Barcelona trivia - fun trivia facts about Barcelona

Barcelona trivia


The Beatles concert Barcelona

The Beatles played a concert in Barcelona at the Monumental Bull ring on 3rd July 1965. The concert was not sold out because of high ticket prices.

Other bands who played in the bull ring of Barcelona include The Rolling Stones on 11 July 1976,  Bob Marley on 30th Juny 1980, Dire Straits on 9th May 1992 and Bruce Springsteen on 3rd July 1992.

After the Palau Sant Jordi was built in 1992 for the Barcelona Summer Olympics the Monumental bull ring was not used for concerts. The controversial bull fights continued until 2011. The bull ring is empty now and plans are being discussed for its future.




Hans Christian Andersen

World famous Danish Fairy tale Author Hans Christian Andersen visited Spain three times and particulary enjoyed Barcelona. He wrote "I feel as if in the the Paris of Spain. Everything has a French air. I tis very crowded but one can take a refreshing swim at the beach." He visited Barcelona in September 1862 during a cold spell with constant rain so probably didn't swim but he loved Barcelona.  He stayed at the Hotel Oriente on la Rambla street.

On his last day in Barcelona Andersen witnessed first hand a violent storm and a flash flood on the Rambla street with flood water cascading down from the hills of Collserola. He wrote that water levels in the stores of La Rambla were up to "hip level." The next day he left for Valencia by boat.

Despite the rain Andersen loved Barcelona and enjoyed strolling on La Rambla. According to his diaries it was also in Barcelona that he decided that he liked smoking cigars and decided that he enjoyed it. He noted that he had smoked his first cigars earlier the same year in Copenhagen, but didn't really enjoy it until he repeated the experience on a Spanish balcony.

H.C. Andersen also experienced a bullfight during his stay. In those days that would have been at the El Torín which was Barcelona's first bull ring in the Barceloneta area of the old city, which was since demolished.

There is a plaque by the hotel Oriente door to commerate his visit. Other world famous celebrities who stayed at the Hotel Oriente on La Rambla 45 include American President General Grant, Silent movie star Mary Pickford, movie star Errol Flynn and soprano Maria Callas.

Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley 

William Frederick Cod, better known as Buffalo Bill, brought his world famous "The Wild West Show" complete with cowboys, indians, horses, bison and buffalo to Barcelona on 18th December 1889 for five weeks. Also in the line up was sharpshooter Annie Oakley. The show was in el hipódromo de Muntaner in Eixample. Ticket prices were expensive for the times at 1, 5 or 10 pesetas and shows did not sell out.



Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingways favourite bar in Barcelona was London Bar which has been open on the Nou de la Rambla 34 since 1910. London Bar was also a popular hangout of Picasso and Dali.

Barcelona was third happiest city in 2009

Barcelona was the third happiest city in the world in 2009 only beaten by Sydney number 2, and Rio de Janeiro who were number 1. It goes without saying that we were not happy about coming third, so maybe this will affect our happiness ranking for future? The happy news that Barcelona was so happy came from American magazine Forbes based on data supplied by a survey conducted by the market-research company GfK Custom Research North America and the consultant Simon Anholt.

They interviewed 10.000 people in twenty different countries. Barcelona got top marks for warm climate, lively culture and great football team. Not as happy as Barcelona in 2009 but still very happy were Amsterdam, Melbourne and Madrid, in fourth, fifth and sixth places respectively. Then San Francisco, Rome and Paris and Buenos Aires, which make up the ten cities perceived to be the happiest in the world, according to Forbes. Happy now?


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Last Updated on Friday, 19 April 2019 23:20
 

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