Bicing around Barcelona
Barcelona has a knack for taking risks that pay off. Perhaps its too early to say if the latest scheme of bicycle pooling is going to work, but in just over three months
Bicing has managed to attract some 60,000 people and there is a network of bicycle racks all over the central city which members can use, virtually free of charge.
The system is easy to use, the bikes are comfortable to ride and the network of bike racks means it has suddenly become alot easier to move around the city.
Off course there are draw backs
- all those cyclists riding the wrong way down one way streets
- cyclists dodging pedestrians on the footpath
- the difficulties of cycling in the city traffic
But these draw backs are more about cyclists in general in Barcelona, rather than this new system.
On the plus side
- I no longer need to lug my bicycle up and down the stairs to a third floor apartment
- Nor do I have to worry about my bicycle being stolen when I leave it locked to a street rack
- And I can use a bicycle as an alternative to public transport, or a means of getting to the right metro station or bus stop faster than walking or other public transport.
Designed to encourage short trips, there is no additional charge for the first 30 minutes. The density of the inner city means many places are just a short bike ride away - which translates into making life a little bit easier.
Time will tell if the system breaks even - the maintenance costs, moving bicycles from quiet racks to busy racks and the possible losses due to theft. There are many people working on keeping the system going, and the first real test will come next year when people have to renew their membership at the full price.
The city needs more bike lanes and hopefully cyclists will learn to respect pedestrians, but so far the experience is looking very positive for the city. Who knows - in time we might be bicing in lots of cities.
Street smart
Visitors to Barcelona this summer will be pleased to know that the local police have set up a special team to try and control the problem of snatch and run street robberies.
This is a subject I try not to focus on too much (as it isn't quite in the spirit of Best of Barcelona). Nevertheless, better to be warned first.
Cuitat Vella (the old part of the city) is both the major draw for tourists and a favourite place for snatch and run attacks. The standard rules in big cities apply. Walk confidently, don't flash around cameras, money or expensive accessories (mobile phones, palm pilots, ipods, etc.) Hold onto your things, especially when sitting at tables in street side cafes. Be careful of people working in pairs - in the street, in the metro, or around tourist sites - one will try and distract you asking for something or draw your attention in some way, and the other one will rob you whilst your attention is drawn away.
As for the special squad - they have to adopt the tactics of those on the street. The smart operators dress well and go on the beat. They will wander the streets continuously waiting for the right opportunity. They will follow possible targets and wait till they reach an intersection and then they are off, with your bag, darting up a narrow alley and out of sight before you can react. A few use bicycles to try and cover more ground and surprise people in new ways. Others use mobile phones, or whistling to send signals to their mates.
In all, if the undercover police study who they are up against, they will be able to make a difference. Too many tourists end up losing something in Barcelona - not exactly a great recommendation, but hopefully after the summer campaign it will be on the decline.
Football, films and fairs - 3 reasons to celebrate
The big weekend news for football fans in the city was FC Barcelona being declared league champions with two rounds left to play. They've played some excellent football throughout the season and coach Frank Rykard is establishing a great record (lucky the club didn't get rid off him at the end of 2003 when the team was underperforming). Close to a million people turned out on the streets on Sunday to cheer the team as they travelled around the city in an open double decker bus.
Woody Allen says he wants to shoot his next film in Barcelona. This is sure to boost Barcelona's on screen presence. 2004 was a record year for filming in and around the city.
An an
article in the IHT today reports that Barcelona is attracting trade fairs, conferences and exhibitions away from Cannes. With recent investments made by the city in new infrastructure for conferences, lots of new hotels and the cities growing popularity as a short break destination in Europe, this is a business segment that can be expected to prosper in coming years.
Sunny skies welcome outdoor living
After an unusually cold winter, spring has arrived. The clocks got moved at the end of March and a couple of weeks later it's warm out, the street side cafes and bars are full and the city takes on a new life as people leave their heavy coats and jackets aside.
The weather is one of the great things about Barcelona. Not to say that it is never cold, or doesn't rain...but on average its climate is hard to beat. In a month from now the beaches will be busy and by June, packed. July and August are sometimes too hot, but we manage. People escape to the mountains for some cooler air, or go to the beach after work, or just enjoy a cool drink in the shade of the tree-lined streets.
Summer is the time for outdoor concerts (El Grec festival in June and July), hanging out at the beach terraces in Barcelonetta or finding a quite terrace in a small sqare or shady street in El Exiample. I'll keep my eyes open and add any new sitings on the BestofBarcelona.com website.
