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CULTURE: THEATRE IN ENGLISH: Kameleon Theatre presents Harold Pinter’s "THE DUMB WAITER" on 19th to 21st Jan at 10pm and Sun. 22nd Jan at 7pm in Teatro Riereta, calle Reina Amalia 3, Tel. 93 329 2196. Tickets 8€ on the door or in advance at Hibernian Books in Gracia. Tel. 93 217 47 96.



CHILDREN: PARENTING TALKS: English and Me Bookshop in the Centro Comercial Esclat in Sant Just organises regular “Great Minds Think Alike” luncheons, followed by a talk and then discussion on parenting topics led by Dr Jill Jenkins, a child and school psychologist resident in Barcelona. Each month a selected book forms the basis for discussion. For the meeting on Thurs. Jan 19th the book is: “The Five Love Languages of Children”. Lunch is at 1pm; talk from 2pm-3.30pm. For lunch + talk + book, charge is 30€ (5€ for BWN and AMERSOC members and ASB and BFIS parents). It is possible to attend talk only for 8€ or attend talk + obtain copy of book for 22€. Contact: info@englishandme.com or Tel. 93 373 1647.



CULTURE:SANT ANTONI: Coinciding with the feast day of Sant Antoni Abat, the district of Sant Antoni is celebrating 10 days of festa major, with the traditional blessing of the animals on 17th , and concerts in a marquee on Av. Mistral-Calabria/Rocafort until Sunday 22nd. Rumba and jam-session on 20th at 10pm, a Grand Ball on 21st at 11pm, and classical music on 22nd at 1pm. Grand finale to the festivities is the Correfoc infernal on 22nd , setting off from the marquee at 8pm.


CULTURE: PHOTOGRAPHY: In Palau Robert, on the corner of Passeig de Gracia and Diagonal, there is an exhibition of unpublished work by 12 pioneering women photographers, working in Catalonia from mid-19th century onwards.




MUSIC:TRADICIONARIUS 2006: Tradicionarius, the annual festival of traditional music opened on 13th January and runs until 7th April with 11 venues in the city, mainly in Gracia. A total of 45 concerts from the likes of Maria del Mar Bonet, Radio Tarifa, Pau i Treva. Plus workshops, courses and 3 “exposicions sonores”. www.bcn.es for next concerts.





MUSIC:FESTIVAL DEL MILLENI: The Festival del Milleni offers an interesting programme of concerts in a variety of styles including Ana Belen and Victor Manuel on 25th, Georges Moustaki on 31st and various performers within a broad flamenco tradition. All concerts in Palau de la Musica. In addition there are 4 performances of “Sabores” flamenco show (dance) with Sara Baras in Barcelona Teatre Musical (Av. Guardia Urbana) from 25-29th Jan. www.festivalmilleni.com





CULTURE: JAZZ CONCERT: Dee Dee Bridgewater, the diva of classical jazz and currently one of the best-known singers in the field is also appearing within the Festival del Milleni on 21st February. As with other concerts, venue is Palau de la Música. Tickets from 32 to 48€. Tickets also through www.telentrada.com or Tel: 902 10 12 12.






BARCELONA AND CATALONIA IN FIGURES: Barcelona received 5 million tourists in 2005 (Spain as a whole 52.4m) Half of the visitors to Barcelona were here for trade fairs and congresses. Barcelona continues to increase in popularity for cruise-ships: 1.4 million passengers in 2005. Peak months for business visitors are April, May and September to November, whereas July, August, September and December are the busiest months with leisure travellers.

Figures for museum visits have also been released by the Ajuntament. Cosmocaixa had almost 1.5m visitors; Museu Picasso, La Pedrera and Caixaforum had over a million each; Fundació Miró and MNAC almost half a million. MNAC’s figures showed a sharp increase, which was a result of the expansion of the collections to include Thyssen collection and holdings which were shown in Museu d’art modern in Ciutadella Park until its closure. The Barça Museum is not included in the listing but it is always among the most visited as it is part of the very popular stadium tour.

Latest population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística have also just been released, taking into account registration of “empadronamientos” in 2005. Spain now has 44million inhabitants, an increase of 900,000 over 2004, a result of immigration The main countries of origin of new arrivals to Spain were Morocco, followed by Ecuador and Romania, with the UK in fourth place (around 50,000). Immigrants now account for over 8% of the population of the country as a whole; in Catalonia they represent 11.42%. The total population of Catalonia population is now almost 7 million (6,995,206) an increase of 2.67% on 2004.The population of the city of Barcelona is 1,593,075



CULTURE: EXHIBITION: The Faces of Cubism. A new exhibition opened in MNAC (Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya) on 17th Jan showing works by Cubist artists in the Telefonica Collection, showing that Cubism is not only Picasso and Braque. Works by 19 less well-known artists are featured and the aim is to give another view of Cubism and extend the concept of Cubism. MNAC is on Montjuic and open Tues. to Sat. 10am to 7pm and Sundays from 10am to 2.30pm. The show runs until 23rd April. More info on. www.mnac.es or Tel. 93 622 03 76.



CULTURE: CONCERT: Depeche Mode is coming to Barcelona on their tour which will promote the new CD which will be released in the autumn. The first concert on 10th Feb. is sold out and another concert has been added for 11th Feb. at 10pm in Palau Sant Jordi. Info and (hopefully) tickets on: 93 426 20 89. Other big names lined up include

Eagles, Simple Minds, Rolling Stones - More info. www.barcelona.com.


