A New Barcelona Forms Every 10 Days

"According to a forecast by the United Nations, no less than half of the world’s population will be living in urban areas in 2007. By 2030 this figure should have risen to 60 percent. To give some idea of what this means, one would have to imagine a city the size of Barcelona appearing somewhere in the world out of nowhere every 10 days."

In addition, PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that the gross domestic product (GDP) of the E7 countries - comprising Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia and Turkey - will exceed the gross domestic product of the G7 - made up of Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Canada and the US - by approximately 25 percent in around 40 years.

The main take away from this article is to heavily invest in emerging markets over the next 40 or 50 years. Follow the growth.

Poble Nou Street Art & Vagabonds

A few hours before I left for Rome, I noticed some fun new street art very close to my house in Poble Nou. I made a mental note to take some photos when I returned from Rome. Yesterday I went back when it was starting to get a bit dark. The lighting made for good photos, which you'll see below. Even better, a group of vagabonds were chatting in front of some older graffiti. I immediately saw an opportunity for a good photo. I didn't want to disturb them and wanted something more candid, so I took the third photo below while I was on a bicycle riding past them. For some odd reason, one of the guys shouted, "que tal, guapo" (how are you, sexy) as I rode past the group. The framing turned out very well considering that I captured it while moving on a bike.

World's cutest old man

If this isn't the world's cutest old man then I don't know who is. He was enjoying a nice stroll along the beaches of Barcelona earlier today. His over sized clothes, socks pulled up, vest, hat that, gangster style, was slightly shifted to the side...too much. I love it!

Difusor - International Stencil Summit

Top stencil artists from all over Europe gathered in Barcelona for the premier Difusor stencil summit. The results are remarkable. Below are some photos with a lot more on my Flickr page.

More information, along with some videos are on the Difusor site.

See more on my Flickr page

Bread & Butter Fashion Fiesta

Barcelona hosts A LOT of trade shows. The biggest and most well known is Bread & Butter, the premier European fashion trade show held in Barcelona biannually. Jose seems to know a lot of people in Barcelona and he was lucky enough to get two tickets for one of the parties during the night. It was held in a castle on the hills of Montjuic. Oh, the beautiful people. What an amazing time.

Below are a few photos. You'll find a lot more photos here. Enjoy!

More photos here

Bestial @ Iguapop Gallery, Barcelona

Iguapop has quickly become my favorite art galleries in Barcelona. You may recall my scandalous photos from the Sergio Mora exhibition. The current exhibition is entitled "Bestial" and is curated by one of my favorite artists in Europe, Miss Van. You may recognize her other works in my numerous street art photos.

Below are a few of the pieces on display. View all of the Bestial exhibition photos here. Wow...

More photos here

Que fuerte, que fuerte

Back in Barcelona after an amazing weekend in Madrid for Orgullo. Watch for a post with photos and more details sometime before I leave for Seville on Sunday afternoon.

Side thought: Are the 80s and early 90s clothing style very popular in the United States this summer? The casual sport/street look is huge in many parts of Europe. Blocks of bold color, checkered patterns, huge prints on t-shirts and all shades of neon are just a few examples of styles that dominate a lot of clothes this summer.

Dont' touch the fruit

Today I saw a grown woman cry in front of me because someone touched her bananas. Let me explain. In Spain, many of the fruit stands, know as fruterias, don't allow you pick your own produce. You tell them what you want and they run around it get it for you. The store owner was in the process of getting my fruit when a guy walked up, picked one banana and asked he how much. Big mistake. At this point, she started crying and said "you can't touch the fruit", "the bananas are ruined", etc. I was shocked at her reaction, especially since had this particular guy touched my banana I most defiantly would not have cried.

Entering the War Zone

This weekend was the first time that I was worried about my safety in Spain. This weekend was St. Juan, which is similar to the United States 4th of July, but on crack. All of Barcelona flock to the beaches to drink, dance and blow off their fingers , er, I mean light fireworks.

The first thing I saw as I approached Bogtell beach was an ambulance speeding down the road with its lights flashing and siren roaring. Not a good sign.

I was stunned as I watched young children light massive fire works as their parents smiled with approval from a safe distance. In typical Spanish fashion, there were no police anywhere.

I felt like I was in a war zone. The large fireworks exploded like bombs while smaller fireworks reminded me of machine gun fire. Airborne fireworks lit the sky, giving it an eerie glow. It was like this for at least 5 hours. The world could have ended and no one would have noticed.

As it got later, more people filled the beaches and the fireworks (thankfully) slowed. Around 6 A.M. many people got naked and jumped into the Mediterranean. Everyone was having fun dancing and partying to the thumping house music that filled the warm night time air. It was Spanish beach partying at its best.

Next up? My countdown until my departue on July 31st. More on my crazy travel plans soon...

Marbella Beach Party

After the Sonar craziness, my friends and I went to a beach party at Marbella. Below are a few photos with more here. As you may be able to tell, I really enjoy Barcelona during the summer.

Kris, Sandy, Jose, Keyan, Me

Me, Jose

Kris & Chris

Sonar Night

Below are some of the Sonar night photos. View the full photo gallery here.
P.S. No, I have no idea why I was making the peace sign all night.

Sonar Day 2007 Photos

A few photos from Sonar day 2007. More from Sonar night to follow soon.

Barcelona Parc Guell Party

My good friend Keyan plans events and parties in Barcelona. His company held a 2,500 person dinner in Parc Guell last Friday. Apparently it was last time the city allowed a private company to rent the parc. He was kind enough to get me a ticket. Free food, drinks and live entertainment contributed to a fun night. Below are a few photos of the entertainment. Thanks again, Keyan!

P.S. Yes, that women is naked. This was a business party. Yes, it's normal. Welcome to Europe.

Sant Antonio

Del Meson de Sant Antonio is one example of the many streets that you can hastefully walk past without noticing when unfamiliar becomes familiar.

Pl de Francesc Maciá Barcelona

Plaza de Francesc Maciá in Barcelona Spain

Pacha Barcelona

Pacha, "World's Most Popular Discoteca", recently held a special "Music and Show Festival" that included 100 gogo dancers and 8 live performances throughout the night. Yes, 100 gogo dancers. Normally, I save the partying for the weekends, but I could not pass on this opportunity. Pacha was extreemly busy even though it was held on a Wednesday night.

Just when you think you've seen it all, Barcelona finds someway to surprise you. As far as nightlife is concerned, it's unique parties like this that I'll miss most.

Sea Side Running

Just got back from my daily mediterranean sea side run. I start at Marbella beach and run until the end of Barceloneta. Along the way, I stop at the beach side gym area and get some pushups, pullups and other resistance stuff in.

What an amazing way to start off the day.

Ads in Europe

Advertisements in Europe are notorious for being more "edgy" than those in the U.S. I don't pretend to be a lawyer, but I'm fairly certain that the ad below, plastered all over Barcelona, would never make it past the lawyers in the U.S. Honestly, what is Kellog's trying to portray? Then again, perhaps I'm just an overly sensitive American. I'll let you decide.

Ibiza???

Ibiza solo 65 euro con Vueling
Julio 11-16th...
Interesado?? Diga mi pronto! chrisrako@gmail.com

Ibiza only 65 euro w/ Vueling
Interested? Tell me ASAP!!! chrisrako@gmail.com
July 11th-16th