Mobile World Congress

By Joaquim Torres

The Mobile World Congress is one of the largest world’s technological exhibitions, focused on the mobile industry. Every year this event attracts a hundred thousand visitors and a thousand operators and companies coming from two hundred countries. These figures place the city as a guide to see and touch the new mobile models that will be launched that year and to know more about all the innovations and new technology that will arrive at the market in the near future. 

Although the Mobile Word Congress is famous for being the main showcase of the mobile companies to present their new models, this event is much more than that, offering information about retail and digital commerce, internet of things, new advertising ways using mobile devices and emerging tech in general. All these topics are presented through exhibitor’s stands and conferences, the two main activities that form this event.

The Mobile Word Congress has been organized in Barcelona since 2006, taking this Catalan city as a word reference and consolidating the event as a fixed stop and a meeting point where all the firms share ideas and show their most upmarket products and sophisticated services.

In 2017, Barcelona will host again this event from the February 27 to March 2, distributing its content in two venues, “Fira Gran Vía” and “Fira Montjuïc”. 

The Mobile Word Congress is a challenge for Barcelona city, pushing to the limit all its services, hotels and means of transportations and a good example of the capacity of Catalans to organize massive events. For this reason if you are thinking of traveling to the city during these days you should book you hotel in advance and plan the trip carefully.

Music festivals

Music Festivals (by Marina)


In Catalonia there are a lot of music festivals all year round. In these festivals you can listen to all kinds of music: jazz, classical music, rock, indie, electronic,...

This are some of the most popular music events:

Jazz Festival of Terrassa (in March or April)

It takes place once a year in Terrassa, a city near Barcelona. For almost a month between March and April it brings together more than 250 artists from young emerging figures to amazing figures of international Jazz.


The last edition of the festival was the 35th and during these years more than 5.500 musitians have played in Terrassa and there have been over 1.100 concerts.


Moreover, this festival organizes dances, gastronomic events, lectures, exhibitions, videos, workshops and a film series, always with jazz as the central element.

The most massive activity of the festival is the Jazz Picinic that takes place in the Vallparadís Park  one Sunday. This event offers outdoor concerts and stands where you can buy food, drinks and t-shirts of the festival.


Primavera Sound (May-June)


It takes place in Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, for 4 days. The days of Primavera sound 2017 are 31 May- 4 June and it’s a festival that has been celebrated in Barcelona since 2001.


This festival is organized to have a good experience of live music to all different generations. There you can listen to a lot of different kinds of music, but it’s strongly influenced by rock, pop and the most underground tendences of dance music.


Moreover, during the same days is celebrated in Barcelona the Primavera Pro, an international meeting of professionals of music industry that has become an international reference for independent music.


Festival Grec (June and July)


Festival Grec is the most important festival of music, dance, theatre and circus that takes place in Barcelona.


This festival is celebrated during the months of June and July every year.


Shows are in different theatres and concert halls. The act of presentation of the festival is celebrated in the Teatre Grec de Monjuïc, an outdoor theatre that was built for the Universal Exposition of 1929.


The last edition of Festival Grec was the 40th edition of this festival.


Sónar (June)


Sónar Festival was created in 1994 and it is celebrated in Barcelona every June for 3 intensive days.


Its first class reputation makes this festival a reference for other international ones. This is thanks to the combination of its playful nature and experimentation with newest trends in dance and electronic music.


Sóner festival is able to combine established artists with emerging talent, in all areas of musical and audiovisual production. This facilitates and improve the relationships between creativity, technology, innovation and business.


Sóner Barcelona’s activities are divided in two locations: Sónar by Day, which is located in Fira Monjuïc, and Sónar by Night, located in Fira Gran Via de l’Hospitalet.


Canet Rock (first Saturday of July)


Canet Rock festival was created in 1975 during the last year of Franco’s dictatorship. It was a movement against the government and the festival promised 12 hours of music and crazy atmosphere. In this edition played a lot of Catalan songwriters and singers and they sang controversial songs like L’estaca  and La gallineta which were prohibited by the government. After this edition this festival was never celebrated until 2014.


