Tag Archives: Barcelona activities

Visit the Russian Ballet… in Barcelona

A new exhibition at CaixaForum shares the history of the Russes Ballet dance troupe and the power of an art form that demands a physical prowess on par with any professional sport. Russian buyers interested in buying property in Barcelona – and anyone else with an interest in this fascinating and absorbing dance form – can learn about ballet’s origins and the impact it had on audiences, thanks to the Russian ballet troupe in the early 20th century.

Many believe that Russian ballet is singlehandedly responsible for getting this dance art form to be considered as cultural entertainment in its own right. Originally perceived as a “filler” used to entertain European opera audiences during intervals, Ballets Russses fundamentally altered this in 1909 when they commenced a 20-year touring odyssey back and forth across Europe.

With costumes, film clips, sketches and artefacts collected from Ballet Russes, the Ballet Russes 1909 – 1929 exhibit showcases the creative genius of choreographer and troupe entrepreneur Sergei Diaghliev and his surrounding entourage of talents that included composers Claude Debussy and Igor Stravinsky, artist Henri Matisse, writer Jean Cocteau and designer Leon Bakst.

While many Russians visiting Barcelona may be keen to explore Catalan culture, the exhibition – running through til mid-January in the beautiful Caixa Forum building at Montjuich – also provides a unique opportunity to learn more about their own culture and for local residents to learn about the cultural roots of one of the strongest and wealthiest emerging migrant populations of Spain.

Russian interest in Spain – and Catalunya in particular – has been doubling since the start of the year, with high levels of tourist numbers and growing interest amongst Russian buyers contacting Lucas Fox. As we have previously noted in our blog, buyers have been particularly interested in quality hospitality properties and luxury homes on the Costa Brava, amongst other areas. There are at least 2-3 direct flights between Barcelona and Moscow every day of the week, bringing visitors for business, property enquiries and recreational travel.

This chance for Russian buyers and new residents to visit an exhibition like Els Ballets Russos de Diaghilev 1909 – 1929 offers the best of both worlds: an opportunity to enjoy Russian culture while also exploring one of Barcelona’s architectural highlights and quality exhibition venues. (Caixa Forum is also opposite the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, which has reconstructed one of the marvels of 20th century architecture, originally built for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition.)

Barcelona properties for sale for Russian buyers

Barcelona properties for sale like this hotel opportunity are of particular interest to Russian buyers

Some of the highlights of the Russian Ballet exhibition include:

Film screenings including talks with leading artists involved in the ballet troupe’s performances
Exhibition artefacts showing how Diaghliev fundamentally altered ballet to place greater emphasis on male dancers
Costumes designed by Coco Chanel
Theatre set designed by Pablo Picasso
An exploration of how the troupe survived bankruptcy and performed in exile during the Russian Revolution.

Lucas Fox has Russian-speaking real estate agents who understand what properties Russian buyers are interested in inspecting, and can discuss how the local market compares with Moscow and regional Russian property trading. Please contact Lucas Fox’ Russian sales office for more assistance.

Designs on Barcelona Commercial Property

Global architectural acoustics company Walters-Storyk Design Group announced on 9 September that they are using Barcelona commercial property to establish an office in Spain. This is is yet another example of the high reputation that the city has amongst design firms that work with an international client base.

Lucas Fox has commercial properties for sale that come with interested tenants able to immediately generate a 5% yield

Walters-Storyk already operates from 4 locations around the globe, offering a range of acoustic design and consultancy services to individual, business and government clients. “We are extremely enthusiastic about the potential of the European market and are confident our new German and Spanish offices will enable us to better serve the international corporate, institutional, recording and broadcast communities,” said WSDG co-principal John Storyk at the time of the announcement.

That they are looking to expand their European focus by setting up in Barcelona commercial property makes good business sense for the company. Barcelona has actively pursued international credentials to become one of the top cities of the world with a world-leading design industry based here.

Events over the next few months further entrench the city’s global design leadership:

In October, Barcelona Design Week holds its annual festival and conference activities, this year with a series of urban planning sessions looking at sustainability and recycling.
It is immediately followed by a weekend in which many of the city’s iconic buildings will be open to the public as part of the global Open House series of architectural events.
And then in December, Barcelona again hosts the World Architecture Festival for the second year running.

Barcelona Design Week is ideal for investors looking for new design businesses in Barcelona

Barcelona City Council’s economic development team is seeking to capitalize on the calendar of events by offering a design-themed study tour for international companies and institutions. The Council schedules these international visitor programmes throughout the year, hosting 10 global leaders for 3 days worth of activities aimed at fostering economic bonds and encouraging strategic investment opportunities in key Barcelona business sectors. We imagine visitors will use the chance to assess the Barcelona commercial property market while they are here.

