Barcelona Tourism Update for Insiders

August 31, 2008
Issue #02

Table of Content

NEWS & WHAT´S ON?

1. Catalonia Festivities

2. Picasso Museum - New interpretation of "Las Meninas"

3. Barcelona and the Olympics

4. Spain offers World Best Hotels and Hotel Services

5. Barcelona Wine Tour

6. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Woody Allen Film)

7. Barcelona in Monopoly

HOT DEALS!

1. Barcelona Package with 30% discount!

2. Direct Flights to Barcelona

3. Good Deals on Barcelona Cruises

1. Catalonia Festivities
If you are planning to visit Barcelona in September, you will be able to join in the festivities for one of the biggest activities in the region's cultural diary.
On September 11, the National Day of Catalonia, you will have the opportunity to see celebrations which are held in several places in Barcelona City. The day commemorates a victory of the Bourbon troops during the 1714 war of Spanish succession.
You will enjoy of free music concerts, as well as demonstrations of regional pride and parades.

Another important festivity is La Merce.
Barcelona has two patron saints: one is Santa Eulalia, known as the children´ saint, and the other is Our Lady of Mercy, known as "La Merce" in the local language.
This festivity is celebrated in September 24, with activities taking place downtown and other important places in Barcelona.

More activities in Barcelona

2. Picasso Museum - New interpretation of "Las Meninas"
Picasso was one of the artists inspired by Velázquez. The famous paint "Las Meninas", which is exhibited at the Picasso Museum, demonstrates the importance that the artist had on the European artists.

The exhibition is not just of Picasso, who produced a series of paintings dedicated to Las Meninas, but includes later artists, as well as new formats such as videoart.

Walk in the footsteps of Picasso

3. Barcelona and the Olympics
"The 1992 Games are widely credited not just with transforming the landscape of Barcelona itself, but also with re branding a city that has become one of Europe's most popular tourist destinations".

Read more about this nice article in The Independent

A good example of one of the Olympic buildings in Barcelona, among many others, is the Olympic Stadium in the beautiful hill of Montjuic.

Include Montjuic in your Tour

4. Spain offers World Best Hotels and Hotel Services
According to a study of Hotel Club comparing the quality of hotels in the world, Spain gained the 5th position as one of the countries that has the best hotels in the world.
In this study, Ireland was the country with the best unctuation, followed by Australia, United Kingdom and the United States.
Spain gained a better position than other European countries like France and Italy.

This could be one of the reasons that the tourism in Spain has increased 2,6% since last year.

Choose your Hotel according to your preferences

5. Barcelona Wine Tour
At few Kilometers from Barcelona you can reach El Penedes, one of Europe’s oldest wine areas. This region offers to the visitors a fantastic atmosphere and environment to have a great time in the culture of wine and cava.

Enjoy the beautiful landscapes, the Romanesque and Modernist buildings, the family-run wineries and the extensive vineyards.

The main routes are Vilafranca del Penedes and Sant Sadurni d’Anoia, where there are several wineries, producing high quality wine and cava.

Book your Wine and Cava Tour here

6. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Woody Allen Film)
The movie of the legendary director Woody Allen shows diverse places of interest of Barcelona. You will appreciate a good number of important tourist sights in the film, which could be a good advance for your travel.

Woody Allen makes a fantastic picture of the stunning Barcelona, by showing Las Ramblas, Tibidabo, Sagrada Familia, Park Güell and other famous sites.

More about Barcelona Sightseeing and City Tours

7. Barcelona in Monopoly
The famous game Monopoly, in the new version, now has Barcelona as the only Spanish city. Barcelona is one of 22 world cities that will appear on the new board.
The Catalan capital was in 19th place, above cities like Madrid, Buenos Aires and Mexico City that made the 70 finalists. The results were based in 5,6 millions of votes.

The traditional bank notes will disappear, while the houses, hotels and currencies will reflect the architectural style and symbols of the chosen cities

More about Barcelona City

1. Barcelona Package with 30% discount!
Prepare your luggage. Below, you will find very attractive offers on packages flight-hotel for Barcelona. It is worth to check it out, because with this promotion, you can book a package and save as much as 30 percent.

The offer is valid from September to November, but the lowest rates tend to fall at the end of the season.

Package including Cheap Airfare

2. Direct Flights to Barcelona
Whether you are coming to Barcelona from America or from Europe, you should choose a direct flight to Barcelona.

There are some low fare companies offering cheap flights that might be a bad surprise for you.
You will probably land not at Barcelona Airport, but at another airport which is far away from the city. You will waste time and probably more money too.

Book a Direct Flight to Barcelona

3. Good Deals on Barcelona Cruises
The port of Barcelona is an important gateway on the Mediterranean region. It is the arrival and departing point for many Mediterranean cruise itineraries.

There are several docks and operating terminals. From there, you have a lot of facilities to get anywhere and you can reach the city center in a few minutes.

Choose and Book your Cruise here.

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