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BARCELONA
- ENTERTAINMENT |
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| Vacation
Rentals in Barcelona |
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Drinking and
nightlife
There are lively bars
and cafés
throughout the centre
- in the Barri Gòtic
as well as the
Eixample and Gràcia -
catering for all types
and styles. One of the
city's great pleasures
is to pull up a
pavement seat outside
a bar, sip a coffee or
a beer, and watch the
world go by (except in
the Barri Gòtic's Plaça
Reial, where the world
watches you).
Alongside the regular
bars and cafés,
Barcelona also has a
range of music and
theme bars geared
towards late-night
drinking, and there's
a disco and club nightlife
that is currently one
of Europe's most
enjoyable.
For full listings
of bars and clubs, get
hold of a copy of the
weekly Guia del
Ocio (?0.75, comes
out on Thurs), or
SexTienda's map of gay
Barcelona with a list
of bars, clubs and
contacts. If you're
very keen on
bar-hunting, there's a
user's guide called Barsalona
, available from
newsstands, which has
an English-language
section at the back,
and in designer bars
and clothing shops
you'll also find other
lifestyle magazines,
such as the bimonthly Barcelona
Divina (?3) as
well as free, glossy
magazines (including Venus,
Micro and B-guide
) which, amidst the
ads, contain bar and
club news and reviews.
Live music
Barcelona hosts a wide
range of live music
events throughout the
year, and, though many
venues either close or
drastically reduce
their programmes
during the summer,
this is the time that
the city's festivals
come into their own.
The Generalitat
's summer Grec
season features
various musical and
theatrical events. At
the end of September
things liven up
further with the Festa
de la Mercè , an
excuse for four days
of world, jazz,
classical and rock
music concerts all
over the city. There
is a whole series of
annual festivals
dedicated specifically
to music, the most
important of which are
April's Tradicionàrius
, a festival of folk
music, the Festival
de Jazz Ciutat Vella,
European jazz festival
and SÓNAR , a
cutting-edge
electronic music
festival, all held in
June. There's also the
annual jazz
festival in
October/November,
which highlights
visiting bands in the
clubs and hosts street
concerts and events.
All year round, the
permanent experimental
music festival, LEM
( ), sponsors free or
cheap concerts
featuring the Gràcia
collective and
international guests.
To keep up with
concerts and events
and to buy tickets
, there are a number
of options. You might
check the venues
we've listed and keep
an eye out for posters
advertising concerts,
but it's better to
actively research, as
the best events sell
out early. There are
concert listings in El
Pais newspaper,
and in a free monthly
guide published by
Amics de la Música,
which is available at
the tourist
information office, as
well as in Metropolitan,
the monthly free
English-language
listings magazine. The
weekly Guía del
Ocio is the best
source for what's on
day by day - look in
its "Agenda
musical" section.
You can pick up a
schedule of Ajuntament
-sponsored
productions,
performances and
exhibitions, including
the Grec season
events from the Centre
d'Informació
(Palau de la Virreina,
Rambla Sant Josep 99)
which also sells
tickets for these
events The booth on
the corner of c/Aribau
and the Gran Vía,
close to Plaça
Universitat (Mon-Sat
10.30am-1.30pm &
4-7.30pm) sells tickets
for major rock and pop
concerts and for most
theatre productions;
record shops also
carry concert tickets;
or go straight to the
relevant venue's box
office. For more
popular rock and
contemporary music,
check the listings
outside record shops
in c/Tallers (such as
Revolver), which also
act as ticket
agents (cash only)
- the better shows
will sell out weeks in
advance. Otherwise
tickets can be bought
at the door (with a
small surcharge) or
from scalpers (with a
big surcharge). The
bank, La Caixa, has
ticket-dispensing Servicaixa
machines next to many
of their ATMs (check
for listings), which
dispense theatrical,
concert and even
cinema tickets, though
foreign credit cards
don't always work -
annoying when the Servicaixa
is the sole ticket
outlet for the event.
The arts and
festivals
Quite apart from the
city's countless bars,
restaurants and clubs,
there's a full cultural
life worth
sampling. We've
covered live music
venues, and film
and theatre are
also well represented,
as you'd expect in a
city this size. Even
if you don't speak
Catalan or Spanish
there's no need to
miss out, since
several cinemas show
films in their
original language,
while Barcelona also
boasts a series of
old-time music hall/ cabaret
venues putting on
largely visual shows,
which are appealing in
any language. Catalan
performers have always
steered away from the
classics and gone for
the innovative, and so
the city also boasts a
long tradition of street
and performance art
.
Finally, if you're
lucky (or you've
planned ahead) you'll
coincide with one of
the city's excellent festivals
and open-air events in
which case you'll be
able to immerse
yourself in what
Barcelona does best:
enjoying itself.
There are several ticket
offices and booths
( taquilles )
throughout the city.
For theatre and dance,
the most important is
the Centre
d'Informació in
the Palau de la
Virreina, which
dispenses programmes,
advance information
and tickets for all
the Ajuntament
-sponsored
productions,
performances and
exhibitions, including
the Grec season
events. The ticket
booth at the
corner of c/d'Aribau
and the Gran Via,
close to Plaça
Universitat (Mon-Sat
10.30am-1.30pm &
4-7.30pm), sells
tickets for many
theatre productions,
and increasingly
useful are the
automated Servicaixa
ticket dispensers.
Finally, with a credit
card you can buy
theatre tickets over
the phone or on the
Net through Tel-Entrada
on 902 101 212.
For listings
of almost anything in
the way of culture and
entertainment, buy a
copy of the weekly Guía
del Ocio from any
newsstand. This has
full details of film,
theatre and musical
events (free and
otherwise), as well as
extensive sections on
bars, restaurants and
nightlife. It's in
Spanish but easy
enough to decipher. El
Pais newspaper
also carries a
comprehensive listings
guide, while the free
monthly magazine Barcelona
Metropolitan
(available in
English-language
bookshops, bars and
cinemas) has listings
information and news
about the city in
English.
For advance
information , the
office at the Palau de
la Virreina has plenty
of free publicity
material about
forthcoming cultural
and music events -
write to I.M.
Barcelona Espectacles,
Palau de la Virreina,
Rambla 99, 08002
Barcelona, telling
them what you're
interested in. An
organization called
Amics de la Música de
Barcelona (c/d'Ortigosa
14-16 tel 932 680 122)
publishes a free
monthly listings sheet
detailing current
classical, opera, jazz
and rock concerts
along with ticket
prices and addresses;
pick it up at the
Palau de la Virreina
or the tourist
information office.
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