The definitive travel guide to Barcelona

For many years buying properties in Barcelona as an investment was beyond the posibilities of many foreign home buyers. Prices have been rising since 2001 and reached a peak last year. However, this year as a result of the global economical crisis as well as the local crisis in Spain, prices of properties in Barcelona started to go down and it seem much more likely to find a decent apartment for sale that what it used to be before.
Here are some examples of apartments for sale in  Barcelona that can be interesting for the foreign buyer:
75 m2 apartment for sale in the old city of Barcelona (Guardia street), in an old building, 3rd floor with no elevator. The apartment need some fixing, not much and depending on the buyer’s criteria. Price: 180,000€
45 m2 apartment for sale in the Eixample district (Balmes Street), in a classical building, 4th floor with elevator. The apartment is second hand and might need some actualization.

In Barcelona the public holidays are a bit different than in other parts of Spain. The reason for that is the fact, that Barcelona is the capital of Catalunya - the region which is emphasizing the autonomy as strong as it is possible. That is why in Barcelona we have three different types of holiday:

- national holidays
- regional holidays
- holidays of Barcelona city

According to Spanish laws the number of "fiestas" is limited: maximum 14 a year. 2 of them can be regional.

Barcelona is full of bars and restaurants that are full all day long. One of the most charming things about the culture in Spain is the relaxed and nocturnal nature of the place. Unlike England, most restaurants shut around one, bars around three and clubs around six. There is a very slow pace of life so that you never really feel you are running late. All the streets are lined with tables and chairs with people having something to eat or simply a beer and there is a very relaxed feel  about the city.

If you are visiting Barcelona, like any other European city you need to give a little bit of thought about your finances. Obviously you will need to change your money into Euros and as aresult you may find yourself carrying large sums of cash on you at any one time. Depending on how long you are going for you can look into buying travellers cheques. Similarly make sure you have a number of bank cards with your fall back being a credit card in case you have a problem with withdrawing money, you do not want to be left with no means of getting cash.

You will be able to pay with your card if it is a vaguely well recognised one like visa, maestro or amex. You do not get charged to pay on card but you will still be subjected to the exchange rate which is not great.

Barcelona metro
The best way to travel in Barcelona is taking the subway. This is the quickest way to avoid trafic and get from one place to another. It has been opened in 1924 and till now is used every day by tousands of barcelona’s habitants. The public transportation area spreads over 6 zones. In half an hour you can reach also the costa/brava cities, where the perfect beaches are. To see the most important atractions in Barcelona city centre is enough to buy tickets for the 1 zone. A single ticket is valid for 1 hour and 15 minutes for every public transport (including trains)

Girona is a small airport situated 103 km north east from Barcelona. The official name is Girona Costa-Brava airport, also known as Barcelona Girona Airport (GRO). According to the proper Catalan spelling the name of the city is written with "e" instead of "i" - Gerona. Like Reus is generally used by budget Airlines, for example Ryanair. The main destinations of travellers using the airport are small touristic cities of Costa Brava: Lloret de Mar, Blanes, Tossa de Mar as well as Barcelona, the capital of Catalunya.