Barcelona apartments, Barcelona Hotels, Barcelona Accommodation

This night Barcelona´s streets will be filled with life and people. Come and celebrate Sant Joan (St. John´s Day) in the streets and on the beaches of Barcelona. Celebrations take place across the city and will be crowned by bonfires, fascinating fireworks and plenty of concerts and dances. In the night before Sant Joan every Barcelona holiday maker should leave their Barcelona hotel or Barcelona apartment to join the biggest fiesta of Spain´s cultural highlights during the year in the heart of Catalunya. Celebrations last from sunset on 23rd of June to sunrise on 24th of June which will be a bank holiday in Spain. Every district of Barcelona will have its own little fiestas with bonfires and plenty of activities. Traditionally, Sant Joan is most of all celebrated on the beaches. Staying at Barcelona hotels in Barceloneta and Barcelona hotels in Borne you will be close to vibrant party nightlife on the beaches of Barcelona combined with long-lasting traditions to celebrate the summer. Don´t miss to swim in the Mediterranean on midnight to forget all the stress and problems of the last months and start a new episode of life by refreshing yourself in the sea. You should also try the traditional dish of Sant Joan. In various shops and bakeries you can by sweet cocas, a special Sant Joan cake. If you want to know more about the Sant Joan celebrations in Barcelona, please visit the official Sant Joan web page of the city. Have a good time!

Posted by Anja H at 10:59 AM | Permalink

In Barcelona Corpus Christi is celebrated with parades of giants and big-headed carnival figures known as 'Cabezudos' that converge around the cathedral area in the centre of the city. Processions of Corpus Christi can be seen in many cities of Spain. One of the most known proccesions include those of Granada, Barcelona, Toledo, Cádiz, Valencia and Sevilla. If you are staying at a Barcelona hotel on the 22nd of May you should jaunt to the Cathedral of Barcelona. At the square around the cathedral the celebration of the L'ou com Balla, or "dancing egg" festival, will take place. The L'ou com Balla is a tradition dating back to the 16th century. But what is it about? At many fountains in the city, which are decorated with fragrant flowers, an emptied eggshell is perched above a stream of water. As the eggshell climbs up the water jet, it appears to dance on the top of it. During the summer there will be many more festivals held in Barcelona. Have a look at the Calendar of Barcelona holidays and festivals provided by BarcelonaPoint.com so that you don't miss one of the cultural highlights in the Catalunya sunshine capital.

Posted by Anja H at 1:42 PM | Permalink

Sardana - a two-step and certainly much quicker to grasp than Flamenco, has its origins in Empordà, Catalunya. It is not a typical Mediterranean folks dance it might be comparable to the Greek Siataki, as it is also a dance danced in a circle. The participants hold their hands above their heads and a band of about a dozen people starts to play the wooden flute and step by step other instruments join in. You may also join the people dancing Sardana. If you have a downtown Barcelona accommodation, you may join them on a sunday at noon in front of the cathedral, or saturday late afternoon, at 7pm and wednesday at 6:30 pm. also in front of the cathedral. Of course, you are not obliged to join in, you may also watch them from the street or your Barcelona holiday apartment close to the cathedral. Let's dance!

Posted by Verena at 10:29 AM | Permalink

They might involve running through fireworks, gobbling grapes or raffling pigs, but parties are the life and soul of barcelona, and an enthusiastic crowd always materialises to make things go with a bang. Even though there are 15 public holidays a year, the notoriously hard working barcelonins somehow find the energy to celebrate even the smallest events before an early start at the office the next day. Most of those events take place in the center of Barcelona. The annual round of 30 or so neighbourhood festes share many traditional Barcelona events; among them are castellers (human castles) and papier mâché giants, both spectacular for rather different reasons, and the correfoc is a nocturnal frenzy of pyromania, when groups of devils dance through the streets, floutiing almost every safety rule in the book. The orderly antidote to this pandemonium is the sardana, Cataloni's folk dance. Watching the dancers executing their fussy little hops and steps in a large circle, it's hard to believe that sardanes were once banned as a vestige of pagan witchcraft.The sardana is much harder than it looks, and the joy lies in taking part rather than watching.
If you feel like taking part in one of the events and festivals taking place in Barcelona during the year just book a Barcelona apartment or Barcelona Hotel and enjoy the special atmosphere.

