X GAMES BARCELONA 16-19 MAY

Coming right on the heels of X Games Foz do Iguaçu, X Games has announced the preliminary athlete lineup for X Games Barcelona, which makes its debut next month as the fourth stop in the X Games global tour.

Over 200 athletes have committed to the event, which will feature women in the Skateboard Park competition for the first time and the first Real Women bracket ever, with eight female athletes from four different disciplines (snowboarding, skateboarding, surfing and skiing). The two new events are nestled among X Games mainstays like BMX, Skateboard Big Air and Park and Moto X Freestyle, Speed & Style and Enduo X, as well as the second installment of Street League Skateboarding at X Games, among other disciplines.

There will be a mix of familiar faces (Travis Pastrana, Jamie Bestwick, Nate Adams, Ryan Sheckler and Bob Burnquist) and some notable X Games debuts (Lizzie Armanto and Nora Vasconcellos in Women's Skateboard Park, Alain Goikoetxea in Men's Skateboard Park and Jose Miralles in Moto X Speed & Style, just to name a few).

Below is the first round of invites. This list is subject to change and will be finalized closer to X Games Barcelona, which runs May 16-19.

BARCELONA OPEN SABADELL

The Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, Trofeu Conde de Godó Trophy is the clay-court tournament which Barcelona hosts every year. The competition attracts the world’s top players and has become one of the city’s key social events. The 61st tournament will be held on the courts of the Reial Club de Tennis Barcelona – 1899 from 20th to 28th April.
Once again, the Mallorcan player Rafael Nadal will be the hot favourite to carry off the trophy. In 2012, he claimed his seventh Barcelona Open title. In addition to Nadal, some of the top ten ATP players are also expected to play. This is because the Barcelona Open Banc de Sabadell is considered one of the best tournaments on the ATP 500 World Tour. 
In addition to the tournament at the Reial Club Tennis Barcelona, the square in front of Barcelona Cathedral will once again be the setting for an alternative activity which is also associated with tennis and met with great success last year: ‘Tennis in the street’, an initiative which seeks to bring tennis to the community.

FORMULA 1 BARCELONA

There is an exciting variety of sports in Barcelona, besides culture and nightlife. We are not talking only about soccer, even though it is probably the most famous sport in the city, but also about the next Spain Santander Grand Prix 2013 to be held in May.

Formula 1 in Montmelo arrives as every year. The Catalunya’s Circuit comes to life from 10 to 12 May celebrating the first date of the European season. 

We suggest you to buy tickets early if you want to watch the Formula 1 in Barcelona. You can choose from the payment of three days (from 120 € to 450 €) or one day tickets from 50 €. All children under 5 years not occupying a seat and those less than 12 years attending Pelouse have free admission. Tickets can be purchased through ticketmaster or at “El Corte Inglés”.

You should remember that the Formula 1 Montmelo circuit is located 32 km from Barcelona, so the best transportation alternative is the train. R2 Line has departures from Barcelona Sants station, Pg de Gracia and El Clot. The journey time is about 30 minutes. Once at the Montmelo station you have to walk for about 30 minutes to the circuit. If you decide to come by car, consider purchasing the entrance to the parking in advance.

DIADA DE SANT JORDI

Sant Jordi  is  one of the most famous Barcelona holidays, a celebration that links romanticism and culture with the festive and joyful nature of folk festivities. Held on 23 April each year, the festival of Sant Jordi in Barcelona is an extraordinary opportunity to explore the city. La Diada de Sant Jordi is also the patron saint of seven million of inhabitants of Catalonia. Know as the day of lovers, Sant Jordi often compared to Valentine´s Day. The main event is the exchange of gifts between sweethearts-men give the ladies roses and woman give their boyfriend a book to celebrate the occasion. Due to popular legends about Barcelona, roses have always been associated with this day since medieval times. However, the giving of books is more recent.

During this day, many streets of Barcelona are flooded with books and roses vendor booths. The most popular authors (and even virtually unknown new talents) spend several hours of the day signing copies. Typically, couples exchange gifts, as if it were the celebration of lovers day. In recent years, this festival with religious backgrounds has become an exceptional day for publishers and editorial houses.

Easter Barcelona- Semana Santa 2013

Visit Barcelona in Easter is a perfect time to enjoy tradition, culture, celebration. 
Spain is a modern and cosmopolitan city and the easter celebration are not quite on the same scale than the south of Spain, like Seville. But It´s still an important part of the city we conserve the tradition and we celebrate religious and cultural events. Spain, being a Catholic country, and traditions are happens the Holy week. The Easter week starts on Palm Sunday on the 24th March. There are parades and processions in Barcelona on Palm Sunday and Good Friday, called in here Viernes Santo. Easter ends on Lunes de Pascua easter Monday on Monday 1 April 2013. There are public holidays in Barcelona during Easter on Good Friday and Easter Monday. 

Probably the most significant evente in Barcelona is the Palm Sunday. A processions takes place in the centre of town, ciutat vella commemorating the arrival of Jesus in Bethlem. You will find palms stalls throughout the churches and streets nearby.

GSMA MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS

Whether last year you were unable to attend or now you are only counting the days left to relive the extraordinary experience of the GSMA Mobile World Congress, we have good news: registration is now open for this sensational event!
Although the event will be held until the end of February (Monday 25 to Thursday 28), it is possible to register your participation through the event’s official website. Registering in advance is recommended, as during the event dates there will be many people waiting at the lockers. If you wish, you can register from your mobile phone.

Besides the announcement of open registration we have other news. Due to the dramatic success of the 2012 edition, this year’s GSMA Mobile World Congress will be held in a different location: the facilities of the FIRA Gran Via. For this edition we will not only have more exhibition space, but it will be even easier to get to the fairground as FIRA Gran Via is perfectly communicated. You can get there by subway, using line 8 to station Europe-FIRA. At that same station arrive trains S33, S4, S8, R5 and R6. Another option is taking the H12 or 79 buses.
Do not miss the opportunity to attend one of the most important events in Barcelona in 2013. At this edition of the GSMA Mobile World Congress you will be able to know the latest in mobile technology, apps, the future of communications and everything you need to know to develop a successful virtual business. Lectures, seminars and more than 240,000m² of exhibition in Barcelona are waiting for you!

The best in photojournalism is at the CCCB

The best in photojournalism is at the CCCB

The World Press Photo 2012 is in Barcelona and it has a Catalan accent. The winner of the prestigious photojournalism prize is the Catalan photographer Samuel Aranda, with his snapshot of protests in the Yemen. That is one of the 156 photographs on show at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) until 6 January. The World Press Photo is based on a single premise: the visual power of photojournalism. This premise means the winning photographs can inform us about what is going on in the world. These pictures stand out because they awaken the conscience of exhibition visitors and generate debate. They stand out for their informative or artistic value but, either way, people who see them cannot fail to be moved. At the exhibition they are grouped according to their subject, ranging from the most far-reaching news to everyday life, sport and nature, among other things. A Catalan winner Samuel Aranda, a photojournalist from Santa Coloma de Gramenet, is the winner of the 2012 competition. His photograph, showing a mother embracing her son, wounded during the popular revolt in the Yemen, went round the world and has become an Arab Spring icon. But, for this edition of the World Press Photo, the CCCB has gone further. Aranda's photograph is complemented by the exhibition #desprésdelaprimavera. And the photographer himself has been to the scenes of these revolts to show through pictures how people are experiencing the peace. "It is an attempt to show another kind of reality" said Aranda during the presentation of the exhibition, in reference to the media that only show images of violence. New features for this edition A smartphone application has been developed that allows users to contextualise the photos on display with additional information via QR codes. And a room has been set aside for screening interviews with some of the featured photographers, which also has computers for visitors to consult the whole World Press Photos catalogue and the reports in which the winning photographs were published.