scubish.com: Scuba diving Barcelona - Spain

Understand

When to visit

Festes de la Mercè Around the 24th of September, the main celebrations in the city. Live music during all the day and night, theatre, life in the streets, castellers, and most of it for free!

Festes de Gràcia - around the 15th of August, the celebrations from the Gràcia quarter. Many streets are decorated by the neighbours, live music, food in the street, party all night long.

Festes de Sants - similar to Gracia's event, but smaller and a bit later in August. If you can't go to the Gracia's, try these!

Sant Jordi 23rd of April. Is like Saint Valentine's in many places. People give roses and books around the streets. Is one of the most popular and interesting celebrations in Catalonia.

Corpus. Late in May (Corpus Christi day). An egg is put over the fountains (most of them in the churches, and decorated with flowers), and "magically dances" over the water. Most of the churches are in the city centre: Cathedral's cloister, Santa Anna, Casa de l'Ardiaca, Museu Frederic Marés, and over 10 more fountains.

Fira de Santa Llúcia From December 2nd/3rd to December 23rd, to commemorate Sta Llúcia (December 13th). In front of the Cathedral, is where the Christmas objects are sold. Some places sell Christmas trees, but most of them sell elements for making the pessebres, the representations of the birth of Jesus that people uses to put at home. These include small sculptures, wooden pieces and moss used to simulate grass.

Revetlla de Sant Joan: for weeks on end, listen to kids shoot off caps and fire crackers. Finish the week with San Juan, head down to the beach for various music stations and all night festivities.

Language

Barcelona's official languages are Catalan and Spanish. Most signs are indicated in Catalan, although Spanish and English are also widely used. Most inhabitants speak both Catalan and Spanish, although many also speak English and/or French. As in most European countries any attempt by visitors to use the native language, in this case Catalan, is always appreciated. While Catalan is very prevalent in the city, the majority of Catalans instinctively address foreigners in Spanish.

To avoid giving offence, never refer to Catalan as a dialect, which is an offshoot of another language. Catalan is a language in the same way that French, Portuguese, Italian etc are. Remember that the sense of Catalan national identity is very strong, and the language is intricately linked with this. Showing an interest in this subject will gain you many friends.

Eat

Barcelona's cuisine is hit-or-miss, as with all highly touristic cities, but good food does exist at reasonable prices.

The large cafes that line the Passeig de Gracia and the Rambla de Catalunya, just north of the Plaça de Catalunya, offer a variety of acceptable tapas, although a bit expensive. A good idea is to avoid restaurants with people outside encouraging you to come in - if they were good enough they probably wouldn't need to do that.

Though smoking is technically banned in public spaces in Barcelona, actual...