Las Ramblas apartments Archive

Saint George’s Day in Barcelona

Published: April 3, 2013Posted in: Barcelona EventsTags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

La Diada de Sant Jordi (Saint George’s Day), also known as El dia de la Rosa (The Day of the Rose) or El dia del Llibre (The Day of the Book) is a Catalan holiday held on 23 April, with similarities to Valentine’s Day and some unique twists that reflect the antiquity of the celebrations.

Diada de Sant Jordi

The main event is the exchange of gifts between sweethearts, loved ones and colleagues. Historically, men gave women roses, and women gave men a book to celebrate the occasion—”a rose for love and a book forever.” In modern times, the mutual exchange of books is also customary. Roses have been associated with this day since medieval times, but the giving of books is a more recent tradition originating in 1923, when a bookseller started to promote the holiday as a way to commemorate the nearly simultaneous deaths of Miguel Cervantes and William Shakespeare on 23 April 1616. Barcelona is the publishing capital of both Catalan and Spanish languages and the combination of love and literacy was quickly adopted.
In Barcelona’s most visited street, Las Ramblas, and all over Catalonia, thousands of stands of roses and makeshift bookstalls are hastily set up for the Saint George’s Day. By the end of the day, some four million roses and 800,000 books will have been purchased. Most women will carry a rose in hand, and half of the total yearly book sales in Catalonia take place on this occasion.
La Diada de Sant Jordi one of the main event of the Spring in Barcelona. Even though La Diada de Sant Jordi is not an official non-working holiday, most romantics ditch the office to take a stroll through the beautiful Mediterranean streets and enjoy the sultry springtime weather. The whole city is celebrating, full of stalls selling roses and books and many famous writers meet readers to sign their books.

The sardana, the national dance of  Catalonia, is performed throughout the day in the Plaça Sant Jaume in Barcelona. Many book stores and cafes host readings by authors (including 24-hour marathon readings of different classics of the Catalan literature or the Spanish literature). Street performers and musicians in public squares add to the day’s atmosphere.
23 April is also the only day of the year when the Palau de la Generalitat, Barcelona’s principal government building, is open to the public. The interior is decorated with roses to honour Saint George.
Catalonia exported its tradition of the book and the rose to the rest of the world. In 1995, the UNESCO adopted 23 April as World Book and Copyright Day.

Saint George

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The Barcelona Marathon

Published: March 4, 2013Posted in: Barcelona EventsTags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The 35th edition of the Zurich Marató de Barcelona will be held on Sunday 17 March. Barcelona is a city in love with the sport and not only for its extraordinary football team. The Barcelona Marathon is organized by a Promotion Comity made up of four institutions and entities: The City of Barcelona, the Marató a Barcelona Platform, the Catalan Athletics Federation and Barcelona Tourism. The event will take place on Sunday along a fully urban route.

Barcelona Marathon

The race is 42,195Km long and is certified by the Catalan Athletics federation, through an authorized commission of the IAAF. Race start at 8:30 am, in Avinguda María Cristina.
The approximate finish time for first runners is 10:40 am, in Avinguda María Cristina. Time limit is 6 hours from the start of the race.

In line with RFEA and IAAF marathon rules, there will be refreshment stations for participants every 5 kilometres during the marathon (at the 5km, 10km, 15km, 20km, 25km, 30km, 35km, and 40km marks). These refreshment stations will offer participants water, isotonic drinks, fruit, sponges and Vaseline. From the 7,5 Km mark, there will be sponge prints every 5 Km. All info at the official web of the Barcelona Marathon.

The number of arrivals at the past edition of the Zurich Marató de Barcelona was 16,216, that makes this marathon the 4th in Europe and the 13th in the world.

