what to do barcelona

The major players in the cell-phone-related industries such as Samsung, Sony, Microsoft and Google are currently presenting their new products in Barcelona, consolidating the city’s position as a true meeting point for the sector. For the 10^th consecutive year, the biggest event in the world of mobile industries kicked off in the Catalan capital on Monday. The 2015 Mobile World Congress, organised by GSMA, will be in Barcelona until Thursday, breaking all records during this time. 90,000 attendees are expected from 201 different countries, representing more than 2,000 companies distributed across more than 100,000 square metres at Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via venue. Furthermore, the event has raised the attention of the world's main media and trade publications, with more than 4,000 accredited journalists in attendance at this year’s edition. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google's Vice President, Sundar Pichai, were Monday's main speakers.

Barcelona-based Abertis, a multinational company specialised in the management of toll roads and telecommunications infrastructure, has reached an agreement to purchase 7,377 mobile phone towers in Italy at a total cost of €693 million. The Catalan group – which saw its net profits rise last year to €655 million – will acquire 90% of the shares of Galata, the subsidiary of the Italian operator Wind that owns the telephone towers. Abertis will thus strengthen its presence in the transalpine country and become the "largest European operator of telecommunications infrastructure for mobile telephony and audiovisual broadcasting", as the company announced through a press release.

Is life really that difficult as a vegetarian in Barcelona? We challenged the predominantly meat and fish-based Catalan cuisine through a week of discovering restaurants, organic shops and vegan eateries in the city. Ham legs tied to the ceiling do not help the perception that vegetarians would have to survive on a diet of nuts and bread, but after our search we found that Barcelona is an incredibly vegetarian-friendly city. This short guide, organised following the days of the week, will help you to know your way around it.

Goals from Rakitic, Suárez and Messi produce an important win in Andalusia that put the pressure on Real Madrid, the Spanish League leaders. A workmanlike performance from Barça against relegation-threatened Granada resulted in the perfect response to last week’s setback at home to Málaga. A thoroughly deserved 3-1 win keeps the Catalans well in the hunt for the Liga title. The only downside to a fine performance from Barça was a yellow card for Neymar, which means he’ll be suspended against Rayo Vallecano.

The 2015 Mobile World Congress (MWC) will have an economic impact in Greater Barcelona of some €436 million and create 12,627 jobs, figures that beat last year’s results, when the event generated €397 million and 7,220 jobs. The 2015 edition of the MWC, which is the world’s largest event in the mobile and cell phone-related industries, will take place in the Catalan capital from the 2^nd to the 5^th of March. It aims to attract 5,000 more visitors than last year and reach 90,000 attendees. For the second consecutive year, Facebook founder Marc Zuckerberg will participate in the event. Android creator, Sundar Pichai, and Wikipedia creator, Jimmy Wales, will also be some of the most outstanding speakers at this year’s edition.

Barcelona Provincial High Court judge Santiago Vidal, who has openly supported independence, has been expelled from the judiciary for a 3-year period by the Spain’s Judicial Power Council (CGPJ). The sanction is far from unanimous and has been adopted after an 9-hour-long debate among the CGPJ’s 21 members, since the liberal minority was against sanctioning the judge for having written a draft Constitution for an independent Catalonia. However, the conservative majority considered Vidal to have committed a grave mistake regarding his duty to respect the Spanish Constitution. Vidal has been arguing over the past few weeks that such a draft was written in his free time and is part of his freedom of expression and ideology. In addition, he defended himself by saying that when working as a judge, he has always followed the current Constitution and legal framework. After hearing the CGPJ’s decision, Vidal stated that the decision is “political” because he is “hostile to the regime”, “an expression from 40 years ago that I thought I would not hear in democracy”.

Catalan GDP grew by 1.3% in 2014 and will increase by 2.5% in 2015, claims Barcelona’s Chamber of Commerce. “The Catalan economy had a very good performance in 2014, even better than that of Spain as whole, and this acceleration will continue during 2015”, stated the President of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Miquel Valls, on Wednesday. The day before, the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, announced a revised economic forecast for 2015 and stated that Spain’s economy would grow by 2.4% in 2015. Valls highlighted that all the macroeconomic indicators show positive figures for the first time in the last 7 years, which makes him think that Catalonia’s “recovery from the crisis is a fact”. The industrial sector, exports, construction and job creation are the main reasons behind those predictions, which also benefit from external factors such as the fall in oil prices.

