Barcelona: Ice Rink at Plaça Catalunya

Until 8 January, you can get your skates on the ice rink at the Plaça de Catalunya , sponsored by the Barcelona Comerç Foundation.

Measuring 40 by 30 square metres, Barcelona is the biggest outdoor ice rink in Europe. And it has a special ice zone for children too.

The rink, which is crowned by a semi-transparent dome, boasts a cafeteria and changing rooms. Half-hour and one-hour skating sessions will cost 6 euros and 8 euros respectively.

Tickets can be purchased at a discount with tickets given away by shops in the Barcelona Comerç shopping districts.

It will take a maximum of between 350 and 400 people, depending on the number of children on the rink, plus a supervisor, and three to six assistant monitors.

The rink will be open from 10 am to 9 pm, Mondays to Thursdays and on Sundays; 10 am to 11 pm on Fridays, Saturdays and public holidays; 10 am to 8 pm on Christmas Eve; 11 am to 2 pm on Christmas Day, and 10 am to 8 pm on 31 December.

Barcelona Buff Epic Run 2011

The city’s most congenial annual race, amazing participants and the public alike, is back, kicking off at Montjuïc Castle at 11 am this Sunday 18 December.

And that is because the Buff Epic Run, an extreme obstacle race, leaves no-one unmoved, with its perfect combination of sport and laughter. An 8-km route that includes mud and foam swimming pools, tyre mountains, straw walls, rope mazes and other surprising obstacles. All that plus music and a big sausage fest.

Once again, it will be offering highly original prizes: from the oldest participant to the runner who travelled furthest to take part, as well as prizes for best group or individual fancy dress, given that fancy dress earns you points on this run.

What is more, for the second consecutive year, there will be a run specially devised for participants between the ages of 13 and 16, the Mini Buff Epic Run, which covers 1.5 km and sets off at 11.10 am.

There are fewer than 200 places left and the registration period closes today, 15 December.

Castell de Montjuïc -> Ctra Montjuïc, 66 | Sants-Montjuïc

The Sants Walk for La Mercè Festivity

The Barnatresc season returns this Sunday, 18 September.

The Sants Walk is, alongside the La Mercè Fun Run, one of the sports events set to kick off Barcelona’s Festa Major or big annual festival.

The 13km walk sets off at 9 am from the Espanya Industrial park, passing through some of the neighbourhood’s streets and part of Montjuïc mountain, including part of the Olympic Ring and the museum and theatre zone.

The refreshments and control points will be located in the Can Ferrero gardens and will be in service from 10 am to 12.30 pm.

As usual in the Barnatresc walk season, no prior registration is required for taking part. All you need to do is turn up at the set-off point at the scheduled start time and produce your official card or, should you not have one, collect the corresponding route map.

During this new Barnatresc season, to help to minimise any waste, refreshment drinks will be served in water jugs.

FC Barcelona vs AC Milan – Champions League

Today Tuesday, Barça will kick off the Champions League with a home match against one of the Italian greats: Ibrahimovic’s Milan.

But this will not be the only première of the night, as Leo Messi might face the Italian team for the first time, and team captain Puyol will be back on the pitch following his injury.

To ensure fans have no problems getting to the Camp Nou, TMB will provide extra metro and bus services in the area.

The metro will run under its usual timetable, until midnight, with extra services on the lines giving access to the stadium: Badal and Collblanc (on line 5) and Maria Cristina and Les Corts (on line 3).

There will also be extra bus services for lines 15, 43 and 56, and two special lines will be launched at the end of the match, between Camp Nou and Plaça de Catalunya and between the stadium and Mossèn Cinto Verdaguer.

La Cursa de La Mercè 2011

The ‘Cursa de la Mercè‘ keeps on growing: The fun run sees August end with 10.000 entrants already registered.

The organisation recommends that all those people who want to ensure their place in this 10 km race, due to kick off the sports events of the big annual festival in Barcelona, should register as soon as possible, as there are only 4.000 places left. Although the registration period is due to stay open until 9 September, it could close earlier if the participation limit is reached sooner, set at 14:00h entrants according to regulations.

You can enter via the race website or in person at the permanent race office, which is at the Joan Serrahima Municipal Athletics Stadium, from 1 September. The registration cost is 5 euros, which will be put towards Unicef schooling projects in Africa.

:: La Mercè 2011 website ::

46th Joan Gamper Trophy. F.C.Barcelona vs Naples

Every year Barcelona Football Club organises an official first team presentation, the Joan Gamper Trophy, and the 2011-12 season presentation takes place on Monday 22 August.

For the 46th Gamper the Italian club Naples has been invited and they will face Barça at Camp Nou in a match with an 8.30 pm kick-off. Naples, who finished third in the Italian League and this year are playing in the Champions League, have players of the standing of Argentinean Ezequiel Lavezzi, Slovak Marek Hamsik and Uruguayan Edinson Cavani.