The festival is held in a waste ground in Canet de Mar. Canet Rock is a meeting point for around 25.000 people from all Catalonia who love Catalan rock. This festival goes on from 7pm until the sun rises.


Currently it continuos being a rebellion act against the government, specially against the Spanish government.

Catalan TV Marathon

LA MARATÓ DE TV3 ( Susana Roca)

La Marató de TV3 is a TV progam created in 1996 by the Catalan Audiovisual Media Corporation with a purpose: to promote and foster biomedical research, as well as raise social awareness about the diseases .

The main aim of the La Marató de TV3 is to raise funds from donations basically from the generous  citizens in Catalonia.

Last edition the programm is celebrating his  25 years anniversary with figures for participation and fund-raising that confirm it as the great party for solidarity, social awareness-raising and boosting biomedical research in Catalonia.

Last year (2016) the topic was "Strokes and traumatic spinal cord and brain injury". 

After 21 hours of live  broadcasting in the radio ant TV, the scoreboard for this edition is more than  8.400.00 euros.

Once again, La Marató 2016 enjoyed massive and enthusiastic support from members of the public, who this year organised a total of 3,427 activities in more than 700 places in Catalonia and some outside it. During the weeks before the programme, Catalonia turned into an immense party of support for La Marató, involving a million people around a wide range of activities. With connections all through the day, the people watching La Marató could enjoy a live experience of the charitable and festive atmosphere of the events around Catalonia.

Beaches and Coves

BEACHES AND COVES 

By Paula Martínez
In the sea of Catalonia there are differents coasts, the Costa Brava, the Costa Maresme, the Costa Barcelona and the Costa Daurada.

I’m going to tell you about the Costa Brava, that picture show the cities with beach of this area:

                                                              Beaches of Costa Brava.

The Costa Brava is one of the most famous corners of Catalonia and also of the country and where we can still find beautiful coves to get lost and enjoy its crystal water. In this area there are beautiful beaches, coves surrounded by nature, crystal-clear water, quite, charming fishing villages,etc.


This area hasmany kinds of beaches from little isolated coves to wide broad sand bays that stretch for kilometres (eg Pals or Palamos). With a coastline of 158 kilometres (100 miles).  A curiosity of this area is that around the corner of each big beach are usually a smaller cove or cala, normally with better sand or clearer water.


Each beach is unique. If you know where to look you can find the ideal beach for you. You can find fine sand, rock pools, bays for snorkelling, sailing, canoeing, completely natural, or surrounded by bars and restaurants.

Here there are many beaches and you can choose the best for you, either depending on what you prefer or what you need.You can go in a cove if you want be calm with your partner, for example, or to a beach if you want to be with your friends or family and play in the water.

Here I’m going to talk a little about some beaches in the Costa Brava:

Lloret de Mar is very famous for his beach and also for the parties and the night life. The coastline has 700m of largest. Moreover, isa very good place to do watersports like parasailing, flyfish or water ski, and also have a water park, the Waterworld.

Lloret de Mar by Joan Garcia Ferre

Tamariu is another beach situated in the Costa Brava. Families love it, because of its crystal-clear waters. It has a diving club, a sailing club, kayaks for rent and more. The beach is about 180 metres long and 40 metres wide and it is surrounded by trees. 

You can get your feet wet or sandy or just sit back and enjoy the sea breeze at one of the beachside restaurants. 

Tamariu by Alberto Romero

Sant Feliu de Guixols has many coves and beaches of outstanding features, among which are the Bay of Sant Feliu and Sant Pol beach, with its bathing huts features.

They are beaches to live them: where you will enjoy bathing and sun, we invite you to practice some of the many water activities to discover the seabed or enjoy the charm of small coves, scuba diving, kayaking, sailing, windsurfing, paddle surfing, snorkel... with a wide range of activities for all ages; as I also propose to make a boat trip to spend a few hours at sea, and know their coast from offshore.

Sant Feliu de Guíxols

Business and Industry

Proud of its own identity and language, Catalonia is one of Spain's richest and most highly industrialised regions, and also one of the most independent-minded.