The Zurich Marató de Barcelona has a great appeal, both for locals and foreigners, this last group represents 50% of the total.
The cultural and commercial offer, the architecture and the leisure are aspects that
tourists greatly appreciate and favor the Barcelona Marathon, which from the concept of the tourist bus, has established a course that looks very attractive for the visitors. So, if it is unthinkable to conceive a Paris marathon without passing by the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame and the Bastille, the Barcelona Marathon must pass by the landmarks such as La Pedrera, Sagrada Familia, Camp Nou and Las Ramblas.

Barcelona Marathon accommodation

For all sports lovers the Barcelona Marathon is an ideal opportunity to experience a moment of sports and entertainment in the unique setting of a wonderful city. Book one of our apartments in the city center, whether you want to participate to the race, or if you simply want to attend the event. Run to Barcelona.

Sónar by Day 2013, new venue

Published: February 12, 2013Posted in: Barcelona EventsTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

After 19 years at the CCCB, the MACBA and the surrounding area, the Sonar festival is moving its daytime headquarters to the Fira Montjuïc area in Plaça d’Espanya, an emblematic location in the city.

Sonar 2013 in Barcelona

The new location will breathe new life into Sónar by Day, with extensive spaces that will facilitate optimal movement by those attending and the professionals participating. Sónar by Day keeps its 4 stages (SonarVillage by Estrella Damm, SonarHall, SonarDôme and SonarComplex), all of which have increased capacities in their new locations. The new Sónar by Day is significantly nearer Sónar by Night, which is still at its usual venue in the Fira Gran Via area in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, and consolidates its four-stage format, (SonarClub, SonarLab, SonarPub and SonarCar, located next to the bumper cars). With the festival’s shuttle buses, the two sites are now only 10 minutes apart.
All the info on the official webpage of the festival.

Sonar 2013 will be held from 13 to 15 June. Te line-up it’s not colosed but yet includes the performance of two great references as Kraftwerk, presenting a 3D technology show, and Pet Shop Boys.
And then Two Door Cinema Club, Diplo, Skrillex and Major Lazer, among others.
And for those who go to the festival for dance, Sonar 2013 offers the outstanding performance by Paul Kalkbrenner, Maceo Plex and a long list of high-level DJs.
And after twenty years, Sonar has also invited artists who have participated to the festival since the beginning. This is the case of Laurent Garnier, who acted in the first edition, or Matthew Herbert Modeselektor.

Sonar 2013 apartments for rent

As a perfect and strategic accomodation to enjoy the Festival, we can offer our exclusive flats in the city center: the Plaza Catalunya apartments or the Las Ramblas apartments. We have large and fully equipped apartments ideal for groups, offering everything you need to have an amazing stay.

080 Barcelona Fashion

Published: December 31, 2012Posted in: Barcelona Events, Barcelona ExhibitionsTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

From 28th to 31 January 2013 the Disseny Hub Barcelona (DHUB) Barcelona will host the 10th edition of 080 Barcelona Fashion, an independent fashion designers expo. An international jury will award the prize to the best new collection made by independant designers.

080 Barcelona Fashion

080 Barcelona Fashion aims to turn Barcelona and Catalonia into a benchmark for creativity, innovation and both design generation and projection in the fashion industry, in the broadest sense of the word. Catalonia and the city of Barcelona have a long tradition in the textile industry for centuries, and the current situation allows us to talk about a consolidation of the design with a distinctive sign, in various fashion areas, such as production, distribution, sales, as well as their promotion.
This is the commitment of the government of the Generalitat de Catalunya, a government that believes in companies and provides them a platform to achieve international projection.
Fashion, as it is widely know, is about culture and lives intensely in the city of Barcelona. Custo Barcelona, Mango, Desigual and many more local brands will partecipate at the event.

080 Barcelona Fashion organizes the second edition of the 080 Design Contest a contest in collaboration with a number of Catalan fashion design schools. This competition will provide 080 Barcelona Fashion’s own merchandising products.
In this second edition, 080 Barcelona Fashion‘s bag will be selected, a unisex shopping bag. It will be on sale as from the next edition of 080 Barcelona Fashion that will take place in January 2013. All info on the official webpage of the 080 Barcelona Fashion.

