Category Archives: Barcelona

‘It’s barbarity’: clashes in Barcelona after Catalan separatists sentenced – video

Posted on by

Police and protesters clashed in Barcelona and other Catalonia towns on Tuesday over the jail sentences handed to nine Catalan separatist leaders. A peaceful candlelit protest outside the offices of the Spanish government in Barcelona escalated and the central government warned that violent demonstrations would be met with a ‘firm, proportional and united’ response

Continue reading...

Contractor, actor … protest leader? The Egyptian exile driving rare dissent

Posted on by

Mohamed Ali is unlikely source of viral videos about corruption that have stirred resentment

Hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets across Egypt since Friday in a rare show of public dissent against Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi’s rule. But the call for demonstrations came from an unlikely source: a contractor and part-time actor living in exile in Barcelona, who has made bold corruption claims in a string of viral videos.

Mohamed Ali is a former military contractor who addresses Egyptians from his apartment, shirt often unbuttoned and cigarette in hand. His colloquial style of speech, sometimes swearing in an accent more working class than his own, is intended to present a man-of-the-people appeal. Ali has called for a million Egyptians to march on Friday.

Continue reading...

Barcelona’s car-free ‘superblocks’ could save hundreds of lives

Posted on by

Report predicts radical scheme could cut air pollution by a quarter as other cities including Seattle prepare to follow suit

Barcelona could save hundreds of lives and cut air pollution by a quarter if it fully implements its radical superblocks scheme to reduce traffic, a new report claims.

A study carried out by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health calculates that the city could prevent 667 premature deaths every year if it created all 503 superblocks envisaged in its initial plan – up from the current six schemes.

Continue reading...

Sardine tins for the poor?: Barcelona’s shipping container homes

Posted on by

Just a stone’s throw from La Rambla, the Spanish city is building 12 shipping container flats to help tackle its social housing crisis

Barcelona has begun installing its first shipping container homes just a stone’s throw from La Rambla, the famous thoroughfare in the city centre, in a bid to provide emergency housing for people who have been evicted or otherwise driven out of the neighbourhood by gentrification.

Work commenced last week on the 12 small apartments, which are being installed on Carrer Nou de Sant Francesc, a narrow street in the densely populated Ciutat Vella (“old city”) district.

Continue reading...

Barcelona police spare bathers’ blushes with clothing ‘robbery kits’

Posted on by

Initiative particularly welcome among those who have clothes stolen on city’s nudist beaches

Police in Barcelona have handed out more than 100 emergency clothing kits to bathers who return from a swim to find everything they left on the beach has been stolen by the thieves who plague the city’s shoreline.

The “robbery kits”, made up of a T-shirt bearing the city council logo, a pair of shorts, flip-flops and a metro ticket, are particularly appreciated by swimmers on the city’s nudist beaches of Sant Sebastià and Mar Bella whom thieves have left exposed.

Continue reading...

Surge in violent crime in Barcelona prompts calls for legal reform

Posted on by

Critics say many street thieves operate with impunity, leaving tourists particularly vulnerable

The Catalan government has called for tougher penalties for violent crimes after a surge in knife attacks and violent robberies in Barcelona.

Miquel Buch, the regional interior minister, said the law needed to be changed after it emerged that 90% of those charged with violence in recent months had been released on bail.

Continue reading...

Barcelona announces ‘drastic’ rickshaw cutback

Posted on by

Estimates put total around 2,000 but vehicles remain in regulatory vacuum

Barcelona city council has announced it is to take action against the mostly unlicensed rickshaws that have proliferated on the city’s streets in recent years, which some estimates put as high as 2,000.

“Barcelona isn’t Bombay,” said Jaume Collboni, the deputy mayor. “We have cycle lanes that are for bicycles, pavements for pedestrians and we aspire to having a respectful and quality tourism model.”

Continue reading...

Outdoor smoking ban escalates war over Barcelona’s restaurant terraces

Posted on by

Restaurateurs say ban on top of new regulations on outdoor space threatens their survival – while residents claim the city’s real issues are being ignored

Enjoying a refreshing drink or a cup of coffee on the sunlit terrace of a bar or restaurant is a cherished pastime in Barcelona – and a fundamental feature of Mediterranean life.

“Terraces are part of who we are and how we live,” says Roger Pallarols, president of the Barcelona restaurateurs association. “For many people, the terrace is like their living room, especially as most of us don’t live in large apartments. If France is Europe’s kitchen, Spain is its terrace.”

Continue reading...

Global heating: London to have climate similar to Barcelona by 2050

Posted on by

Nearly 80% of cities to undergo dramatic and potentially disastrous changes, study finds

London will have a similar climate in three decades’ time to that of Barcelona today, according to research – but if that seems enticing, a warning: the change could be accompanied by severe drought.

Madrid will feel like present-day Marrakech by 2050, and Stockholm like Budapest, according to a report on the likely impacts of the climate crisis. Around the world, cities that are currently in temperate or cold zones in the northern hemisphere will resemble cities more than 600 miles (1,000km) closer to the equator, with damaging effects on health and infrastructure.

Continue reading...

Barcelona mayor promises crackdown on cruise ships

Posted on by

Ada Colau will also oppose airport expansion to curb tourism and pollution

Barcelona’s mayor, Ada Colau, has pledged to restrict the number of cruise ships allowed to dock in the city and to oppose the expansion of the city’s airport, saying: “We don’t have infinite capacity.”

Colau said the limits would reduce pollution in the city, where air quality regularly exceeds World Health Organization limits for nitrogen oxide and PM10 particulates.

Continue reading...

