New Barcelona Public Library in 2015

By 2015 Barcelona will have the biggest library in Spain. It will be situated in the Born neighbourhood, next to the França station, on the green walkway that will connect the Ciutadella with the sea, over the Ronda Litoral ring road.

Construction of the project will get underway in early 2012 and is expected to take thirty-six months. It will cost around 37.4 million euros, which will be covered by the Ministry of Culture. The library will be built on land donated by Barcelona City Council and it will be managed by the Generalitat.

The project, headed by the architect Josep Maria Miró i Gellida, includes a glass building in three modules on different levels. It will have a total surface area of 18,000 square metres and will be located in unbeatable surroundings, due to its position on the green walkway that will connect the Arc de Triomf and the Ciutadella Park with the sea and the França station.

On opening, the library will house 200.000 volumes although it is hoped that this figure will increase to 600.000.

Its spaces are designed to be flexible, so that the uses of all areas can change according to the timeslot.

On the terraces there will be reading zones which open outdoors. Inside the building there will be multi-use areas, a space for teenagers, another for press and magazines, one for music and film, a large children’s area, and exhibition room, a cafeteria and a number of logistical spaces for storing material, among others. The spaces will be connected by escalators.

Source: BCN.es

Barcelona 2013: World Aquatic Championships

Barcelona will host the World Aquatic Championships in 2013, after being chosen unanimously by the members of the FINA at its meeting in Punta del Este (Uruguay).

World Aquatic Championships will return to the Catalan capital after 10 years, as Barcelona already organized World Championships in 2003, which is considered one of the best editions. This fact has undoubtedly been a key in the re-election of Barcelona, following the withdrawal of alleged economic problems in Dubai.

The other candidate cities were Hamburg, Moscow, Sydney and Seoul. Although no official confirmation yet, probably will be Palau Sant Jordi were most of the events will be host, building an Olympic swimming pool inside as was done in 2003; and Picornell swimming pools, CN Barceloneta and Port of Barcelona will host synchronized swimming & jumping, waterpolo and open-water swimming, respectively.

Barcelona becomes once again the World Capital of Sport, following the steps initiated in 1992 with the organization of the XXV Olympic Games.

Garmin Barcelona Triathlon

The Garmin Barcelona Triathlon is one of the few competitions to combine the Olympic, Sprints and SuperSprint distances, which can be run individually or in relay teams. It aims to become a top-class popular and festive event.

On 17 October the Garmin Barcelona Triathlon will reaffirm Barcelona’s position as a new international triathlon capital. This figure puts Barcelona third in the European rankings, after London and Hamburg, and fifth in the world rankings.

The Barcelona competition joined the European Cities-Tri Series circuit in 2008, when 2.000 triathletes took part, but now, two years later, it has succeeded in more than doubling the number of entrants to 5.000. There has been a notable increase (30%) in the number of foreign participants, who hail from nearly thirty countries, although over half are from Britain.

The running and cycling races will take place on the city seafront, the Front Marítim, and the swimming races at Mar Bella and Nova Mar Bella beaches.

Festa del Cel: Barcelona Airshow

Barcelona’s seafront will be filled this weekend with the 19th edition of the Festa del Cel, air festival that closes the festivities of La Mercè 2010.

If you will attend the Barcelona Airshow is recommended by public transport, especially metro, and follow the marked routes for pedestrians and bicycles private.

Following, we list some airshow performers during la Festa del Cel:

Patrulla Águila
The Spanish Air Force jet display team returns to Barcelona to cellebrate its 25th anniversary. The 7 CASA C-101 Aviojets will close the airshow with their spectacular nature and precision.
This year, Patrulla Águila’s leader is from Barcelona, Comandante José María “Pep” Alonso.

Patrulla Aspa
Along with Patrulla Águila, Aspa is one of the favourites among Barcelona’s airshow visitors. The display team turns 5 years old and add novelties to their routine, such as a smoke system which makes them even more impressive. They are probably the best helicopter display team in the world.

F-18 Ala 12
The Ala 12 Display Pilot from the Base Aérea de Torrejón will leave us dumbfounded while he makes his McDonell-Douglas F-18 Hornet dance in the sky. Get ready for a performance which will take the jet to its limits.

Puma SAR Escuadrón 801
The Puma helicopter from Search & Rescue Escuadrón 801 in Palma de Mallorca will perform a sea rescue simulation. These helicopters and their crew are in charge of looking after the ships sailing through the Mediterranean.

Patrouille de France
Lead for the first time by a female pilot, Commander Virginie Guyot, the french display team, one of the favourite foreign performers most endeared by Barcelona’s airshow audience, returns to our city with a new routine for 2010.

In these links you can see all the schedules and the plane of the area where the stunt will take place.

La Mercè- the Festivity of Barcelona!

Every September, a huge festival incorporating hundreds of free outdoor performances is organised to honour La Mercè – the patron saint of Barcelona. The festival starts on the 24th, a public holiday in the city, and it goes on all weekend.

