The CosmoCaixa science museum in Barcelona is this year staging two excellent temporary exhibitions: “Darwin Observer, Darwin Naturalist. The Route of the Beagle (1831-1836)” on until November 2010 and featuring the round-the-world voyage made by Darwin; secondly, “Abracadabra Illusionism and Science” on until February 2011, which -as the name suggests- takes a look at the world of illusions and how they are created.
 www.lacaixa.es/obrasocial

Barcelona offers a huge variety of exhibitions to see this year. Amongst them we find La Pedrera’s (Caixa Catalunya - www.fundaciocaixacatalunya.org) “Fortuny. The Venetian Magician” –on until June 27th-, which traces the artistic career of one of the most innovative figures of the early 20th century. Also, “Cerdà and Barcelona. The First Metropolis 1863-1897) at the Museu d’Història de Barcelona’s Saló del Tinell, highlighting architect Ildefons Cerdà’s huge influence on the modernisation of the city of Barcelona in the second half of the 19th century –on until September 2010. Another not to miss is CaixaForum’s “Federico Fellini. The Circus of Illusions” –on until June 2010- exploring the great film director’s obsessions and inspirations, while “A Floating World. Photographs by Jacques Henri Lartigue (1894-1986)” shows the French photographer’s work –on until October 10th. Finally, the Picasso Museum is showing “Rusiñol versus Picasso” from May 28th to September 2010 and “Picasso Degas” –from October 15th to Januray 16, 2011-, exploring the relationship between Catalan Rusiñol and Frenchman Degas’s art works and Picasso’s.

www.fundaciocaixacatalunya.org
www.museuhistoria.bcn.cat
www.lacaixa.es/obrasocial
www.museupicasso.bcn.cat

Barcelona opens its first Roman “domus” to the public
The Museu d’Història de Barcelona (MUHBA) unveiled its latest cultural offering last April: the remains of a large Roman house or “domus” in carrer de la Fruita, 2, the first of its type open in Barcelona. Open Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (other days and groups require reservations) and costing 1 euro to enter, the “domus” forms part of a wider Roman tour that takes visitors back to Barcino, the Roman city founded on what is now Barcelona, in the 4th century. On show are the foundations of the building’s 110m2 gardens with the remains of decorative ornamental elements –like ponds with mosaics- the foundations of the surrounding courtyard bedroom spaces and an area for services and stores. And on the same site, archaeologists have found the remains of the stores of a Jewish merchant’s large mediaeval house dating back to the time of Barcelona’s Call district, or Jewish quarter. Lights are used effectively to highlight those parts of the remains belonging to different periods, allowing the visitor to time travel centuries during the same visit.

Barcelona will host Mediterranean’s top Gay Pride parade this June
Make a date for the second edition of PrideBarcelona 2010, one of the Mediterranean’s most important Gay Pride parades. The main event with decorated floats will take place on June 27th at 6 p.m. starting out from Plaça Universitat and ending in Avinguda Maria Cristina, where the official Village will be set up, with social, commercial and leisure zones. The Village will open Saturday 26th in the morning and close at the end of the parade party. Some 100,000 people are expected to participate in PrideBarcelona 2010 activities.

Weeklong Circuit Festival, one of Europe’s biggest LGBT parties
From July 31st to August 8th Barcelona and its surrounds will play host to one of Europe’s biggest gay and lesbian festivals, the Circuit Festival 2010 with 15 organised parties featuring top DJs and other daytime activities. For more details and prices consult the official website.

www.circuitfestival.net

Barcelona Harley Days 2010 this June 18th-20th
Barcelona Harley Days will return this June 18th for three days of concerts, shows, guided tours and lots of Harley choppers. The last event held in Barcelona in 2008 brought 300,000 visitors and exhibitors to town and 10,000 bikes from across Europe, say organisers. The main event is a flag parade through the main streets of Barcelona, with thousands of riders participating. Barcelona Harley Days includes an exhibition space in avinguda Maria Cristina, merchandising, concerts (Plaça de l’Univers), and hospitality tents in the Harley Village located in the Fira de Barcelona.

Full throttle fun for Extreme Weekend drivers at F1 racetrack

Speed is the name of the game for Extreme Weekend takers. Barcelona’s Formula 1 racetrack, the Circuit de Catalunya, now offers Saturday and Sunday racing for enthusiasts in Karts, Buggies (vehicles for off-road sand driving) and Pocket Bikes (small replicas of racing bikes) from 10.30 a.m. to 6 p.m.  

