Tag: catalonia
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A local’s guide to Barcelona
This local’s guide to Barcelona introduces you to the Barcelona that locals call home, rather than the more obvious tourist sites. I hope it inspires you when planning your next trip to Barcelona.
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Dreams of Gràcia
Follow the fuzzy, cantaloupe glow of the street lights and the grumbling mopeds. Eventually they’ll guide you to the squares of Gràcia. Martyred saints hang just above a doorway. Relics of another time before an organic food shop was a thing.
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A Calçotada Survival Guide
If you’re in Barcelona in the spring, keep a lookout for a neighbourhood calçotada. It’s a great way to be less of a guiri (tourist) and to try to get to know some of the locals.
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Why you should visit Barcelona in winter
Barcelona in winter is quirky and brilliant, and offers a much more realistic view of the city than the one you get in the summer months. You’ll love it.
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The Catalan referendum – a view from Gràcia
I realised that in a way, the view from my balcony that I had admired so much had also been like a view of Catalonia itself. Of the changing political landscape.
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The Festa Major de Gràcia – Barcelona quirkiness at its best
The more the world shrinks and everywhere begins to look the same, the more I think we should celebrate quirky, local customs. And Barcelona has plenty of those.
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1992 Barcelona Olympics – The games that changed a city “para siempre”
Barcelona was fundamentally changed by the 1992 Olympics. “Para siempre”. The city still feels those changes to this day.
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The high summer of the Catalan Independence movement
If I block out the other sights and sounds on my balcony, it’s the Catalan flags that I notice. There must be about 30 within view, fluttering in the summer breeze.
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Is Barcelona sick of tourism?
In the summer months in Barcelona, a message is sprayed in English onto walls and floors next to metro stations and tourist sites. In recent years it has become harder to miss. “Tourist go home”
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The other football team in Barcelona
Espanyol – the other football team in Barcelona. Yes, there is another team. Not that you’d know it from walking around the city. I normally do a double take when I see an Espanyol shirt.