Apartments in Barcelona, Madrid, Amsterdam, Rome, and Marbella

Are you enjoying your holidays in Barcelona with Habitat apartments? Probably you'll need to know the customs and social habits of the Barcelones to enjoy each minute that you spend in this city.  What time do restaurants open & close? what about business hours? Even general times?….etc. Take note below:

Barcelona Mealtimes

In Barcelona, ​​as elsewhere in Spain, people tend to eat later than in other European countries. The first main meal of the day is breakfast. On vacation, breakfast is eaten between nine and eleven o'clock. Its usually lighter than in other European countries, equivalent to what hotels call a continental breakfast (orange juice, coffee and croissant or toast). Lunch is between two and three in the afternoon and dinner between nine and ten at night. Nevertheless, restaurant hours are also suitable for the rhythm of working life: you can eat lunch from one until four in the afternoon and dinner is served from nine up to twelve or so. There are many restaurants where you can eat any time of day making it easier for visitors to the city.

Business Hours

Shops in Barcelona open their doors at nine or ten o'clock and close for lunch at two in the afternoon (many stay open). After lunch, shop owners return to open their doors between four and five, and remain open until eight or nine. It should be noted, however, that the big shopping centers do not close for lunch and some are open until 10 pm. On Saturday afternoons, a few shops and all department stores are open, but they are generally closed on Sundays along with most everything else (tip: there is one shopping centre open on Sundays, 'Maremagnum' if you can't wait until Monday to go shopping!), except on some specific dates that the stores have permission to open.

Event times

• Theaters and cinemas

  On weekdays, cinemas regularly schedule four showings between four and ten. However, on weekends, some theaters have matinees beginning at approximately noon, and AM showings that usually start at midnight.
  The theaters feature a daily presentation, usually between nine and half past ten in the evening on weekdays and on Sundays between six and seven. In some, especially on Saturdays, there are two showings. The first is about six or seven o'clock and the second between nine and ten at night.

• Clubs and Pubs (with music!)

  The pubs and bars with music generally open in the afternoon until 2:30 to 3:00 am, and clubs open shortly before midnight and close around five or six in the morning.

Social Habits of the Barcelonese

Although more and more locals prefer to go out at night on weekdays, Fridays and Saturdays are main nights for crazy nightlife. Although lately, Thursdays at some places are usually very crowded. The evening can begin with a dinner at a restaurant, then continue with attending a play, a concert or a bar for the first drink, and end up in a nightclub or similar local jazz hot spot.

Sunday morning is the day for exploring the city. Barcelonese do not usually go out for tapas, like they do in other Spanish cities, but instead it is customary to have a snack on a terrace on a sunny day or inside a bar or cafe if the weather is bad. However, for many locals, the weekend may also be synonymous with getting away from the city.

Catalan cuisine is characterized by its variety and influence of other cultures. Its origin dates back to Roman times. Since then it has been influenced by recipes of Italian cuisine, French, Greek, Provencal, Arabic and Jewish. The result is a cuisine of great complexity at the same time exquisite.
The cuisine of Barcelona presents the features of the traditional Mediterranean cuisine. It abounds in vegetables, fish and meats, all cooked with quality olive oil. Balance and range of this cuisine make it synonymous with good health and a reflection of how to understand the life of the locals. The time devoted to food, either alone or in company, is considered almost "sacred" and is one of the main leisure activities of Catalan society.
The city has the advantage of being situated between the sea and the mountains, a  privileged location that allows you to have the best fresh raw ingredients. And, we can not forget the excellent wines and champagnes from the earth that brighten every dish.

Among the many dishes, we highlight the following:

• Faves (beans) a la Catalana: Typical Catalan legumes cooked in a pot and mixed with various meats, vegetables and mushrooms.
• Calçots con salsa Romescu (Romesco sauce with onions): Variant of the onion is cooked on the grill and seasoned with a sauce made with tomato, pepper, mint and walnuts, among other ingredients
• Escalivada (Grilled Vegetables): Dish made ​​from eggplant and red pepper and seasoned with salt, olive oil and vinegar.
• Exqueixada de Bacalao (Shredded Cod): Delicious salad made ​​with cod, tomato, onion, olives, peppers and hard boiled egg.
• Butifarra con Mongetes (Sausage with Kidney Beans): Typical "sausage of pages," Catalan beans, garlic and parsley.
• Mar i Muntanya (Sea and Montain): Meat and fish are presented in the same dish.
• Pan con tomate y selección de embutidos (Bread with Tomato and Choice of Sausage): Slice of bread rubbed with tomato pulp and seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper.
• Escudella y Carn d'Olla (Soup and Meat Stew): Stew cooked with pork and chicken, chickpeas, vegetables, potatoes and spices, where the juice of the broth is prepared escudella (soup stock)
• Fricandó: Fillets of veal cooked with prunes, pine nuts, tomato, onion and "rovellons" (type of mushroom)
• Salsa All i Oli (Aioli Sauce): Oil and garlic sauce. Perfect for serving with grilled meat or fish.
• Among the desserts, we highlight: the Crema Catalana and Mel i Mató (Honey with a kind of soft paste cooked with milk, curd and water) and "Músic" (Selection of nuts with sweet Moscatel wine)

Where can you find these dishes? In Barcelona we can recommend two restaurants known for their long tradition and expertise in Catalan cuisine. One is "Can Cullere," which opened in 1786 and is the oldest in the city. Another good option is the "7 Portes," which dates back to 1836 (its specialty is arrices a la Catalana).

If you are thinking of coming to Barcelona to enjoy one of these delicious dishes in one of the many restaurants available in Barcelona, please contact Habitat Apartments. They offer the best apartments in Barcelona to enjoy your days in the city.

On an average day, Gracia is a peaceful, residential neighbourhood north of the city centre of Barcelona, with narrow streets lined with elegant old balconied buildings and shady squares with historic churches and cafe terraces.
But for one week in August, everything changes. When the week-long ”Fiesta Major” (Gracia Festivities) takes over Gracia. Tranquillity goes out of the window and is replaced by the Catalans' typical exuberant taste in music and mass celebration in the streets. The Gracia festival is a street festival on streets and plazas of Gracia every year from 15th to 21st of August. The Fiesta Major de Gracia is the biggest of Barcelona's neighbourhood festivals with around half a million people visiting and participating. The 2011 celebration will be the 195th edition.

Dating back to the early 19th century, it has become one of Barcelona's biggest festivals, which is saying something for a city that can practically count the year's non-fiesta days on the fingers of one hand.

The main event at Gràcia’s extravagant Fiesta Major is its street competition, where residents transform some 25 streets into pirate ships, rainforests and Jurassic landscapes. Around 17 to 20 streets and squares in Gracia are decorated by residents who spend hours transforming parts of their street with charming homemade carnival style decorations and themes to compete for the prize of being the best decorated street or square of the Gracia festival. The results are amazing! All the decorated streets are worth visiting, but it can take a while, so be sure to visit the streets that often win the top prizes like "Carrer de Joan Blanques" and "Carrer de Verdi."  

Usually around 17 to 20 streets and plazas have decorations. It is best to visit streets early in the Gracia festival. The prizes are announced on 16th and after that the decorations start to crumble a bit mainly due to the many visitors. There is also a competition for the best decorated balconies in the Gracia area..
Designs range from the beautiful to the surreal and in all cases are highly elaborate. You are advised to admire their artwork early on the 15th as from then on everything starts to deteriorate as the carnival atmosphere takes over.

The free event kicks off in Plaza Rius i Taulet, with a parade of giant carnival figures and the famous human pyramids known as "castellers". The surrounding streets are lined with tables and benches to accommodate the influx of a million visitors from throughout the city and abroad. On that first evening at 7pm there is a parade of characters from Catalan folklore.

To fuel the atmosphere, live bands take root in different spots around Gracia – prime positions are in Plaza del Sol – to play as long and loud as possible. Like any festival worth its salt, there are loads of food stalls and many local bars open on the streets to provide endless liquid sustinence.
With the summer nights long and hot, the activity is guaranteed to go on well into the next morning. There are said to be 600 events this year throughout the week, including children's games (don´t expect them to be going to bed anytime before 2am), cultural activities and dancing.

When you see devils running down the street and setting off fireworks you know the end is in site with the spectacular closing ceremony, the "correfoc." And come the morning of Monday 23rd, Gracia returns to its usual summer sleepiness.

So if you want to see the beautifull decorated streets of Gràcia, visit Barcelona during the 15th to the 21st of August. Habitat apartments has the perfect Barcelona apartments to stay in this area or near other main attractions. Visit our web to book your holiday apartment online!

Enjoy this tradicción during your stay in Habitat apartments in one of the apartments in Barcelona

Sant Joan in Spain marks the start of the summer. This is is the midsummer solstice celebration, which is the day that has the longest period of daylight in the year (not to be confused with the "Equinox" days, which are the days when the day and night are of equal length.

The Nit de Sant Joan celebrations in Spain and Barcelona are on the evening of the 23rd June. The next day is 24th June which is Saint John's day and a public holiday in Catalonia and Spain. The Sant Joan festivals and fiestas are from sunset on 23/6 to sunrise on 24/6 on the eve of Saint John's day.

The Sant Joan festival is often called "La Nit de Sant Joan" – the night of Saint John.  The fiestas are also called "verbenas" or "revetllas."The most important element of the festival of Sant Joan is fire. The flame to light the fires is called the "Flama del Canigó," which is taken to different villages every year.

Mother's Day:  The first celebrations of Mother's Day date back to ancient Greece, where Rea was honored , the mother of the gods Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. Later, the Romans adopted this festival and called it "La Hillary" to be held March 15 in the temple of Cybele in three days when offerings were made. Subsequently, these celebrations were adopted by Catholics in honor of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus.

The modern Mother's Day is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in March, April, or May as a day to honor mothers and motherhood.  The most part of celebrations are held on May but it has to be consider important exceptions:

The first Sunday on May is celebrated in Portugal, South Africa and Spain, among others, while in Aruba, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Holland, France, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, United States, New Zealand, Italy ,Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Belize, Cuba, Colombia, Canada, Bahamas, Australia, Turkey, Austria, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Barbados, the celebration of Mother's Day is held the second Sunday on May.

On this special day  children gives presents and flowers to their mothers in appreciation for their dedication and constant affection. Remember to celebrate this special day and if you're with Habitat apartments enjoying one of our fantastic apartments in Barcelona, Madrid, Marbella, Rome and Amsterdam, remember to buy the best gift for your mother. In any of these cities you will find many shops to choose that special gift.