Luxury Holiday in Barcelona

Barcelona is a wonderful city in all seasons, but the winter atmosphere makes its really magic. Come to spend a holiday in Barcelona in winter time at one of our lovely apartments in the city center, from which you can start to try an unforgettable shopping experience. We have amazing apartments in Paseo de Gracia, Plaza Catalunya or Las Ramblas.

The Museum Explores. Works of art under examination

Published: December 24, 2012Posted in: Barcelona ExhibitionsTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

From 23rd of November 2012 to 24th of February 2013, the MNAC (Museum National Art of Catalonia) on the Montjuïc is hosting a truly original exhibition, where you can admire art works and the creative process that has formed them: The Museum Explores. Works of art under examination.

The Museum Explores. Works of art under examination

Surprise, discovery, revelation, confirmation or disappointment are some of the emotions and experiences specialists are subject to when they venture into the scientific and technical study of works of art. In the course of its history, the MNAC has added to the understanding of the works in its collections and other related works, with results that are sometimes frustrating, often curious and also, from time to time, spectacular. The public, however, does not usually get the chance to see the results of this research, which is shared amongst keepers of collections, art historians, conservators, restorers and scientists. Using a display of works from different periods, all of which have been subjected to examination –painted panels and polychrome sculptures, painting on canvas and various techniques on paper–, the exhibition aims to stir the public’s curiosity and arouse interest in the complex work involved in expertising art.

In recent years, the keepers and restorers at the MNAC have exposed the works to visible and invisible electromagnetic radiation with which they have been able to identify the materials used, penetrate the layers they are made up of and discover how the artists worked and the materials, tools and techniques they used, as well as their procedures.

The original works are presented alongside the images obtained using different types of radiation and with an account of the main contributions by science. Elements will be revealed that are not at first sight obvious and that are fundamental for identifying an artistic period, an artist or the history of a work. The public will discover revealing testimonies or artists’ amusements that have been preserved on the hidden face, the reverse, of works that are only known from their face or front. It will also be possible to observe the way in which artists worked during the creative process, on the preparatory drawing or when making changes to the composition. The show sets out to explain the changing fortunes and the different alterations some works of art have seen in their lifetime and how the experts can distinguish between an original, a copy, a forgery or a hyper-restoration. The entry is free and you can find all information on the official webpage of the MNAC.

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20 Years of LUX Prizes: A Gaze at Professional Photography

Published: December 18, 2012Posted in: Barcelona ExhibitionsTags: , , , , , , , , , ,

The Palau Robert presents a selection of winning photographs from the last 20 editions of the LUX Prizes, a reference in the world of professional photography. The show is jointly organised by the Association of Professional Photographers of Spain and Palau Robert.

20 Years of LUX Prizes

The exhibition “20 Years of LUX Prizes. A Gaze at Professional Photography” will show the development of commissioned professional photography and demonstrate the huge variety of styles and tendencies in this field, as well as illustrating the transition from analogue to digital.

Curated by Michele Curel, Xavi Mañosa and Joan Roig, the exhibition will be open to the public from 13 December 2012 to 28 April 2013.

The Association of Professional Photographers of Spain undertook this project with a view to demonstrating the strength and development of photography during a period marked by great social and technological changes. These changes are reflected in a show that highlights the creative and innovative capacity of the country’s most outstanding professional photographers.

“20 Years of LUX Prizes” is divided into eleven sections featuring different categories of photographs. Each category includes all the images awarded the LUX GOLD Prizes in 1993 and 2012, accompanied by a carefully-selected series of works that illustrate the evolution of photography, the prize and the diversity of photographers and styles. Moreover, an audiovisual is provided, featuring the images awarded LUX GOLD Prizes, along with a summary of the history and development of the awards themselves. All information on the official webpage of Palau Robert.