Midsummer night’s dinner. Overlooking Barça’s soccer pitch
FC Barcelona is offering a new service for banquets for 220 pax or 250 pax cocktails overlooking the club’s soccer pitch from a stage built out from the directors’ box. The idea is to offer dinners al fresco next to the pitch. This space will be available from May to August. For details, write to events@fcbarcelona.cat .

A number of companies are currently offering innovative-guided visits around Barcelona set to the scripts of a book written about the city or set in town. Spanish writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s bestseller The Shadow of the Wind is the script taken by Icono serveis to organise one of its tours around some of Barcelona’s most charming quarters, while Itinera Plus offers a downtown tour set to the book The Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones. For details of these and other city walking tours, consult:

www.iconoserveis.com
www.itineraplus.com
www.coneixerbcn.com

Let the paranormal mysteries of Barcelona’s Old City district come to life during a Ghost Walking Tour at the hands of experienced guides. The Ghost Walking Tour is a night visit, based on the book Fantasmes de Barcelona written by Sylvia Lagarda-Mata. Exorcisms, witchcraft, bewitched convents and ghost appearances… you’ll find a novel way to discover Barcelona in a fun and entertaining way. The scheduled tour is organised every Friday, takes 2 hours, and costs 16 euros per person. Consult for groups.

www.iconoserveis.com

JuliàTravel is offering a day trip to the Freixenet Cavas and Wines, a traditional Catalan winery, combined with a stop-off in charming Sitges. The tours run Fridays through to Sundays until October 31st, with guided visits in English around the cava cellars and production process. The six-hour tour starting at 8.45 a.m. costs 50 euros pax.

New adventure concepts in the Forum Park

Located in plaza del Forum, Barcelona Bosc Urbà is the latest adventure park concept to arrive in town. With zip wires, nets, creepers, bungee jumping, suspension bridges and trunks suspended on platforms of up to 9 metres in height, kids and adults can enjoy the emotion of any of 3 circuit skill levels (low, intermediate, advanced). Until June the park is open weekends from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., and June through to September from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Consult prices and bookings at the website or write to info@barcelonaboscurba.com. The Forum Park is also home to the extreme adventure sport known as “Sphereing”, which basically involves rolling down a 150 metre long slop at high speed in a large inflatable ball from an initial height of 4 metres. For booking conditions, check out the website.

www.barcelonaboscurba.com

Barcelona’s big sports events attract 5 million people

An amazing 5 million spectators followed Barcelona’s major sports events last year live. Apart from those already consolidated on the annual sports calendar, 2009 saw a number of exceptional events organised in Barcelona like the Tour de France, the Snow Show, the Red Bull Air Race, or the Final of the Davis Cup. Barcelona has become a force to be reckoned with on the international sports scene in part because big events get such a good reception from local spectators and also because of the city’s attractiveness for sports related tourism.

Barcelona Marathon attracts record 12,000 participants

Barcelona managed to increase the number of runners in its annual Marathon by 25% last March. Some 12,000 took part in the city Marathon, almost half of these foreigners, which shows the city is now part of the marathon tourism circuit.

Kenyan Jackson Kotut won in a record breaking 2:7:30, the fastest marathon run in Spain yet. Local authorities hope the Barcelona Marathon will still increase participants over the forthcoming years.

From July 26th Barcelona will stage the European Athletics Championships for a weeklong festival of sporting excellence. Barcelona will again be the stage for a major athletics event with 1,500 top European performers competing for medals. The main events will take place in the Lluís Companys Stadium, site of the 1992 Olympics. One novelty is that those with three or six day multi access passes to the Games can also get important discounts on other Montjuïc-based leisure or cultural facilities like Poble Espanyol or Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, amongst others.

Best skippers to compete in the Barcelona World Race from December 31st 2010

The second edition of the Barcelona World Race will start next December 31st from Barcelona in a gruelling, unique, two-handed round the world race featuring the best skippers in the world. Of the nine boats that set off for the 2007-2008 108-day race, only five finished the 25,000 km circumnavigation. The race is followed by millions thanks to the latest satellite communications technology.

Barcelona gains 11 new intercontinental air routes this summer
Barcelona Airport will be offering 28 intercontinental air routes during the summer season, 11 of these new ones to destinations including Chicago (Pakistan Airlines), Doha (Quatar Airways), Luxor (Egyptair), and Oran (Air Algerie), amongst others. Barcelona Airport has some 100 international flight destinations this summer, with Spanair offering 9 new routes to places like Marseille, Venice, Zagreb, Belgrad, Istanbul, Tel Aviv, Cairo, Algiers and Oran..

For further information:
www.aena.es
www.spanair.com