Posted by Hélène at 3:56 PM | Permalink

The night between the 23rd and the 24th of June, Catalan people celebrate the Sant Joan. This night is the shortest of the year and it is the summer solstice. Then the 24th is the longest day of the year. Bonfires and fireworks take place in the whole city. Sant Joan holds 3 symbols. The first is fire which is a sign of purifying element. At Sant Joan eve, people throw old furniture on to fire. The second symbol is water, which is said to have curative virtues, that's why people bath in the sea during the night. Finally the third symbol is herbs like thyme, verbena or rosemary which are said to multiply their curative properties during this night.
At this occasion people eat the ?coca? which is a kind of bread, sweet or savoury, with pinenuts on the top and filled with custard.
If you want to enjoy this unique experience just rent a Barcelona apartment and take part in this event.

Posted by Audrey at 3:04 PM | Permalink

Barcelona has a lot of festivities all year long.
On the 6th of January is the Kings Day (El Dia Dels Reis). There are processions in the streets with walk-on actors dressed like the Three Wise Men who give candies to the children.
At the end of February is the Carnival of Shrove Tuesday as well as the celebration of Santa Eulalia, the patron saint of Barcelona.
In March the Holy Week is an important religious event, with many processions in every city.
The 23rd of April, boys offer a rose to girls and girls offer a book to boys for the Sant Jordi, a patron saint of Catalonia. The book stands for the death anniversary of Cervantes, a famous Catalan writer but also of Shakespeare. The rose comes from the legend of Sant Jordi who killed a dragon. The story says that a rosewood bloomed at the place where the dragon was killed.
The 20th of May comes Pasqua Granada, the second Easter.
For the Saint-John, on the 24th of June, people meet on the street and concerts, dances and pyrotechnics are organized everywhere in the streets. On this occasion, people in Spain eat the 'coca' a special sweet bread.
On the 15th of August, the Catalans celebrate the Assumption.
The 11th of September is the national Day of Catalonia. At this day, in 1714, Catalonia was defeated by the Spanish armies of Philippe V of Bourbon. Catalonia lost its national liberties, its own politics and the Catalan language and culture were prohibited.
Mercè is also a patron saint of Barcelona and is celebrated on the 24th of September, because she showed much bravery in pushing back alone a grasshoppers invasion in 1637.
Finally in December, the week before Christmas is the occasion of the Carnival of Santa Llucia. You can find many stands with the figurines of the crib, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the Three Wise Men...
It's nice to come to Barcelona for one of this events and get to know the traditions of Catalonia. It's easy to find the suitable Barcelona accommodation.

Posted by Audrey at 12:06 PM | Permalink

Spain is known for its gastronomy and nobody will be disappointed of the Catalan food! Moreover, Barcelona is said to be the capital of the Catalan gastronomy. The Catalan cuisine uses basic ingredients that we all know, but its particularity is to mix them in an unusual but delicious way. Thence come tasty flavours that delight your plate.
One of my favourite type of meal are the tapas. Of course we all know tapas, but what I enjoy the most are the 'pa amb tomàquet' : bread rubbed with tomatoe and garlic and spayed with olive oil. Delicious! Tapas can be cold or warm and enables you to taste plenty of different things because of the small portions.
What else? The paella of course! With a lot of seafood. Actually I prefer the Fideua, exactly the same than the paella with prawns, scampis, chicken, pepper, tomatoes but vermicellis substitute rice.
Another speciality I discovered during the spring is the Calçotada; the calçots are kind of new onions burnt in vine shoots; you have to 'decaçote' then, it means to put off the first skin and then to eat them with this special sauce : romanesco. It tastes really good!
As desserts, we have to name the crema catalana, perfumed with cinnamon or the pastisset, a richness cake with anise.
To help you going on with all this tasty meals, Catalonia proposes severals drinks. La Orxata (or Orgeat) comes from la Chufa, a sort of papyrus growing in the marshland of the Guadalquivir and from which the essence is taken. The region also offers good wine from the Penedès, an area which cultivates numerous grape varieties. Finally, the Cava is the most known speciality of Catalonia; it's the Catalan Champagne, a really tasty sparkling wine.
If you like cooking, I think the funniest is to try making these recipes by yourself, at home. If you come on holidays, I know that you can rent Barcelona apartments which have nice kitchens with all the appliances. The apartment in Barcelona, located in the Eixample Dreta is a relly nice one.

Posted by Audrey at 4:51 PM | Permalink