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World Press Photo 12 exhibition

Published: November 27, 2012Posted in: Barcelona ExhibitionsTags: , , , , , , , , , ,

The World Press Photo is considered the most important example of photojournalism in the world, a selection of 156 photographs that have won awards for their artistic excellence, informational value, sensitivity and ability to excite the audience as well as the ability to arouse debate and criticism.

World Press Photo 12 exhibition at CCCB

The World Press Photo is also the perfect opportunity for many of these images to come to light, after being too often censored by governments and media. The World Press Photo comes back to the Centre of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB) from November 29 to January 6, 2013.
Among the selected images we found the Samuel Aranda’s one. He’s a Catalan photographer, who has won the top prize, World Press Photo of the Year 2011 – with his image of Fatima al-Qaws hugging her 18 year old son Zayed, after suffering the effects of tear gas during a demonstration in the streets of Sanna, Yemen. The picture was published in The New York Times.

Under the hading “Sensitive Material”, we invite you to reflect on the importance and the role of documentary photography today, one of the few reliable sources in the extensive range of deliberately manipulated messages and images we consume every day. The contents of World Press Photo are a thermometer of the world social context and help to shape public awareness and historic memory.

Barcelona exhibition

“Photojournalism affects the people who take the photos, those who look at the photos, and those who are photographed. It is vital to value and protect the practice in these times of conflict and confusion”, say the organizers.
As every year, an independent international jury of 19 members picked the winners from the photos submitted by photojournalists, agencies, newspapers and photographers all over the world. Taking part in World Press Photo 2012 were 5,247 photographers (217 of them Spanish) of 124 nationalities, who submitted 101,254 images to the contest’s 10 categories: Portraits, People in the news, General news, Spot news, Contemporary issues, Daily life, Nature, Art and Entertainment, and Sports features. All information on the CCCB webpage.

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El Paral·lel, the Broadway of Barcelona

Published: November 21, 2012Posted in: Barcelona Exhibitions, Barcelona what to doTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

El Paral·lel is the street of the theaters. It ‘s the Broadway of Barcelona. From 26 October 2012 to 24 February 2013 an exhibition at the CCCB celebrates as it deserves one of the liveliest corners of the city. Photography, the press and the visual arts in particular form the basis of the various sections of the exhibition. All information on the CCCB official webpage.

El Parallel Barcelona

El Paral·lel emerges from the project to extend the city designed by Ildefons Cerdà. From its birth, a series of contradictory urban planning regulations facilitated the appearance of ephemeral buildings and the conversion of this street into a dense area of leisure and entertainment.
The result was a leisure district for the masses, perfectly comparable to those existing in other major European urban agglomerations at that time, but that immediately became a genuine cultural expression of the social and political conflict that characterised the Barcelona of the early 20th century. El Paral·lel generated shows with perfectly differentiated contents and formats, made up by the audience and the artists.
This exhibition will explain, therefore, why a new entertainment area emerged in the city, leading the weight of the theatrical axis to move from the Plaça Catalunya-Passeig de Gràcia area to the Nou de la Rambla-Paral·lel area.

El Molino Theater

It will also explain how the new modalities of stage expression were configured based on two fundamental elements: the representation of ways of living in District V and of the social transformations and new value codes; and penetration by foreign popular stage genres and their “nationalisation” based on the demand from new audiences.
Moreover, El Paral·lel became the visible manifestation of a profound change in the social perception of sex. A change that would affect Catalan society across the board and had much to do with standards of tolerance towards the break away from traditional morals.

El Paral·lel was also the place where the ideologies that moved political and trade union organisations of the popular classes were made manifest. Republicans, socialists and anarchists were scattered around the city and often had meeting places at the theatres, where sometimes political rallies were held in the mornings and shows in the evening and at night.
This area of the city has provided the inspiration for a long list of artists, including Picasso, Nonell, Francesc Domingo, Ricard Urgell, Ricard Canals, Ramon Casas, Rafael Barradas, Feliu Elias (“Apa”), Opisso, Emili Bosch Roger, Ismael Smith, Jaume Pasarell, Picabia and Gleizes.

