New changes for Barcelona

More green space and water monuments

Welcome, Bienvenidos and Benvinguts to all new and regular subscribers of The 'B' Word.

I hope you all had a lovely Sant Jordi day on Wednesday April 23, celebrating with lots of books and roses.

I was going to write this newsletter about where you can find all the dragons in Barcelona, but you all know where they are. And if you don’t, keep your eyes peeled next time you’re in the city, as Barcelona is home to the greatest number of dragons in the world.

On Wednesday, I took advantage of the city’s open days and went to visit two buildings which are mostly closed to the general public. The first was the L'Institut d'Estudis Catalans and the second was the Biblioteca Nacional de Catalunya, both housed in parts of the Antic Hospital de la Santa Creu in Raval.

The Institut d'Estudis Catalans is a private academic, scientific and cultural institution dedicated to research into Catalan language and culture and has a beautiful courtyard, outdoor rooftop garden exquisite chapel, covered in colourful tiles and frescoes.

The Biblioteca Nacional de Catalunya, meanwhile is home to the largest collection of books by Miguel de Cervantes, as well as the first copy of Don Quixote to be translated into Catalan. I also got to stand in the very room, where I’m told that the architect Antoni Gaudí took his last breath.

For those who don’t know the story, Gaudí was hit by a tram on June 7 1926 on his way to Sant Felip Neri church. Because he dressed in such old plain clothes, onlookers assumed he was homeless and so took him to the hospital for the poor - the Santa Creu. Gaudí was so badly injured, he spent a total of three days in the hospital before anyone recognised him. When he briefly regained consciousness, doctors asked him if he wanted to be moved to the better private city hospital, but he refused saying that he should be treated the same as the general population. Of course, we know that he finally succumbed to his injuries and died shortly after on June 10 in the tiled hospital ward that is now part of the National Library.

Image: Dan Convey

But enough about books, dragons and sad stories, this newsletter is actually about some exciting pieces of news to come out of Barcelona this week.

Barcelona to turn its fountains back on

After one of the worst droughts in the city in 200 years, the alert has finally been lifted, thanks to a pretty wet spring, and Barcelona’s ornamental fountains are to be switched back on. It’s been around two-and-a-half years since the city’s 330 fountains were turned off, from small neigbourhood spouts to the famous cascades in Parc de la Ciutadella and the Font Màgica de Montjuïc. There simply hasn’t been enough water to justify having them on. (If you weren’t aware of what’s been going on, you can read back to one of my previous newsletters on the drought.)

The City Council aims to start the fountains up one by one, in order to help conserve water. The first to be back up and running will be the grand waterfall in Ciutadella Park, followed by those on Plaça Catalunya, Passeig de Gràcia, Gran Via, and the one in the Jardinets de Gràcia.

Next, it will be the 74 smallest fountains dotted across the city by the end of June, followed by the final 73 medium-sized by the autumn. The very last to spray water once again will be the Font Màgica de Montjuïc, which has undergone a massive renovation including the installation of energy-saving LED technology. The hope is that it will be ready in time for La Mercè festival at the end of September.

Inaugration of Parc de les Glòries

For as long as I’ve lived here, I remember Glòries being one giant building site. The works have taken so long that it seemed like they were never going to end, but it’s finally ready - or at least most of it is.

The new space consists of 4.3 hectares with more than 9,000 square meteres of greenery, a large promenade, and a 9-hectare park with a further 30,000 square metres of green space and more than 1,000 trees. The new Glòries park also now has a huge kids’ play area, a water area that will be open during the summer months, a new 1,200-square-metre recreation area for dogs and new biodiversity hubs.

New social housing is also being built in the area, to help try and solve the current housing crisis here, although these are not yet ready.

This is all part of the city’s Nature Plan, which aims to provide an extra 160 hectares of greenery for the city by 2030.

If you want to go down and take a look, the city will be holding an inauguration party tomorrow April 26, complete with hot chocolate, live music, magic and puppet shows for the kids, and a large space filled with wooden games to play.

Fat Veggies

I had been wanting to try Fat Veggies for a long time, and last weekend I finally got the chance. I was pleasantly surprised its interior of modern art, polished concrete and handmade rustic tableware. Although the menu is not extensive, everything sounded so good that it was hard to decide what to choose, so we took recommendations from our waiter who told us that his two absolute favourites were the chargrilled cabbage with goat’s cheese and a thick umami paste, and the almond green curry with lentils and seasonal veggies. The cabbage was surprisingly delicious with the cheese sauce and something I never would have picked by myself, but the standout plate was the curry - which tasted more like a kind of savoury marzipan soup - something I’d never even contemplated before. Their homemade kombuchas were also noteworthy - I especially enjoyed their mint and elderflower flavour.

Image: Dan Convey

Feria de Abril (April 25 - May 4)
If you can’t make it to Sevilla for the April Fair, don’t worry as you can always celebrate it at Barcelona’s Parc del Fòrum. Of course, it doesn’t have the same air and tradition, but it will give you some insight. Just like the real thing, there will be casetas (marquees) filled with music, food, dancing and classic Andalusian cuisine. So don your traje de flamenco (flamenco dress) and check it out. This year the event is ticketed.

Les Festes de Maig, Badalona (April 25 - May 25)
Head across the river to experience Badalona’s answer to Barcelona’s La Mercè festival. Although the Festes de Maig go on for a whole month, the main highlights are towards the middle and end of May. Think traditional Catalan folk dances, concerts, workshops for kids, and of course classic gegants (giants) and correfocs (fire runs). The highlight will be on May 10, when the town burns a huge effigy of a devil at 10pm.

Chris Ware, Drawing is Thinking (until November 9)
This new exhibition on at the CCCB looks at the life’s works of one of the most influential artists in modern comic books. It takes you on a journey of his career from the Rusty Brown comics to his covers of The New Yorker. Even if you’re not familiar with Chris Ware, it’s a fascinating and well-presented exhibition for art lovers of all kinds and it’s likely you’ll recognise some of his work, even if you don’t know his name.

Fer-ne cinc cèntims - This saying literally translates as ‘make it five cents’ but you use it when you don’t have much time. For example, if someone is telling you something, you can say Fer-ne cinc cèntims to tell them to get to the point and keep it short.

Thanks for reading The 'B' Word! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.