In October, Barcelona Council plans to orient its’ international visitors programme – branded Leading to Barcelona – with a design themed series of activities. Targeting business and design experts in New York, London and from across Europe, the Council hopes to showcase the city’s entrepreneurial energy and business innovation experience with an agenda that will includes a focus on the city’s food technologies sector, share business and governmental urban planning and mobility expertise and promote the city’s emerging creative media sectors.

Creativity in carpets, by Nani Marquina and Erwan Bouroullec will be held on 17 October as part of Barcelona Design Week

It is one of several initiatives aimed at sparking greater investment in the city’s thriving design industries. At Barcelona Design Week from 17-21 October, the city has funded a Pop Up Design Store and Design Ideas Market to ensure there is a platform for local creators and entrepreneurs to meet with potential investors during the annual industry event.

The influx of global design companies wanting to set up operations in the city helps create value for equity and foreign investors interested in the Barcelona commercial property market. The demand for contemporary commercial spaces is strong and even recent developments like the grade A space in the city’s new business and periphery areas are in short supply. This creates an economic environment for steady rental growth for commercial property owners. Lucas Fox market predictions on the stability of the Barcelona commercial property market have recently been supported by other analysts. For example, in a Barcelona commercial property report released earlier this year, Jones Lasang Lasalle forecasted that a landlord-led market will emerge in Barcelona from 2012, a stance Lucas Fox has previously taken.

We wish the Walters-Storyck Design Group every success in their office establishment – a high probability given the leadership team of Robert Alfageme and Marc Viadiu – and look forward to more international design companies scouting the city for their own piece of Barcelona commercial property.

Top 5 Barcelona apps during a short stay rental

With the city celebrating its recently awarded status of ‘World Mobile City’ by the Mobile World Congress, we share the best Barcelona apps to use while staying in shortstay Barcelona real estate.

Barcelona is a great temporary base for people who find themselves in the city for a short stay. The city is easy to get around, clean, and safe. Every street has a charming architectural delight of some sort with dizzyingly intricate building frontages. You will be surprised at the random regularity of turning a corner and seeing yet another piece of Barcelona real estate with patterned embellishments around window edges, or mosaic additions to front facades. These five Barcelona apps will help you peel back another layer of the city while also being practical about what you need for short stay Barcelona living.

Barcelona apps: TimeOut magazine guide

1. Time Out BCN: This app has the comprehensive, easy navigation and organised structure that you would expect from the magazine relied on by travellers all over the world. It’s great for enough of an overview of restaurants, venues and activities that you can decide what to try, and has a function to rank venues by how close they are to your Barcelona real estate.

Barcelona apps: AroundMe

2. AroundMe: While Time Out has all the entertainment and free time locations, AroundMe puts the more practical directory in your hand. See where the nearest ATM is, farmacias, and supermarkets. This Barcelona app also includes maps to direct you to where you need to go, but double check the recommended route: mapping is often literal along main streets, while there may be a more direct route weaving through the street grid.

Surprisingly for a local reference directory, it doesn’t have a list of gyms, or swimming pools, that are near your shortstay Barcelona real estate. TimeOut does include some options for where to workout or do some laps, but only focuses on the bigger sports facilities, not your neighbourhood choices. It would also be useful if AroundMe could add to the hospitals section with a list of medical clinics and dentists, just in case.

Barcelona apps: Sincroguia TV

3. SincroGuia TV: Getting into the rhythm of knowing when the news is on which channel, or keeping in touch with a favorite Spanish gameshow (Mojate anyone?), is yet another confusing aspect to the world-of-its-own Spanish television networks. SincroGuia TV is one of those apps that you use rarely but seems a precious gift when you do need to choose a channel.

Barcelona apps: JourneyBox

4. Barcelona Journey Box: This unexpected find is worth getting hooked on. A series of street tours for the city are included with photos of the walking route. You can plug in your earphones and hear the descriptions of specific Barcelona real estate as you get acquainted with the city blocks. It has just the right level of detail to catch your attention, as the narrator shares trivia about building architecture, historical milestones and local characters.

Barcelona apps: Traducctor

5. Traducctor: For shortstay renters practicing Catalan or Castellano, this app lets you carry a reliable dictionary with you to help you keep up your side of the conversation. Translator Co-Design is a strong alternative, but tradductor has a better interface and feels that slight bit faster when translating.

Barcelona apps: What next?

What Barcelona apps developers need to offer next is a good calendar app with listings of what’s on and when around the city. Time Out and AroundMe help with where to go, but there is no obvious choice amongst the Barcelona apps that can share suggested daily events of when to go. People’s first shortstay in the city may be to look at Barcelona real estate, as part of a business mission, or simply for a weekend away. Whatever the initial reason to visit, it often becomes the start of an ongoing connection with the city. Store these 5 Barcelona apps in your phone for when you return, and share with us your favorite Barcelona apps in the comments below….