In the business area Catalonia has powerful companies as Tous, Casa Terradelles, Puig, etc. But the biggest company in Catalonia is the “CaixaBank”

Catalonia is the first region in mainland Europe attracting foreign investment in business R & D since 2010.

Although we have big companies, the Catalan economy is based mainly for the small and middle business.

By Pere Gasol 

Gaudí, the art nouveau architect.

By Núria Terés

Antoni Gaudí i Cornet was a Catalan architect who has become internationally recognised as one of the top exponents of the modernism. He was born on the 25th of June 1852 in Reus, but some biographers claim that he was born in Riudorms, a small village near Reus where his family used to spend summer holidays. He was raised by a family of coppersmiths and that fact allowed Gaudí to develop a special skill for working with space and volume. As a result of spending much time in Riudorms, the architect found the essence and the meaning of this art by following patterns that exist in nature and by respecting its laws.

In 1870, he moved to Barcelona to pursue his academic career in architecture, working at various jobs at once in order to pay on his own his studies. At the Paris World’s Fair of 1878, Gaudí displayed a showcase he had produced that lead him to work on the Güell Estate and Güell Palace, among others. That year, he obtained his degree at the School of Architecture too.

During his mature period, followed one after another. The Bellesguard Tower, Park Güell, the restoration of Mallorca cathedral, Casa Batlló and La Pedrera are examples of some of his impressive contributions to architecture, however in 1883, Gaudí was charged with the construction of a Barcelona cathedral called Basilica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia (Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family), which would become in his most outstanding project.

Gaudí died on the 10th of June 1926, in Barcelona, after being knocked down by a tramway while making his usual way. In that moment, he hadn’t finished working on la Sagrada Familia but he left instructions on how he had imagined the building. Nowadays, the cathedral is still under construction and the extraordinary structure has a final completion target date of 2026, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the architect’s passing.

Two of the architect's best-knwon masterpieces are the "Casa Batlló" and the "Casa Milà" also known as "La Pedrera". Watch the videos to admire the beauty of this magnificent architecture.

Catalan cuisine

 Catalan cusine
by Maria José

Catalan pa amb tomàquet (bread with tomatoes). Image by Jo Cooke / Lonely Planet

Catalonia’s culinary  heritage  comes from Greek and Roman traditions. These two cultures are at the origin of the three key ingredient  in the Mediterranean  diet: olive oil, wheat and wine.

But Catalan cusine also owes to the Moors , who introduced new farming methods, as well as new products, such as rice, sugar and aubergines.

The evolution of Catalan cuisine  was also marked by the discovery of America and the introduction of such products like the tomato, which has been used in almost every dish ever since. Above all, tomatoes are the key ingredient in “sofregit”, a sauce containing a mixture of peppers, garlic, onions and tomatoes slowly simmered over a low flame, and which forms the basis of countless Catalan dishes.  Catalan cuisine has constantly absorbed influences that have helped to shape the country’s rich and diverse culinary traditions, in the region's culinary culture: sea and mountain;

The four culinary seasons

Autumn : Several mushroom types.

Winter : “Calçotada” (calçots are long, sweet onions that are grilled over red-hot embers);” xatonades” (xató is the traditional local salad, made from escarole, tuna and cod salad), rice dishes and casseroles, with white botifarra sausage and omelettes; as well as countless cod dishes.

Spring: strawberries  and cherries, These include the Snail Festival in Lleida and the fish casserole (suquet) season in Empordà county.

Summer : llonganissa dry-cured sausage, seafood platters (mariscada) at one of Catalonia’s fishing ports.

Tapas:

An original way of dining out, serve aperitifs and “vermouth”, an aromatic wine before lunch.

Catalan pa amb tomàquet (bread with tomatoes).:is the most simple dish  it serves  with ham , dried pork sausage or cheese..

The Catalan version of the pizza is the coca:

There are many variations, both savoury and sweet. The savoury option can come with tomato, onion, pepper and sometimes sardines. The sweet version, generally almond-based.

Traditional desserts:

Crema Catalana,  “ mel i mató” honey and fresh cream cheese, and “músic” – dried fruits and nuts served with a glass of sweet muscatel wine.

To know more bout it: