Urbany Blog

The Barcelona Urbany Hostel website now has a new section: Urbany People .

Here you will find all you need to be part of our community through the following social networks and follow our news, blogs, get useful information for backpackers about Barcelona and Seville, watch the new pictures uploaded and join our contests.

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During the years, Barcelona has been chosen by different writers as set of their novels, inventing their own stories about the city and their own characters. All the characters that walked in its streets left their marks and are still talking to us whenever we pass by some of the spots they were in.

The detective Pepe Carvahlo is surely one of the most emblematic ones, created by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán who passed away in 2003. Through this character the writer described and sometimes criticised the social and political changes Barcelona went through the second end of the 20th century.
All the books are centred in the Raval and in the Ribera quarters, with particularly importance given to the Mercat de la Boquería (Boquería Market), where both the author and the detective used to spend a lot of time, expecially in the bar Pinocho. This is actually a very good place also for backpackers, to have a look at a very eclectic Spanish market, where you can find popular and exotic products at a time.
Others sets of these books are Plaça Reial (down la Rambla), and the Rivera quarter, where you will find Carvahlo’s favourite restaurant: Casa Leopoldo, in C/Sant Rafael, 23.

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As every year around this time, the Fira de Santa Llucia opened about 10 days ago and will go on until the 22 of December, in front of the Cathedral, in the Gothic area.

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La Rambla divides the centre of Barcelona in two halves. On one side there is the Gothic area and on the other side there is the Raval.
This quarter wasn’t very populated originally and most of the area was covered by fields. By the half of the XIX century, it became the industrial centre of the city, thanks to the development the Barcelona went through in those years. However this urbanisation made the quarter more and more degraded with very low hygienical conditions.

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This will be the 4th year in a row that the World Press Photo comes to Barcelona, in cooperation with the CCCB (Centro de Cultura Catalana de Barcelona).

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Borne is the name of a quarter of Barcelona and it is located between via Laietana and Parc de la Ciutadela. Between the XIII and the XV centuries it has been the economic centre of the city.

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The Gothic Quarter is the heart of the historical part of Barcelona, located between La Rambla and Via Laietana and between Plaça Catalunya and the seafront. In its labyrinth of narrow streets, most of them closed to regular traffic, you will see many Medieval buildings and some Roman ones. Before starting make sure to get a map so you won’t get lost.

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Talking about Spain we can’t forget to mention flamenco!
This music and dance style has very ancient origins and has been developed in Andalusia through the centuries, where the Gipsy community had a key role in the diffusion of this culture.

Through the years, flamenco differentiated into different styles, called palos. Some of them are very ancient and some others are more recent and modern. There are 50 different ones and some of the most popular names are bulería, tangos and siguiriyas. Palos are classified by their rhythmic pattern, their mode, the chord progression, the form of the verse, or the geographic origin. There are also some big differences among the traditions related to each palo. For example some of them are sung, some are danced, some are only for men, others only for women and some for either sex.

Flamenco dance is highly expressive, especially known for the dramatic movements of the arms and hands together with the stomping of the feet. The dances are improvised along the palo or the rhythm.

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November will be the month for the new edition of the Wintercase San Miguel. This festival has been the first itinerant music festival in Spain and it is now at its 7th edition. It always passes through Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia, bringing in these cities some of the biggest names of the independent music.

This year festival will bring on the stage some new bands, which seem will have a great future!

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Once again we invite our customers to taste some Spanish food in the common room of the hostel.

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