montalegre 5
Metro: L1, L2 Universitat L1, L3 Catalunya
Bus: 7, 9, 14, 16, 17, 24, 38, 41, 50, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59, 64, 66, 67, 68, 91, 120, 141

BAFF Ticket prices 2010
€ 6.50 Single admission
€ 25 5 admissions
€ 45 10 admissions

Tickets on sale at Servicaixa.com, Telentrada.com and tickets office of CCCB, Cinema Rex, Cinema Aribau Club

Thursday 29th April to Sunday 2nd May

Don’t miss the BioCultura 2010 fair in Barcelona!.

 This is an annual 3 day fair at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona. Biocultura promotes ecologically healthy and sustainable products for consumers with inspiration from over 700 exhibitors in 2009 showing a wide range of eco-friendly products including food, clothes, shoes, tourism, cosmetics, furniture and architecture and much more. In short it’s a guideline for how you can begin to live a healthier way for you and for the planet. There are also many fun and interesting activities and conferences.

Click here to find dates and location of Biocultura fair