Exotic foods finding favour
New Japanese restaurants can be found all around the city, but the choice doesn't stop with Japanese. In Calle Comerc (Born) you can find the recently opened Wok Club, taking over the premises of the Idea Cafe, and the Thai Cafe has also appeared on the other side of the street heading towards the Estació de Franca.
Last year we enjoyed several meals at the Udon Cafe in Calle Princesa, and the Wok theme can also be found in other parts of the city. Asian food used to be limited to Indian, Chinese and Japanese, but as the city's population becomes more cosmopolitan, the demand for exotic food is on the rise and the mix of nationalities in the recent wave of immigration should see more variety.
We're waiting for the Santa Caterina market to open (I'm sure it was originally scheduled to be opened back in 2001 or 2002 .... but its finally beginning to look like the real thing). There's going to be a supermarket specialising in international foodstuffs, but there's already a good variety available in some of the food stores in the old city.
As for Catalan, Spanish and European food - don't worry. There's still a great choice, from the famed up and coming chefs from the Ferran Adria school of creative cuisine to more traditional fare.
And new bars emerge in the likeliest and the unlikeliest of places.
...
Property goes sky high
A few years back I thought property prices were reaching their peak when any 100 square metre flat was priced at 240,000 euros + (or 40 million pesetas going back to the pre-euro scale).
Interest rates have remained low and the demand for flats seems to be as strong as ever, with prices in Barcelona and Madrid continuing to show double digit increases in the last few years.
Passeig de Gracia, Barcelona's most fashionable boulevard, has seen prices per square metre rise to over 8,000 euros - That's right, you can expect to pay 1 million euros for a renovated 100 square metre apartment on this street. What's more, the trend of converting offices on this street to luxury apartments is well underway, with several buildings changing hands and the number of people seeking to live in the city centre increasing.
But what's happening in other segments of the market?
On Sunday we stopped in at the sales office of a renovated building on Career Carders, just off Plaza Sant August Vell. This is the old city, a short walk from the fashionable Borne area, where immigrants mix with young professionals who have moved into the area. Work has been going on at this site for some time - 3 years the developers told us, and I was curious to know what the asking price for a renovated flat in this block would be.
On entering we were informed that all the units had just one bedroom. Of the 25 flats that were originally on the market three weeks earlier only 4 remained, one looking onto Career Carders itself and the others in an adjoining building that looked onto a small street behind this one. Alot of care had gone into renovating the building and conserving its historical character - with beautiful stone arches and a palm tree gracing the interior courtyard. That said, all the flats had been designed for a specific market - one bedroom, studio style living, ranging in size from some 40 square metres to around 60 square metres at the most. To my amazement, prices were coming in at around 6000 euros per square metre - that is 250,000 to 300,000 + for a small one bedroomed flat in a fairly dodgy street.
So what does this tell us about the Barcelona property market? Demand is strong, areas in the old part of the city are in a process of rapid transition and there is plenty of money around. The popularity of one bedroomed places and semi-loft style living seems to reflect a belief that many people are no longer interested in the conventional three bedroomed flat. It's also true that as prices have increased it has feasible to renovate old apartment buildings and sell them off at a profit.
There's also demand from overseas buyers, as an article in the
Times noted earlier on this year.
Barcelona's Forum
Yesterday we finally made it to the Forum - using up the first day of our 3-day pass.
We had a great day - it was sunny, but there was a breeze coming off the water that made the heat manageable. The Chinese warrior exhibition was well curated, with an introductory video giving us the historical context before the screen went up to reveal the exhibition pieces.
Whilst the Forum complex seemed relatively uncrowded - the exhibitions we saw were popular. Fortunately we didn't have to wait in line for anything. That said - I've been told that in the weekend people have to wait an hour or more to see exhibitions or shows.
There is no question that the whole area is a valuable addition to Barcelona - a new port, a conference centre, and probably a collection of bars, restaurants and discos once access is free.
That the Forum hasn't lived up to expectations is a topic that has been widely reported in the media. It's hard to know what went wrong - but a quick assessment is that the sum of the parts adds up to more than the value people have attached to this new style of event. In other words, you might be drawn by the music, the performances, the exhibitions, the dialogues or one of the conferences, but somehow the package doesn't quite make it a must see.
We'll go back to see some of the music and performances - so the reduced pass for the evening was certainly a good idea.
