The Turó de la Rovira betwen El Carmel and el Guinardó offers one of the best views to admire Barcelona. The ruined gun emplacements remind us it is also the site of Barcelona’s air defences during the Civil War. More on this another day. It is also a great spot for graffiti. Photos by Mónica. Note hanging shoe art.
The Plaça de Sant Felip Neri is the most delightful square in Barcelona. Its peaceful, secret atmosphere belies its tragic history. When I arrived in Barcelona 20 years ago I was told that the pitted marks in the stone were from the bullets of Anarchist execution squads, who had shot priests against the wall here. This was a myth put out by the Francoist authorities. The story took time to die. It was an attempt to cover up the death of 153 people here when a bomb fell on the convent in the square on 30 January 1938. The church which had been turned into a makeshift orphanage and most of the victims were refugee children from Madrid. As the rescue workers pulled out the survivors from the building another bomb fell in the square, killing more. It was the second worst bombing atrocity to hit Barcelona during the war.
Lucy's Barcelona nature blog
One of many people's favourite piece of public art in Barcelona is The Cat by Fernando Botero. The cat has moved several times around the city, but seems finally to have decided to settle down here in the Raval del Raval. It was originally bought by the council in 1987. I love watching people interact with it. Children like to (try to) climb it. Old men like to slap it. There's another sculpture of a horse by Botero at the airport.
Spring returns to Barcelona
March 16, 2010
After a long, grey and grueling, tiresome and draining, never-ending cold, wet and miserable winter, spring appears to have finally arrived in Barcelona. More...
Las Arenas bullring
March 16, 2010
Excellent article on the woes of Las Arenas bullring by journalist Nicholas John Mead. Barcelona is already famous for problems that have beset the Sagrada Familia, but for the last two years the prestigious €100m Las Arenas bullring restoration project in Plaça Espanya has run into setback after setback with contruction only resuming a few weeks ago. Read here
There were once three bullrings in Barcelona - Plaza de el Torin which was built in 1834, but was demolished long ago ; the above Plaza de las Arenas, built in 1900 and closed in 1977; and the present bullring, the Plaza de Toros Monumental, built in 1914.
Barcelona's urban heat island
March 11, 2010
Barcelona’s urban heat island effect causes markedly higher temperatures in the city than the surrounding rural areas. The difference is most pronounced at night during anticyclonic conditions in the winter with temperatures as much as 6.9ºC lower. There heat is channeled along corridors of flats, and there a mere 200 hectares of green areas in the city, though the city’s 100,000 street trees have a mitigating effect. The heat island is most noted in the Eixample. The Besós River functions as a corridor bringing in cold air to the coast. More details in Catalan
Books in English set in Barcelona
March 8, 2010
The Oh Barcelona site has a short but good round-up of the books in English set in Barcelona. Montalbán, Mendoza, Ruiz Zafon, Tóibín, Hughes, etc. More here
Where is Columbus pointing to?
March 4, 2010
![[Colom.jpg]](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mO07g9kbB7Q/S40rAjuBfKI/AAAAAAAAAL4/Vq5FvFMUssc/s1600/Colom.jpg)
Not America that’s for sure. The Barcelonautes blog claims to have the answer: La Platja de Sa Calobra in Mallorca. After that it’s Algiers, the Sahara desert and the length of Africa.
Tàpies foundation reopens
March 4, 2010
The Fundació Antoni Tàpies opened its doors this week after being closed for reforms for several years. More in English
Timeline of Barcelona
March 1, 2010
I’ve put together this timeline of Barcelona in the history section. Still very unfinished.
Spanish flu in Barcelona
February 15, 2010
Spanish flu killed 1554 people in Barcelona in the terrible outbreak between 1918 and 1919. 370 people died in a single day in the city on 21st 1918.
Barcelona photoblog Por Barcelona BCN Council news Barcelona Metropolitan news Badrash in Barcelona Oh Barcelona Els Barcelonautes From Barcelona South of Watford (Madrid based. Very good) Nicholas Mead on Spain