INTERNET: A chance to send a virtual postcard from Barcelona. Go to http://www.barceloca.com/photos-224/es-ES/Postales-barcelona.aspx. The photos are really special and can be saved. On the same website you can find interesting interviews on all kinds of topics but relating to the Barcelona area. http://www.barceloca.com/data-71/es-ES/Entrevistas-barcelona.aspx From the photographer who has been photographing the statues on the Ramblas for 3 years to the people behind the Sitges Film Festival to members of “Amics de la Bici“ – an interesting range of views, as varied as the city in which the interviewees live.





LEISURE: “SLEEPING BEAUTY” ON ICE: “The Imperial Ice Stars” (23 Olympic, world and European skating champions) are appearing in a production of Tchaikowsky’s ”Sleeping beauty“ on ice. At Teatre Victoria on Parallel from19th January to 11th February. Tickets from Servicaixa. And theatre box office from 5pm onwards Wed-Sun. www.imperialicestars.com



LEISURE: CHILDREN: If you want a good entertainer for a child’s birthday or other celebration, look at http://www.festaamida.com/ . Here you can book a clown with a really good repertoire which also keeps adults amused. Everything in Spanish: sketches, songs etc etc, a varied programme and good price. Info also on: 93 636 2055 or: 651 36 35 94. E-mail: info@festaamida.com or reserves@festaamida.com.




LEISURE: CHILDREN AND ADULTS: Pottery courses in Sant Pere de Ribes, given in English and Spanish. On Mondays from 5 to 6.45pm there is a course for children aged 5 and over. Here they learn first techniques and have the chance to paint pottery. The course for adults takes place on Thursdays from 10am to 1pm. More info from Katy on: 636 722 560





LAW: NEW ANTI-SMOKING LEGISLATION: Some people are celebrating and others are complaining and say they are being victimised. Either way the new anti-smoking legislation which came into effect on 1st January is causing a lot of confusion. One thing is certain: the days of Spain as a smokers’ paradise are over. Whereas previously smokers in Spain had a lot more freedom than in many other European countries, the new legislation is tougher than anywhere except Scandinavia and Ireland. Smoking is now forbidden in the workplace: firms are not even allowed to designate a room for smoking and workers must leave the building to smoke. In bars and restaurants with a seating area of over 100sq. metres, the establishment must be divided up with a maximum of 30% of the area allocated to smokers. In smaller places the owner decides whether the premises are non-smoking or not. In the case of those which opt to allow smoking, then children under 16 may not enter. The penalties for breaking the law can go up to a 10,000€ fine.

To find out more, the original text of the legislation has been posted by 20 Minutos newspaper: http://www.20minutos.es/data/adj/2005/12/07/58.pdf. The paper is also collecting details of smoke-free restaurants and will eventually publish a list.

It is estimated that about 20% of smaller bars have become non-smoking establishments although apparently on the Ramblas the proportion banning smoking is higher (nearer 50%). Café Zurich at El Triangle does not allow smoking inside, only at the tables outside; and El Asador de Aranda restaurant on Av. Tibidabo has opted to ban smoking completely despite being much larger than 100sq.metres.



SECURITY ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT: According to press reports the number of thefts and attacks taking place on public transport dropped in the latter part of last year. This is partly thanks to the setting up of a 30-person unit of Mossos (Catalan police) to oversee security in the metro and local trains (Cercanías).

However you still need to be vigilant and aware of certain tricks favoured by the thieves.:



1. Someone drops a coin, or cigarette lighter and the helpful person who helps look for it/pick it up, then has bag or camera snatched. This can happen on escalators as well as on platform etc.


2. The victim is made to stumble/is ”crowded“ and the thieves take advantage of the moment.


3. When the metro is particularly full, the thief puts his jacket over the victim’s bag/rucksack and carries out the theft ”under cover“ literally.

The Mossos do not at the moment work on buses or trams. Particular vigilance is required on Bus Turistic.




SECURITY: CAR THEFT: A warning from the Guardia Civil and RACE about a new method thieves have come up with to steal cars. Thieves act when someone is about to move their car, having got in and switched the engine on and put the car in reverse gear. The driver then looks in the mirror and sees a piece of paper on the rear windscreen. The normal reaction is to put the car into neutral, open the door and get out to remove the paper and go to the rear of the car. At that moment the thief appears, gets in the car and drives off. The engine was on, the driver’s handbag or briefcase etc in the car. So if you see a piece of paper on the rear windscreen, don’t get out, just drive away. You can remove the paper later.




WINTER TRADITION: XATO: From now until April is the time to eat traditional Xató, a salad which is special only because of its unique sauce, which is said to combine all the flavours and aromas of Catalonia. The ” Ruta del Xató“, links various towns and restaurants in the Penedés and the Garaf, which is the real homeland of Xató. Following the route from place to place you see how differently each one prepares xató. So here is a good excuse to organise an excursion and to get to know the towns as well as their gastronomic specialities. Sitges, Vilafranca, Cubelles, Cunit and many more places are on the route. More info, including recipes, on the website:http://www.rutadelxato.com/. which is in English as well as Catalan and Spanish.




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