Barcelona’s Beach Libraries

Two beach libraries are opening in Barcelona for the 6th consecutive year. They can be found at two different points on the city’s shoreline: the Bac de Roda breakwater and the Beach Centre (in the Barceloneta arcade, next to the beach and level with Hospital del Mar). They offer beach and library users the chance to borrow or consult books, magazines and the daily papers for free during the summer months.

The Beach Centre library hours are from 10 am to 7 pm, Mondays to Saturdays, and 11 am to 2 pm on Sundays, whereas the Bac de Roda library is open every weekday from 11 am to 2 pm and from 3 pm to 7 pm. The Bac de Roda library will be open until 31 August and the Beach Centre library till 30 September.

The loan service includes 16 newspapers, 18 magazines and 418 short novels, comics, books for children and teenagers and foreign literature.

It is a free service, aimed at all Barcelona beach users, organised by the Environment and Urban Services and Barcelona Libraries for the high season.

Source: www.bcn.es

Mid Beach Season in Barcelona!

With ‘mid beach season‘ now upon us, most of the seasonal services have now been launched: showers, beach refreshment stands and outdoor lavatories will all be opened to the public.

Over all the weekends in April, the Easter holidays, and from 1 to 29 May, various Red Cross and Guàrdia Urbana [city police] rescue and first-aid services will be activated, along with environmental information services.

Cleaning measures have also been launched, with daily operations and an expected doubling of the number of waste bins.

Security measures include both uniformed and civilian police beach patrols on foot, and various beach-based prevention and response units for muggings, robberies and hawking on the beach.

What’s more, there will be extra patrols from district and specialist units such as: the Administrative and Security Police Unit (UPAS), the Day-Time Support Unit (USD), the Mounted Unit (UM), the Centralised Night-Time Unit (UNOC) and the Traffic Unit (UC).

The Barcelona Beaches website will be providing real-time information over the Easter holidays on sea conditions, flags, temperatures and sunshine (UV index) for each of the beaches. This year the city’s beaches will offer city residents 14 free WiFi hotspots, in addition to the 411 hotspots spread through out the city.

Don’t leave your vacation to the last minute. Make your reservation today, and don’t let your vacation go without you. Sink into Barcelona!!!

The Red Bull Air Race again in Barcelona

Some fifteen of the best pilots in the world will be flying over Barcelona’s beaches of Barcelona speeds of up to 370 km/h, to win the title of World Champion of the Red Bull Air Race 2009. The final race of the season (before Abu Dhabi and San Diego), on 3rd and 4th October, will be battled out over the beaches of Bogatell, Nova Icària and Mar Bella and decisive in determining the new champion.

Following the success of the 2006 event, when more than a million spectators flocked to the city’s beaches to witness this spectacular competition, the Red Bull Air Race returns to Barcelona with a new race format and planes that are lighter, faster and more agile than ever before.

This year’s spectacle of sureness, precision and sculpture-like beauty that will be taking place over the afternoon and will be “one of the most important aerial festivals to be held in Europe this year“. But besides the air race itself, there will be exhibitions on civil and military pilots, a ceremony attended by aviators from the age of the Spanish Republic, as well as the commemoration of the first flight between Toulouse (France) and Barcelona.

At the same time, the 3rd Aeronautics and Space Week, for which Toulouse will be the guest city, will take place from 28th September to 4th October. There will be talks, meetings and workshops aimed at both professionals in the field and the general public.

Red Bull Air Race - inf@ website  |  NN Hotels: www.nnhotels.com

Barcelona 2012: World Sailing Championships

Barcelona is the city chosen to host the 470 Class World Sailing Championships in May 2012, after receiving more votes than the other candidates, like Múrcia, Mallorca and Israel.

The International 470 Class is the class of boat used for both the men’s two person and women’s two person dinghy events at the Olympic Games. Used as Olympic equipment since 1976, where the class was sailed as an open event before the introduction of separate events for men and women in 1988, the 470 is sailed in more than 61 nations around the world.

The Reial Club Marítim de Barcelona (RCMB) and Reial Club Nàutic de Barcelona (RCNB) are the two clubs that will have the job of organising and running the championships.

The candidature was supported by Barcelona City Council, the Generalitat (government) of Catalonia, the Catalan Sailing Federation (FCV), the Spanish Sailing Federation (FEV) and the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE), as well as world-famous sailors Natalia Via Dufresne, Kevin Burnham and Theresa Zabell among others.

