The Visigoth

the visigoth

Shit Barcelona: A Guided Tour

Shit Barcelona: A Guided Tour

From crap fashion to cheesy tourism, annoying stag nights and theft-related ethical dilemmas, here are just a few of the things that can burst the bubble of clemency in Barcelona... 1 'Woyoy!' The mating call of the inebriated stag-nighter. It's a primeval noise that can instantaneouly deflate even the most benign mood. But there's something particularly escalofriante about it reverberating through the handsome backstreets of the Casc Antic in full daylight. There's a much m

What is: A Nini

What is: A Nini

Everyone knows what a hipster is. Don't they? The word brings to mind a carefully-coiffured beard. The bare, stripped floorboards of a trendy cafe with a chalkboard. A bowl of organic muesli, perhaps, poised over a lumberjack's shirt. The imagery, the cliches are now so embedded. No-one, of course, claims to be a hipster. Though a lot of us probably seem to be one. Now, what about a 'Nini'? Hmm. A Neither-Nor? Something to do with gender, perhaps? Careful! Ok, other associati

Barcino-etymology: The Origins of Barcelona

Barcino-etymology: The Origins of Barcelona

Thanks to the Alexandrian map-maker Ptolomy we know that a city called Barcino existed on the site of modern-day Barcelona in the Second Century BC. But where did the Romans get the name Barcino from? Did it come from an earlier 'Celto-Iberian' settlement? Or the Carthaginians perhaps? The following hypothesis about the origin of the word Barcino, from Historias y Leyendas de Barcelona by Joan de Deu Prats, is a fun one: 'On the shore of the River Rubricatus (now known as the

The 'Top Manta': Barcelona's Street Bazar

Literally meaning 'top blanket', 'top manta' is an urban nickname for merchants who unfurl makeshift blankets in the street loaded with articulos falsificados - imitation goods. Ah, you mean manteros...the ones who run away with all their goods when the Guardia Urbana appear? Call them what you will; now almost an embedded part of Barcelona's landscape along with the human statues, street artists and florists, these vendedores ambulantes, most commonly of Sub-Saharan African

Spanish Elections 2.0: Who's Who

In December 2015 the Spanish general election ended without a clear winner. After four months of jostling, posturing and squabbling, none of the four main parties are any closer to forming a coalition government. Unless Pedro Sánchez's PSOE can miraculously convince fellow socialists Podemos to join them in an alliance with the centre-right Cuidadanos, the King will this week call for a whole new election in June. Want to know more? This is a guide to who the candidates are,

The Spanish Cult of Phantom Buildings

The Spanish Cult of Phantom Buildings

Back in 2012, BCN World was dreamed up as a macrocomplejo turístico with thematic leisure parks and casinos, shopping and convention centres and a hotel with a capacity for 12,000 guests. It was all to be bolted conveniently on to Salou’s Port Aventura and opened sometime this year. At the moment of writing, however, BCN World is a vacant space in a dusty descampado, gathering tumbleweed while it waits for a green light from the Plan Director Urbanístic (PDU). Could it be yet

Who is: Pedro Sánchez

Who is: Pedro Sánchez

He’s very tall (1.9m), he told Mariano Rajoy he’s ‘not a decent man’ in their live TV face-off, and he didn’t wear a tie throughout the 2015 election campaign. Following a pact with his preferred coalition ally –young Albert Rivera and the PP-in-sports-casual-wear-clones, Cuidadanos – Sanchez has between now and March 5 to convince the Spanish political merry-go-round that he’s the man to lead the country. But what else do we know about the man dubbed ‘the George Clooney of t

Glossary of Spanish Perjorative Terms

Glossary of Spanish Perjorative Terms

Can you tell your bolos from your botiflers? Or a morlaco from a mangurrino? Then read on, and you'll be ready if some gent calls you a cateto. Bellotero: 'Acorn-collector.' Used in Caceres (North Extremadura) to taunt the folk of Badajoz (South Extremadura). Extramadura is jamon territory, see, and the best jamones are reared on acorns. Just a bit of agricultura-themed local jostling. Bolo: Affectionate term for Toledanos, who are wont to say things such as 'si, bolo,', 'ton

News Cheat: Carles Puigdemont

News Cheat: Carles Puigdemont

Name: Carles Puigdemont Age: 53 Appearance: Mop-topped German football coach Joachim Low, with nerdy specs. In the news because: He's Artur Mas's replacement as Catalonia’s new president. A long-declared independentista, Senyor Puigdemont has already made it clear to everyone that his will be a separatist pre-Independence government preparing local institutions for a Catalan national state within 18 months’ time. Two-headed monster: Puigdemont will have to lead a coalition be

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