Tickets for the match can be bought from the usual outlets and this year there are some special offers for children. Admission is free for under-14s on purchase of an adult ticket by a club member and 50% off for non-members.

The traditional musical and leisure activities that take place in the hours prior to the game are also back this year. Anyone who shows a match ticket can gain access to the ground from 3 pm to when the first team players and technical staff are presented, which should be around 7.50 pm.

Camp Nou -> C/Aristides Maillol, 12 | Les Corts ::: FC Barcelona website :::

City of Barcelona International Athletics Meeting

The Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium will once again be buzzing, with world-class athletes here for another City of Barcelona International Athletics Meeting.

This is one of eight European Athletics Association Premium Meetings and is regarded as one the best athletics meetings held in Spain, given the results of recent years.

The meeting will bring together a large number of top Spanish and international athletes, being one of the last chances for those hoping to take part in the World Championships this year in Korea, as well as those aiming for the 2012 London Olympics, to achieve their best times.

That is the case of Cuban Dayron Robles, the 110-metre world record holder, 2008 Beijing Olympic champion and 2010 Doha world champion; Nelson Èvora, Portuguese Olympic triple jump champion; Arturo Casado, Spanish European champion in Barcelona, 2010; and fellow Spaniard Natalia Rodríguez, silver medal winner in Barcelona and world runner-up in Doha, 2010.

Alongside the familiar faces of these world-class athletes will be those of amateur runners, competing in an area established for amateur athletic events, and other events for local and under-23 runners.

European Seven Series Rugby Championship in Barcelona

A dozen national seven-a-side rugby teams, the best in Europe, will be facing each other in the European Championship Seven Series in Barcelona on 9 and 10 July.

That means world champions Wales and other top sides like England, France, Italy and Spain, among others, will be at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium on Montjuïc.

Seven-a-side rugby, or “rugby sevens” is a variation on the traditional game of fifteen players. It is a spectacular game, fast, because it is played on a normal-sized pitch and it will be an Olympic sport for the first time at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Barcelona follows Lyon and Moscow as the third of four cities involved in the Championships, which will end with a final round of matches in Bucharest in mid-July.

Rugby F.I.R.A. European Seven’s Grand Prix Series | From 09/07/2011 to 10/07/2011
Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc Lluís Companys -> Pg Olímpic, 17 | Sants-Montjuïc

The Champions League final at the Arc de Triomf

On Saturday a giant screen will be installed near the Arc de Triomf on Passeig de Lluís Companys for a live broadcast of the Champions League final, between FC Barcelona and Manchester United.

Barcelona City Council has been working jointly with the Catalan Ministry of Home Affairs, Televisió de Catalunya, the newspapers El Periódico de Catalunya, La Vanguardia, Sport and Mundo Deportivo, as well as the radio stations Rac1, Ona Catalana, Ràdio Barcelona and Catalunya Ràdio, to put up the screen and, should Barça win, organise a meeting point for some festive, media-led celebrations.

Preventive measures are also being planned to ensure mobility, safety and coexistence between fans and residents by the Mossos d’Esquadra (catalan) and Guàrdia Urbana (city) police forces, and other municipal services, as usually happens when crowds gather for football matches.

As on previous occasions, it is hoped the screen will serve as a meeting point for public celebrations, where people can watch the live broadcast of the match and special programmes, linked to the world of football and Barcelona, that will be shown once the match is over, if Barça win.

Barcelona Walk Against Hunger!

This Sunday 29 May, the Walk against Hunger, organised around the world by the United Nation’s World Food Programme, is taking place for the second time in Barcelona.

A gentle 5 kilometres, it will set off from the Arc de Triomf, on Passeig de Lluís Companys, at 10 am. finishing at 11.30 am at the latest.

The walk will cover the Ronda de Sant Pere, Plaça de Catalunya, the Rambla, Portal de la Pau, Passeig de Colom and Passeig d’Isabel II, Avinguda del Marquès de l’Argentera, Passeig de Picasso, Avinguda de Pujades before reaching Passeig de Lluís Companys again, by the Arc de Triomf.

Just before the walk starts, the organisers will hand out IDs in the marquees located at the starting point, which participants will have to return once they have completed the walk. They will then receive a souvenir gift in recognition of their contribution to the walk.

This idea is to collect money towards eradicating hunger in the world (for every euro collected, four food rations can be given to the World Food Programme) while raising society’s awareness of a serious problem affecting millions of people across the globe. People are free to give as much as they want.

The Walk against Hunger will take place simultaneously in about 250 cities in 70 countries. It is one of the best ways to show solidarity while spending a pleasant Sunday morning in the open air, so it is hoped that thousands of people will take part in this worthy cause.

Source ::: bcn.es :::

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