Two goals from the Uruguayan have set things up perfectly for FC Barcelona for the Champions League last-16-tie’s second leg at the Camp Nou on March 18 by repeating last year’s feat of winning at the Etihad. Kun Agüero pulled one goal back for Manchester City. This Tuesday’s game ended 2-1, with Joe Hart giving Man City a glimmer of hope by saving a Leo Messi penalty in the final minute of injury time. However, a 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium, and playing such spectacular football, is nothing less than magnificent and the result leaves Barça with every right to feel confident about their chances of making it into the quarter finals.

The Chinese community welcomed the 'Year of the Goat' last week. The biggest New Year festivity took place this Saturday, when a parade of a thousand people filled the Barcelona streets with a trail of red dancing dragons and lions. This is the second year that Chinese organisations and Catalan folklore groups, such as Catalonia's traditional human tower builders (‘castellers’) and the traditional giant figures representing kings, knights and princesses called ‘gegants’, joined together to celebrate Chinese New Year. Almost 10,000 spectators lined the parade route through the streets of the Eixample district in the centre of the city. Barcelona has 17,400 Chinese inhabitants, the third largest foreign population, after the Pakistani and the Italian communities; however a great number of Chinese people live in the surrounding towns of Greater Barcelona.  

All it took was one small mistake. A seemingly innocent back-pass from Dani Alves to Claudio Bravo in minute seven ran out of steam and was intercepted by a charging Juanmi, who beat Bravo to the ball and waltzed in all alone for the game’s only goal, stopping Barça’s 11-game winning streak dead in its tracks. The loss means that Barça, playing in front of a raucous home crowd, have missed an opportunity to become the overnight leaders in La Liga and will be a minimum of one point behind leaders Real Madrid come Monday morning.

Barça stay just one point adrift of top spot in La Liga after beating Levante to the tune of five goals to no reply in Sunday’s game before 74,963 spectators at the Camp Nou. FC Barcelona make it eleven wins in a row with goals from Neymar, Suárez and a Messi hat trick.Luis Enrique made eight changes to the team that started midweek against Villarreal, with Suárez, Jordi Alba and Piqué among those on the bench. The manager had said in his pre-match press conference that this would not be as simple a game as some suspected, and for much of the first half that did indeed prove to be the case.

A university research project by the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) has found that married people are healthier than single people. Researchers have proved that marriage has positive effects on the health of people aged 40 and over. The reason for this link between health and marriage is the couple’s role in taking care of each other. In addition, married people are more likely to have health insurance, the study found.The researchers also highlighted that people who are more inclined to marry are innately healthy. In many instances they have particular physical and psychological features, linked to gene quality and good health, which result in them being more attractive and therefore having a greater possibility of getting married. 

Carnival time is here and Catalonia is ready to let its hair down. From the 12^th to the 18^th of February many Catalan cities and towns will be submerged in an explosion of colour: ‘Carnestoltes’. The origin of this eagerly awaited tradition goes back to the early Middle Ages, when Christians enjoyed a few days of debauchery leading up to Lent, the 40-day period of fasting and pious behaviour. Despite conflicting views about the etymology of the word ‘Carnestoltes’, credit usually goes to the Latin form ‘carns toldrem’ (‘farewell to flesh’). One of the biggest carnivals in Catalonia is held in Sitges, a coastal town with about 30,000 inhabitants 30km south of Barcelona, which expects nearly 300,000 visitors during the parades next Sunday and Tuesday.

Nearly 40,000 fashion enthusiasts of all ages visited the Maritime Museum of Barcelona last week for the 15th edition of the 080 Fashion week. The 4-day fashion event drew to a satisfying end after hosting shows from prestigious brands, with the likes of Desigual and Custo taking to the crowded catwalk. Most of the fun was found in the open area, with free refreshments and make-overs for all, thanks to a tagged Instagram post as the key to receiving these treats. As well as a host of celebrities and well-known fashion bloggers in the front rows, big names in the modelling world such as Jon Kortajarena and Andres Velencoso showcased the most popular collections for Autumn/Winter 2015.

Barcelona’s office rental sector is improving after years of decline. Real estate company Inmobiliaria Colonial has set the tone by releasing 23 million new shares. Colonial is one of Europe’s leading companies in the office rental market and besides the new shares, they have also bought the main office of food multinational company Gallina Blanca. The property, positioned on L’Hopitalet del Llobregat’s Plaça Europa, one of Greater Barcelona’s business districts, has an area of almost 5,000 square metres and has been sold for €10.4 million. The shares and the purchase both belong to a new strategy to recover from the crisis and get the market back on track.