10 Things That Barcelona Is Famous For

The façade of Casa Batlló which inspired Gilbert Shelton's drawings

With an estimated twelve million visitors each year, Barcelona is one of the best-known and most visited cities in Europe. But what is Barcelona famous for? Barcelona is famous for its outstanding football team, stunning architecture, lively nightlife, sandy beaches, and world-class cuisine. Not to mention a vibrant cultural heritage and colourful neighbourhood festivals that…

A Thoughtful Bull and a Very Flirtatious Giraffe (Statues)

Flirty Giraffe by Josep Granyer

The streets of Barcelona are often likened to an open-air museum or art gallery. From the famous Art Nouveau architecture to monuments, sculptures and street art, there’s something to catch your eye at every turn. Two of the most unusual statues are Thinking Bull (Brau Pensador) and Flirty Giraffe (Girafa Coqueta) which are located at…

The Gothic Arch of Sant Adrià: Gateway to Barcelona

The Gothic arch of Sant Adrià de Besos

If it wasn’t for the fact that it stands alone beside a busy highway on the outskirts of Barcelona, there would be little to differentiate the Gothic arch of Sant Adrià de Besòs from a myriad of other medieval church doorways. What makes this particular doorway unusual is it’s interesting history which includes bullfights, riots…

Cobi – Barcelona’s Olympic Mascot

Statue of Cobi

With it’s heady mix of culture, beaches, history, architecture and night-life Barcelona is one of Europe’s top tourist destinations. The tourist boom started in 1992 when the city hosted the Olympic Games and embraced the opportunity to promote and reinvent itself. Cobi – Barcelona’s 1992 Olympic Mascot No Olympic Games would be complete without an…

Enriqueta Martí – The Vampire of the Raval

Enriqueta Marti

With a population of approximately 50,000 people, Barcelona’s El Raval neighbourhood has always had a rather dodgy reputation. Despite being the home of one of the world’s most famous food markets (the Boqueria), Barcelona’s grandest theatre (El Liceu) and two of my favourite museums (the MACBA and the Maritime Museum). Not to mention loads of excellent restaurants…

Joan Miró Welcomes You to Barcelona

Miro's Pla de l'Os mosaic on Barcelona's famous La Rambla

In 1968 Joan Miró was commissioned to create a giant mural to welcome visitors arriving at Barcelona airport. The Barcelona-born artist liked the idea so much that he decided to donate three works of art to the city, welcoming visitors arriving by air, land and sea. Joan Mirós Mural at Barcelona Airport The giant mural…

Curling One Out For Christmas !

A collection of traditional caganers

If you thought that Southpark’s “Mr. Hankey” was the only toilet related Christmas character – Think again ! The Catalan Christmas tradition includes 2 poo-related characters: The Caganer or “Shitter”- A cheeky figure that first appeared in Catalan nativity scenes during the 18th Century. Caga Tió – The Catalan equivalent of Father Christmas ! The…

Badalona’s Fish-Kite Mural

The fantastic fish-kite mura stretches round the side of four houses on Badalona's seafront

The impressive Fish-Kite mural was painted in 2010 by a group of artists from the Identidad(es) initiative. The initiative was sponsored by Badalona city council and aimed to develop social cohesion through several different urban art projects. The mural was painted on the exterior walls of four terraced houses in the Barri Groc district of Badalona,…

L’Ou Com Balla: Dancing Eggs !

Dancing Egg Number 5 - The Cloisters of Barcelona Cathedral

If you like quirky and unusual traditions then you’ll love L’Ou Com Balla aka The Dancing Egg which takes place every year as part of Barcelona’s Corpus Christi celebrations. Basically the idea is that an egg is placed in a fountain and dances suspended by a jet of water. There are a total of 12 eggs…

Surprising Street Art in Poblenou

Bird, Street Art in Poble Nou

Barcelona has lots of street art and public art, ranging from graffiti to large and impressive statues and murals by famous artists. On my way to the beach this morning I noticed this interesting series of modified road signs at the bottom of the Rambla del Poblenou. There are about a dozen of these “modified”…

January Sales – Ganga Style!

Funny advert for the January Sales in Barcelona

This advert made me smile on my way home from work so I thought I’d share! Here in Barcelona, the January Sales started on January 7th and this advert is for the Gran Via 2 shopping centre. Obviously it’s a play on words – Ganga means Bargain in both Catalan and Spanish.