Barcelona Tourism Update for Insiders

December 31, 2008
Issue #06

Table of Content

NEWS & WHAT´S ON?

1. FC Barcelona: 90% Chance of Winning MLS Franchise

2. Stop building Sagrada Familia?

3. Barcelona and Glasgow agree on co-operation

4. Christmas fairs

HOT DEALS!

1. Last-minute cruises!

2. Shopping in Barcelona

3. Sundays: Free admission on Municipal Museums!

1. FC Barcelona: 90% Chance of Winning MLS Franchise

FC Barcelona, soccer’s third-richest team by sales, has a 90 percent chance of co-owning a Major League Soccer franchise in Miami, Chief Executive Officer Joan Oliver said. Seeking to boost its sales in the U.S., Barcelona would become the first European soccer club to own an MLS franchise. Barcelona plans to share ownership with Miami-based Bolivian Marcelo Claure, chief executive officer of Brightstar Corp., a telephone maker. He and other sponsors would cover the start-up costs of about $40 million, according to the Spanish club.

More details here

2. Halt building Sagrada Familia?

There are calls for a halt on building Antoni Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona because of soaring costs and a “profane pursuit of tourism.”

A group of Spanish architects and art world types has savagely denounced the continuing work to complete Gaudí's religious masterpiece the Sagrada Familia. Should work on this vast church have been carried on, after his death in 1926 left it unfinished? The grumpy intellectuals say no. Gaudí, they complain, is being banalised in the name of tourism.

Read full article here

3. Barcelona and Glasgow agree on co-operation

There will be a cultural exchange, focusing on the works of Art Nouveau architects Antoni Gaudi and Charles Rennie Mackintosh, with events staged in both Barcelona and Glasgow.

Mr Salmond announced that Glasgow School of Art was to commission a photographic exhibition on Gaudi and his contemporaries, which will go on show in Glasgow.

Read full article here

4. Christmas fairs

Christmas trees, decorations, candles, moss and lots of other items. You can breathe Christmas in every corner of Barcelona at the Christmas fairs and markets.

There are all kinds, from the traditional Fira de Santa Llúcia, in front of the Cathedral until 22 December, to the Fira de Reis de la Gran Via, from 19 December.

Each neighbourhood has its own fair!

In every part of Barcelona, you will find stalls with things for Christmas. Don't forget the Fira de la Sagrada Família, which this year offers wine tasting and other activities...

1. Last-minute cruises!

Mediterranean sailing may be just what the captain ordered. Look for the deals on January, starting from the Barcelona Port with an interesting itinerary which follows up with a stop in the Moroccan city of Agadir, then visiting Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, followed by a stop at Funchal in the Madeiras Islands (located just off the coast of Portugal). The final port of call before returning to Barcelona is Malaga, Spain, home to sights like a Picasso museum and Roman Theater.

Book your Cruise here

2. Shopping in Barcelona

The new Barcelona City Council campaign is to promote shopping in the city over the Christmas and New Year period, but the aim is for it to continue in the spring season. Barcelona is the Spanish city where there is the highest level of credit card payments, with French tourists representing 17% of the total, British 12.10% and Italians 10.40%.

Go shopping!

3. Sundays: Free admission on Municipal Museums!

Barcelona City Council is looking at opening its museums all day on Sundays with free admission, according to Culture Councillor Jordi Martí, speaking at the Tribuna Ateneu forum on Heritage, Museums and Collections in Contemporary Barcelona.

Initially the new measure will operate for the first quarter of 2009. Mr Marti also announced that the culture budget for next year will be 11% up on this year's.

Read full article here

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