Gaudí’s Sagrada Família wins a building permit – 137 years after work began

Posted on by

Spanish architect’s masterpiece still unfinished but there’s now a chance its central towers will be completed

Property owners have a new yardstick for measuring their frustration over building permit requests that are lost in the labyrinth of local government bureaucracy.

Barcelona city hall has finally issued a work permit for the unfinished church designed by the architect Antoni Gaudí, 137 years after construction started on the Sagrada Família basilica.

Continue reading...

Barcelona port is worst in Europe for cruise ship air pollution

Posted on by

City tops list of 50 European ports for both sulphur oxide and nitrogen oxide emissions

The port of Barcelona, a city already overwhelmed by mass tourism, has topped a list of 50 European ports for the amount of air pollution produced there by cruise ships, according to a report.

In 2017 cruise ships emitted 32.8 tonnes of sulphur oxide (SOx) in Barcelona, according to the research. Palma de Mallorca was the second most polluted, with 28 tonnes, followed by Venice with 27.5. Southampton, with 19.7 tonnes, was fifth on the list.

Continue reading...

Spanish socialists aim to consolidate general election win

Posted on by

‘Super Sunday’ of city, regional and European elections could inflict further damage on traditional party of Spanish right

Spain is heading to the polls for a “super Sunday” of European, regional and municipal elections this weekend that will see Madrid and Barcelona’s city councils up for grabs and the socialist PSOE party hoping to repeat its victory in last month’s general election.

Twelve of Spain’s 17 autonomous regions will be voting to choose new governments, including the Madrid region, which has been in the hands of the conservative People’s party (PP) since 1995, despite a series of corruption scandals.

Continue reading...

Barcelona school removes 200 sexist children’s books

Posted on by

Other schools look to follow after Tàber school takes out one-third of its collection, deeming the books ‘highly stereotypical and sexist’

Several schools across Barcelona are considering purging their libraries of stereotypical and sexist children’s books, after one removed around 200 titles, including Little Red Riding Hood and the story of the legend of Saint George, from its library.

The Tàber school’s infant library of around 600 children’s books was reviewed by the Associació Espai i Lleure as part of a project that aims to highlight hidden sexist content. The group reviewed the characters in each book, whether or not they speak and what roles they perform, finding that 30% of the books were highly sexist, had strong stereotypes and were, in its opinion, of no pedagogical value.

Continue reading...

Barcelona v Manchester United: Champions League quarter-final – live!

Posted on by

23 min “The most remarkable thing about Larsson’s spellat Man United,” emails Simon McMahon, is that it was IN 2007!!! Time really does speed up the older you get. Soon I’ll be eating breakfast every five minutes.”

This sounds like an excellent ruse, and well worth wearing a suit to go to the newsagent.

22 min “The ‘Walking’ in ‘Walking to Glory’ sounds like a schoolchild’s go at translating ‘Caminando’,” advises Charles Antaki, “but to be fair, caminar can mean to walk, but also, presumably more appropriately, moving or, better marching. Here endeth the evening class Spanish lesson, misremembered from a very long time ago.”

Continue reading...

Manchester United v Barcelona: Champions League quarter-final, first leg – live!

Posted on by

“We need to improve on the first leg [of the PSG tie]. We know we need to play better at home. It’s down to us to try to dominant the game. If we let them dominate, we’re in for a hard game. So that’s part of the battle, to maybe take control of the ball.”

He’s unsure how long Rashford will be able to last because he’s just recovered his fitness. “But you know Rash, he lives for these games.”.

The teams are on the pitch at Old Trafford going through their pre-game stretches and what not. “Lionel Messi warms exactly how he wants to warm up,” announces Steve McManaman, almost swooning. That warm-up, by the way, seems to involve some gentle stroking the ball about and the occasional caress of a baroque tattoo on his left leg (the tattoo appears to feature a ball and a hand, no doubt Messi’s own tribute to Diego Maradona).

Continue reading...

Pope Francis on Lionel Messi: ‘He’s great, but he is not God’ – video

Posted on by

The five-times Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi has earned the nickname 'D10S', a combination of his shirt number and the Spanish word for God - Dios - but Pope Francis has said 'it is a sacrilege' to give the Barcelona captain that title.

In an interview with La Sexta, the leader of the Catholic Church, praised his Argentinian compatriot saying: 'He's great to watch - but he's not God.'

Continue reading...

Ryanair racist tirade: man avoids UK charges as plane was in Spain

Posted on by

Essex police conclude their inquiry into incident that was filmed and put on social media

The man who launched a tirade of racist abuse at a 77-year-old woman on a Ryanair flight last October has avoided charges in the UK after the Crown Prosecution Service said the offence took place under Spanish jurisdiction.

David Mesher, from Yardley Wood, Birmingham, was filmed by fellow passengers calling Delsie Gayle an “ugly black bastard” and told her “don’t speak to me in a foreign language, you stupid ugly cow” on a stationary plane at Barcelona airport on 19 October.

Continue reading...

In the digital age, how much longer can Spain’s street kiosks survive?

Posted on by

As newsprint sales fall and tourists demand keychains, the city of Barcelona is trying to keep alive the old social culture that revolves around street kiosks

For generations, the day in Spain has begun with picking up the paper from the newspaper kiosk and then reading it over breakfast in a bar. These two urban institutions – the kiosk and the bar – have been the twin pillars of any barrio, or neighbourhood.

“You have a close relationship with your clients,” says Máximo Frutos, who owns a kiosk and is vice-president of the city’s news vendors association. “I have copies of the house keys for around 15 people in the barrio, in case they lose theirs. It’s not like any other business.”

Continue reading...