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Barcelona for Christmas | Catalan Traditions
CATALAN TRADITIONS FOR CHRISTMAS Christmas is a special season in Barcelona: the lights cover the city and despite the chilly weather, the city invites to take a stroll along the streets. If you are staying in Barcelona for this holiday season, here we give you the best tips to understand Catalan traditions! CITY OF LIGHTS AND MARKETS Although the Christmas period officially starts the 8th of December with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Christmas lights normally turn on during the end of November, illuminating the entire city with beautiful colors. Is the time to strolling around Barcelona streets with a warm chocolate in your hands or going to…
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Top Things to Experience Barcelona in Autumn & Winter
Barcelona is a great city for enjoying in autumn and winter. Due to its good weather conditions and cultural life, the Catalan city will inspire you to live a perfect getaway. At Hotel Continental we celebrate the arrival of chilly weather with a 4-part series, exploring our favorite ways to experience Barcelona during these seasons. Whether you are a culture fan, foodie, music lover or sports enthusiast, the city will inspire you to get the most of it. Explore the Vibrant Cultural Life Barcelona is very well known by its active cultural life, but the autumn season is especially effervescent, with a good number of cultural exhibitions and music festivals…
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Celebrate Sant Joan 2017 in Barcelona
If you are in Barcelona this Friday 23 and Saturday 24 June, remember to bring the earplugs. And if not the fireworks and noisy firecrackers will remind you! Apart from this small inconvenient of easy remedy, it is good know that in Barcelona, each one lives the verbena of Sant Joan in its way. All you need to do is walk the streets and get carried away among the different popular celebrations. In addition, this year, the Nit de Sant Joan is celebrating its 50th anniversary since the Flame of the Canigó first arrived to agermanate the Catalan peoples. The Bonfires The Flame of the Canigó arrives at noon in…
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SPARK – Ember’s Workshop
When it comes to Brasseries in Barcelona, the list can be overwhelming and misleading sometimes. To put an extra to this mess, honouring our #GastroThursdayByContinental we post today about the new ember restaurant in Barcelona: SPARK Located in La Dreta de l’Eixample (Right Eixample), the singular house called Casa Fabra in Diputació street between Girona and Bruc Str. has integrated the new newyork-loft style Restaurant SPARK at barely 10 min from Casa Batlló, Arc de Triomf and at two blocks from Passeig de Sant Joan. Inside the SPARK the first view is traditional architecture masked with sophisticated tendencies and elements such as the uncoated bricks, the exposed structural and functional…
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How to Reach the Primavera Sound Barcelona 2017
Consolidated as an essential in any festival route that wants to start in Europe, tomorrow 31 May the Primavera Sound in Barcelona 2017 will land again in Parc del Fòrum for 5 days. It is a basic in fan agglomerations of independent music of any genre or style, although it is characteristic for an artistic line marked by pop, rock and more underground trends of dance music. It began in 2001 in the Poble Espanyol of Montjuïc, from four years later and still to date it is celebrated in Parc del Fòrum, right next to he Mediterranean sea. ¿How to reach Primavera Sound from the city center? Taxi (Pl. Catalunya –…
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In a Glimpse: A Night Out in Barcelona and The Night of Museums 2017
These nights of May in Barcelona are being delightful. However, when you are visiting us in the middle of November, even begining of December, Barcelona throw open its windows when the sun goes down, and it is not disappointing you either. Since we ever started this blog, two out of three posts are related to plans during the day in Barcelona. Truth is that (when you feel like it) the nightlife in here is so much tempting as well! You can start the afternoon rambling up and down the Ramblas, break into the Old Town towards the Cathedral and reach Plaça de Sant Jaume. The sun is setting down but you…
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AutoMobile Barcelona 2017
The revolution of the salons of automobiles arrives at Barcelona In just four days, at Fira de Montjuïc, the new face of the Barcelona motor show, the AutoMobile Salon, will come to light. From Thursday, May 11 to Sunday 21, you can experience this new edition that the director Enrique Lacalle himself is proud to present as the << future car show >> and that is born of the need to adapt the cars to the Mobile technology and the organisers as well as the entrepreneurs involved have bet for the connectivity of the car, sustainability and intelligent driving. What are the Big changes? Starting from the name, through the…
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La Boqueria: The Best Fresh Products Market in the World
We recently learned that the US Cable News Network (CNN) had sent some of their journalists to visit one of our wonderful markets in Barcelona. Like thousands of other people every day, journalists strolled through the more than 300 stalls of fruit, meat and charcuterie, fish, dry fruit and even a countless of fresh and top quality products at the market of Sant Josep, known worldwide such as la Boqueria. In the middle of the bustle of las Ramblas by the House of Umbrellas (Casa dels paraigües) lays the best market in the world. And so they cataloged it very recently in the CNN world ranking of best markets of…
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Feria de abril de Catalunya is back
Over the 60s and 70s it took place in Spain a major demographic shift. For workers in Andalusia, Catalonia became the land of opportunity. Even such was the number of immigrants installed that (exaggeration) Catalonia came to be considered “the ninth province” of Andalusia. It is for this reason that for 45 years it has been celebrated in Catalonia one of the most colorful and authentic fairs of Sevilla, La Feria de Abril. Until May 1, you are given the opportunity to unleash the flamenco in you in this 46th FERIA DE ABRIL DE CATALUNYA. And for the last 12 years, this 2017 edition is held at the Parc Forum in…
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Love and Culture This Weekend for Sant Jordi!
So far in so short of the year, we have shown already much of the multifaceted art that owns our city. We have seen from a Barcelona with lights and color for Christmas, a technological and mobile with the MWC17, we have seen a sporty, and a marathon runners welcomer in the Zurich Marató of Barcelona. We have even rediscovered a transgressive and festive Barcelona during the Carnival. Now we wish to tell you what is happening during this weekend in different parts of our city. After Easter, which has left us a traditional and familiar flavour, spring brings us love and culture now. Next April 23 is the day of…
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Barcelona Easter: Processions, Palm Blessing and the Sweet Mona
We have an overflowing calendar of activities in Barcelona as Semana Santa is around the corner. Next Sunday April 9 is Palm Sunday, Messianic entrance of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem in Christian religion. This arrives right after Carnival and Lent. Starting on Palm Sunday, the Semana Santa begins until Resurrection Sunday (April 16). FInd more details about the last Easter here. The good weather and mild temperatures in Barcelona during the month of April added to the complete program of activities organized by the City Council and organizations of the city make Barcelona one of the favorite destinations to spend Easter with your partner or family. Processions Palm Sunday, April 9, 2017 1.…
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The Volta de Catalunya 2017: Stages and Disruptions to bus services
Just five days ago it took place in Calella (a seaside town on the Costa del Maresme, 58 km northeast of Barcelona) the kick-start of 97th edition of Volta de Catalunya –Tour de Catalunya 2017- the oldest cycling race in Spain (1911) and the fourth worldwide behind such events as the Tour de France (1903), Tour of Belgium (1908) and Tour of Italy (1909). To date, 5 stages of this 97th edition have been completed, following the rhythm of one stage per day. Historically, the cyclist with the most victories of the Tour of Catalonia is the Spanish Mariano Cañardo Lacasta (1906-1987), known as El Catalan de Olite. Cañardo won the…
