35 CURIOSITIES OF BARCELONA

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Barcelona is not only one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but it is very interesting, full of mysteries and curious facts. In our period living there, we learned a lot about it and today we are going to tell you 35 curiosities of Barcelona that maybe you didn't know:

1. You already know that the stone It is one of the most emblematic buildings in Barcelona, but in the past it was very controversial: Many people from Barcelona hated him and said he looked like an Easter monkey.

2. The first time we went to Barcelona and we toured la Rambla we look at one dragon shaped sculpture and we thought that ... it was a Chinese restaurant! Well no: if you look, the dragon holds an umbrella because it was the place where an umbrella store was! (That day we were without dumplings).

3. Do you know why Barça wins are celebrated in the Canaletas fountain? Because formerly the results of the matches were used to be posted on a poster of the headquarters of the Sports Newspaper "La Rambla", which was very close to the source.

4. By the way, they say that if you drink the water from the fountain from Canaletas you will return to Barcelona.

5. In the pretty Spain Square you can see two towers which have a certain suspicious resemblance to the bell tower of St. Mark's Square in Venice. And its architect took it as inspiration.

6. In the amusement park of Tibidabo there is areplica of the first commercial aircraft that flew over Spain: it was December 1927 and Iberia's red plane took off from Barcelona towards Madrid. The first airlift!

7. In the pretty King's Square you can visit the Royal Palace, which culminated with the viewpoint of King Marti, was one of the tallest buildings in Europe (and the world, of course).

8. Barcelona has one statue of Liberty, ok, it's much smaller than the original (and darker hehe), but it looks a lot. It is in the Arús Library (Passeig Sant Joan, 26).

9. One of the statues The city's most famous is that of Colon, located at the end of the Rambla. Where do you point your finger? You might think he does it in the direction of America, but it isn't. He actually does it towards Genova, his homeland. (Although there are those who say he was born in Catalonia ... ahem, no).

10. There are more than 20 restaurants in Barcelona who have been awarded Michelin stars. Of course, if your budget is not too generous look at this post, where we tell you where to eat cheaply in Barcelona.

11. One of the rarest is in 300 of Carrer de Provença, where there is apparently a souvenir shop. Behind its walls hides a clandestine restaurant! It is the Chi Ton, of Asian food.

12. Contrary to what they can tell you, in Barcelona there are two official languages: Catalan and Spanish. The vast majority of Catalans are friendly and if they see that you don't understand Catalan they will speak to you in Spanish without problem.

13. When you go to visit the beautiful Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar look at their stained glass windows... in one looks the very shield of FC Barcelona. What? Is God culé? No. Well, I don't know. The reason must be sought after a terrible fire that devastated the church during the Civil War, so FC Barcelona was one of the sponsors of its reconstruction.

14. Right next to the Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar there is a flame that never goes out dedicated to the victims of 1714, the year in which Felipe V attacked the city with his troops.

15. In the Passion facade of the sacred Family You can see a kind of table with 16 engraved numbers: if you add its rows, its columns and its diagonal, you will always get the same result ... number 33 (which corresponds to the age of Jesus when he died).

16. Apparently, the Eiffel Tower It had many possibilities to be built in Barcelona. However, it was decided to reject the project because its architecture did not adapt to the design of the city. You screw me up!

17. One of the essentials of Barcelona is to approach the San Felipe Neri Square. There he pays attention to the facade of the church, because you can still see the scars of the shots during the Civil War.

18. There are two dates that you should experience in Barcelona at least once in your life: the day of Sant Jordi (April 23) in which by tradition men give roses to their partners and they correspond with a book (although I prefer the book instead of roses). Y la Mercé (around September 24), when the entire city is filled with parades, shows and dances.

19. The sacred Family, you'll know, it's unfinished. If everything goes according to plans (things that many do not believe), it should be finished in 2026 (144 years after its beginning). Do you know why it took so long? In part to the difficulty of its design, but above all to that its construction is financed only by the donations. Look.

20. Antonio Gaudi, one of the geniuses of modernism, died Trampled by a tram.

21. It's hard to imagine Barcelona without its Beaches, but until 1992 (the year of the Olympics) the city did not have them: It only had a coast, without sandy areas. Luckily now things have changed.

22. Barcelona has 12 metro stations… ghost. Some of them with many mysterious stories and legends.

23. Distributed by Barcelona you can find different air raid shelters that had to be built during the Civil War. If you want to visit one we recommend Refugio 307 del Poble Sec.

24. Portal of the Angel It is not only one of the most expensive shopping streets in Spain, it is also the most visited: more than 100,000 people travel every day! Blessed shopping!

25. Did you know that there is a maze in Barcelona? If he Labyrinth of Horta. It is a very beautiful place and it has been the location of several films.

26. The Gothic Quarter it's not really gothic at all: most of its most famous buildings are from the 20th century.

27. In this neighborhood and in El Born there are several sculptures of female heads. They served to point out brothels in the Middle Ages.

28. Some very curious inhabitants of Barcelona are the Argentine parrots. With its green feathers and yellow peaks they are an attraction for tourists. However it is becoming a plague! But what is its origin? A few years ago, getting a parrot was much cheaper than for example a parrot, so it was popular to have one of these birds at home. However, in the end the owners ended up getting tired of their noises and released them.

29. Barcelona is known as the Barcelonabut do you know why During the Middle Ages Barcelona and its surroundings consisted of counties, governed by counts. And the one that split the corduroy was the county of Barcelona.

30. According to a legend, the Liceu Theater is cursed. Apparently after a fire (in turn surrounded by mysteries) a graffiti was found that said "I am an owl and I go alone, if you raise it again I will burn it again". The theater was rebuilt but periodically suffered devastating fires. The last one in 1994.

31. Barcelona had his “Jack the Ripper” only that he was a woman, his name was Enriqueta Martí Ripollés and earned the nickname "vampire" He dedicated himself to kidnapping children, organizing meetings with wealthy pedophiles and killing them to get their blood that, at that time, was quoted among the bourgeoisie.

32. You will not see bullfights in Barcelona: they are illegal since 2010. Olé!

33. If you are walking on the Raval, and more specifically on Ramelleres street, you will probably be surprised to see a round window at street level. It is known as thelathe of the orphans and it was used by mothers who could not support their children to leave them in the hands of nuns.

34. In the cloister of the Barcelona Cathedral live 13 geese. The reason? Legend has it that there is one for each martyrdom suffered by Saint Eulalia, who refused to abandon his Christian faith during Roman times.

35. Very close to the cathedral, in the L'Ardiaca House which was the headquarters of the Bar Association and where you can see a mailbox with a lot of symbology. The swallows allude to how high justice arrives, the ivy the complicated of the bureaucracy and the turtle the slowness of it.