More inf@:  International 470 Class website

Barcelona: one of the world’s happiest city

Barcelona is the third happiest city in the world, according to the American magazine Forbes, overtaken only Rio de Janeiro and Sydney, at first and second places, respectively.

 The list was drawn up from data supplied by a survey among ten thousand people from twenty countries.

Barcelona is recognised for its warm climate, lively culture and football team, as well as its classic Mediterranean nature.

Barcelona is followed by Amsterdam, Melbourne and Madrid, in fourth, fifth and sixth places respectively. Next come San Francisco, Rome, Paris and Buenos Aires, which make up the ten cities perceived to be the happiest in the world, according to Forbes. 

So, why not joining this happiness-circle in one of the best hotels in Barcelona? Núñez i Navarro Hotels brings you 9 centrally located hotels in Barcelona, all different but amazing.

Discover the happiness of Barcelona with www.nnhotels.com

Enjoy the summer: beaches & open-air swimming pools.

The beach is one of the favourite places for doing a bit of sport over these hot months, but though there are also open-air municipal swimming pools, which make Barcelona an ideal city for any type of sports: scuba diving, windsurfing, sailing, surfing and water skiing, among other sea sports activities.

Going to any of Barcelona’s beaches early in the morning is a whole experience. Not just because of the refreshing sea breeze beach-goers are treated to as they enjoy complete peace on healthy walks, but also because the beach becomes a big open-air gymnasium.

And that is because beaches are a great place for doing every kind of sport. For those who get up early to do their Tai Chi or Yoga sessions on the sand, they then start the day with fully renewed energy.

However, beaches are the usual haunts for groups of runners too (some of whom are already starting to train for the La Mercè fun run, which will be held on 20 September) who determinedly run up and down Barcelona’s sea front.

Whether in the sand or in the water, beaches are also an iconic space for doing one of the world’s increasingly popular sports: beach volley. In addition, you’ll find fixed nets in some of Barcelona beaches, where beach-goers can play volley in comfort. And let’s not forget the other activities like beach tennis, three-aside football, beach aerobics and sand skiing.

Finally, you can also achieve a great, overall muscular tone by doing a Passeig Marítim sports circuit, and the Parcs del Litoral’s urban fitness circuit, with 4.000 metres to cover between the parks of the Olympic Port, the Nova Icària and Poblenou. This circuit also has points adapted for doing flexion, stretching and assorted exercises which, combined with a cardiovascular exercise, such as running, provide full training.

And as you probably already know, once you’ve finished your training outside water and you’ve done your share of sweating, there’s no better way to face the heat than with a good dip in the sea.

Enjoy the Summer! Sink into Barcelona!

Sink into Barcelona!

The coast of  Barcelona has become one of the city’s most popular destinations for culture and entertainment; from the Moll de la Fusta and the Palacio del Mar area to the Rambla del Mar and the Olympic Port.

Barcelona has over 5 km of beachfront that offers all the services and equipment you need for a truly remarkable stay, without once needing to leave the metropolitan area of Barcelona. The beautiful beaches of Sant Sebastià, Barceloneta, Nova Icària, Bogatell, Mar Bella and Nova Mar Bella make up the Barcelona coastline.

And if you’d like to take a dip while enjoying some of Barcelona’s most spectacular views, you’re welcome to come up to our hotel terraces, relax and experience the city at its finest.

Don’t leave your vacation to the last minute. Make your NN Hotel reservation today, and don’t let your vacation go without you; enjoy it!!!

Barcelona beaches

Barcelona offers more than 4km of sea line, divided in 7 urban beaches fully equipped with all the facilities needed for a perfect sun & bath day, and thought also for disabled people.

During the last few years, the beaches of Barcelona, and their special features which make them so attractive, have become one of the most popular public areas of the city. Beaches constitute a large open air area where we can come into contact with the sea, the sun and the sand, and where we can also become familiar with marine fauna. All of this is possible on the beaches in Barcelona which are close to home and which can be enjoyed all year round.

The sea has played an important role in making Barcelona an open city, in which peoples and cultures have mixed since ancient times. The medieval and modern city established trade relations by sea but, with the passing of time, we have witnessed a growing need to have more contact with the sea, beyond merely mercantile and fishing activities.

Over the years, the inhabitants of Barcelona have become more attracted to sea bathing, swimming courses and sailing competitions. The reconstruction of the Maritime Front of the city, begun in the 1980′s, meant a historical change and has contributed to making the beaches part of our daily life.

The City Hall offers a daily updated information on the status of the beaches and the sea on its website.