Lively street processions of giants, dragons and ‘capgrosses’ – literally, ‘big heads’ – take place on the in the old quarter of the city. This year, two new giants step out, one dedicated to the Polish composer Frederic Chopin and the other to writer George Sand – a pseudonym for French Baroness Aurore Dupin. See if you can spot them!

Another major event is the Correfoc on Saturday night at 8pm. This is a wild procession of devilish fire swinging for which the public are advised to keep a safe distance.

On Sunday at midday, squeeze into plaça Sant Jaume to witness the extraordinary Castellers create human towers. Teams compete to get as high as possible with a brave youngster right at the top!

For this edition of La Mercè, Barcelona is twinned with Dakar, the capital of Senegal. The two cities are brought together in collaborative performances and art projects, such as Africa Camut Band: a lively day performance of percussion and dance that takes place in the Grec Theatre on the 24th and 26th.

A major part of the festival in 2010 is ‘Mercè Arts al Carrer’ or MAC which brings inventive international street performers to the city. Contemporary circus and puppetry is celebrated at the castle on Montjuic; while in Parc Ciutadella there is dance and theatre in the daytime, and spectacular ‘light shows’ at night.

STAYING AT B-HOTEL

Hello,

We stayed at B-Hotel from 9.09 to 14.09. The hotel is beautiful; the reception and lounge looks relaxing; we really loved our big room, the lovely designer bathroom, swimming on the roof of the hotel with view op Plaza Espanya and we liked eating breakfast in the 1st floor also with view to Plaaz Espanya. The only thing we didn’t like was the bread (pequeno pan/petit pain) which were hard early in the morning, no really, that is not normal for a good breakfast.

I almost break my leg when trying to get a shower, getting into is a little hard, it is very high, a little plastic climbing aid could help.
For myself and my friend, we give the hotel 9 points of 10. We will certainly come back

Experience posted by koala_lady, Sept 2010.

Theatre tickets are 50% discount off during La Mercè festivity

During La Mercè festivities, the city’s main theatres will be offering 50% discounts for shows on from 20 to 26 September. For that reason, we would like to recommend you hotel Barcelona Universal, located in Paral·lel avenue with the most emblematic theatres of our city.

Half price tickets can be bought until Saturday 25 September, at the Ticket Rambla, located at the Palau de la Virreina.

What’s more, tickets with special discounts during the La Mercè festival can also be bought online at the Telentrada and ServiCaixa websites.

Theatres taking part in this campaign include the Alexandra Teatre, the Almeria Teatre, the Antic Teatre, the Apolo, the Aquarel·la, the Arteria Paral·lel, the Sala Becket, the Borràs, the Brossa Espai Escènic, the Club Capitol, the Coliseum, the Condal, the Goya, the Guasch Teatre, the Cafè-Teatre Llantiol, the Teatre Lliure, the Sala Muntaner, the Nau Ivanow, the Poliorama, the Teatre del Raval, the Jove Teatre Regina, the Romea, the SAT, the Tarantana, the Teatreneu, the Versus and La Villarroel.

Perfect Hotel Barcelona Universal

We stayed four nights in the Hotel Barcelona Universal after being recommended it by a friend and it did not disappoint!!

Hotel Barcelona Universal was beautiful, very clean and daily maid service, staff at reception were very helpful and their english was very good! Location was perfect, 5-10minute walk from Las Ramblas, as well as having metro and bus stations directly outside! We only used the pool area on our first day but was a lovely bonus! I would recommend this hotel to anyone and would definitely stay again if I returned to Barcelona!

Experience posted by Stefanie Moore, Sept 2010.

U232 Hotel: Molto elegante

Buonasera,
Sono stata ospite con mio figlio il 29 e il 30 agosto 2010 presso U232 Hotel, esperienza positiva, hotel molto elegante,servizio eccellente, personale disponibile e cortese.

Peccato solo due giorni!!!!!!! Ma fantastici…..lo consigliamo…… continuate così!!!!!!
Saluti.

Experience posted by adeangelis, Sep 2010.

Free GOOD wi-fi. Hotel Europark Barcelona

Also stayed at Europark for 6 nights. Was a little concerned about location as it seemed a little out on map but could not have been more wrong. Superb place perfect spot. Metros close by, 2 stops to heart of Gothic area, but out of it in evening which I preferred. Good selection of restaurants and bars all round.
Hotel very clean and cool, rooms a little small but clean and quiet air con. Speaker in bathrooom for TV quite useful. Free GOOD wi-fi.
A couple of minor negatives on terrace pool. No drinks an offer, a small bar up there would be a goldmine, there was 6 to 10 hot people up there most late afternoons and the off of some cooling drinks would surely have been taken up. Also whatever possessed them to paint pool black? I know it goes with general theme of hotel but it doesn’t work. All those looking at photos who have not been rest assured it is a clean cool pool not the dirty swamp it looks like.
Minor and cosmetic points on the whole 5 out of 5.

Peter_c, Sept’2010.

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