Luxury holiday in Barcelona

El Paral·lel is one of the places you can not miss during your holidays in Barcelona. Both in Summer and at Christmas, Barcelona is a lively and engaging city. Rent one of our luxury accommodation in the city center and you’ll enjoy the magic of Barcelona.

Arts of Movement-Dance in Catalonia

Published: November 13, 2012Posted in: Barcelona ExhibitionsTags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Arts of Movements – Dance in Catalonia is an exhibition held in the Arts Santa Mònica building, that sets out to recover the recent memory of the intrinsically ephemeral art that is dance, which expresses itself in the moving body only to disappear. There remain, however, the choreography and the trace left as a legacy for those who will go on moving forward. Arts of Movements – Dance in Catalonia covers a period from 1966 to 2012 and it will open from October 30 to January 26, in 2013. All information on the Arts Santa Mónica official webpage.

Dance in Catalonia

The exhibition highlights the central presence of the body, placing in the middle of the Cloister the installation In Body Present by the filmmaker Isaki Lacuesta: the bodies of seven very different choreographer-dancers directly confront the viewer, without music, shot in 16 mm black and white from a single viewpoint, each body with its personal characteristics. Cesc Gelabert, Àngels Margarit, Maria Muñoz, Sol Picó, Andrés Corchero, Thomas Noone and Marta Carrasco here representing the different lines of development and milestones of the last forty years.

Lacuesta’s installation takes on a prominent central role in the cloister of Arts Santa Mònica, and around this body of the dancer who has been the true star of every choreography the recent history of dance in Catalonia is articulated in three parts. Each part includes, along with photographs and documents, video interviews conducted by Isaki Lacuesta. The body of the dance is made up of feet (the first steps), torso (the contemporary matrix of Catalan dance), faces (of those who dance) and hands (the linking up of the arts).

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The New York Times Magazine Photographs

Published: November 12, 2012Posted in: Barcelona ExhibitionsTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Palau Robert in Barcelona shall play host to the exhibition The New York Times Magazine Photographs from 28 September to 2 December, which reflects upon the nature of photography and the role played by print magazines at this pivotal moment in their history and evolution.

The New York Times Magazine Photographs

The exhibition is co-curated by Kathy Ryan, photo editor of The New York Times Magazine, and Lesley A. Martin, publisher of Aperture Books. It has been organised by the Palau Robert, the Aperture Foundation, a pioneer institution dedicated to serve photography worldwide, and the company Canopia, Aperture’s exclusive representative in Spain, which is dedicated to the integrated management of cultural projects and firmly established in the sector thanks to its work in disseminating photography.

The public can enjoy more than 130 works by 35 renowned artists.
The New York Times Magazine, undoubtedly a point of reference for contemporary photography in the media, has become a space of freedom for photographers at large. For over thirty years, the publication has explored the myriad possibilities and applications of photography. Kathy Ryan, photo editor of The New York Times Magazine and curator of this exhibition, provides a unique opportunity to gain an insight into the magazine’s creative processes: contact sheets, snapshots, videos, the editor’s personal correspondence, tear sheets and original magazines. The exhibition is sponsored by Banco Sabadell. It was presented recently at the latest edition of the photo festival Les Rencontres d’Arles and at the Foam Museum of Photography in Amsterdam.

Luxury holiday in Barcelona

Barcelona’s Palau Robert is an exhibition centre run by the Government of Catalonia. With more than one thousand square metres devoted to its activities, the centre is housed in a neoclassical building at the junction of Avinguda Diagonal and Passeig de Gràcia, two of the most important thoroughfares in the Catalan capital. The building also houses a Tourism Office, where qualified staff provide information about the whole of Catalonia.

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