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Last Sunday May the 24th we had local elections for Barcelona city council, and it looks like Barcelona has a new city mayor. For first time in Barcelona´s history a woman is going to run the city: Ada Colau. Running for a newly formed political party Barcelona en Comu (Barcelona in Common) a local franchise of the Spanish political party Podemos. Barcelona en Comu is a left wing oriented party, with their roots in the civil rights movement and linked to movements against social imbalance, re-possession of homes, and supporting alternative and more social ways to run the city. She also supports the idea of holding a referendum in Catalunya to decide if the Catalans want or not to remain as a part of Spain but not a unilateral independence declaration.

Mrs. Colau got 11 seats in the city council and needs to make pacts with other political parties in order to be able to run the city, and here is were the fun begins.

As many of you might know, Barcelona is the capital city of Catalunya, and many people in Catalunya think its time to make Catalunya an independent state separate from Spain, a new born democracy within the European Union as many defend.

Next autumn we will have elections for the Catalan government, and some political parties want to make these elections into a referendum where, if the political parties supporting the Catalan independence win, then the winners will declare Catalan independence and leave the Spanish state within 18 months.

The Spanish government is not too happy about this, and the political majorities needed both in the Catalan parliament and the Barcelona council are not there yet. We will have a really interesting summer this year in Barcelona.

So, we have a new elected mayor with the promise of a social change, the promise of a power shift from the local city elites to the citizens. And we also have a domestic political reality where some of the major political Catalan parties are running for a straightforward independence. And as all salads need some dressing, we have also some calamities like the 18% unemployment rate, average salaries below 1.000 euros and serious problems with social exclusion and poverty.

The Barcelona city council has become a dancing egg; the dancing egg (L’ou com balla in Catalan) is an old tradition that takes place in several towns in Catalunya during the festivity of Corpus Christi, which is coincidentally held today on the 28th May. The tradition probably started at the Cathedral of Barcelona in the XVI century. And how to make an egg dance? Well, the egg would have been emptied, wax would be used to fill the hole and add some weight. When placed over a water jet from a fountain, the egg starts turning without falling, and thus «dances.»

As the egg dances over the fountain young and old are amazed by its beauty, with the reflection of the water supporting the egg´s defiance of gravity. Something so delicate floating over the threatening stone below, just like the new city council.

The pacts and future decisions of Mrs Colau´s team will determine the water jet that supports this new-born council. The stakes are high, the promises so many and the problems of Barcelona residents need to be addressed now.

We recommend you book our Catalan-Spanish Question experience to gain a more in-depth insight into this question.

LITO & FITO: Scrambled eggs and politics.

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At Lito & Fito we like our customers to have real and genuine experiences with us, and this is why we created our Barcelona Breakfast and Papers Experience.

«All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveller is unaware.»

Martin Buber

There is this magic moment in the mornings just before the rush hour, when the city is getting ready to start moving. The market stalls start to lift up their shutters, the bars start to open and serve the first coffees and the delivery vans rush to finish their deliveries. There is not too much traffic yet and the non-stop background noise of the city hasn´t yet started ringing in our ears. It is at this moment of the day when we love to do our Breakfast and Papers experience: where the new day is still a promise and the memories of last night start to melt in front of the adventure ahead.

«In both business and personal life, I’ve always found that travel inspires me more than anything else I do. Evidence of the languages, cultures, scenery, food, and design sensibilities that I discover all over the world can be found in every piece of my jewelry.»

Ivana Trump

We think a Barcelona visitor must know what is going on in the city they visit and get on track before exploring and discovering Barcelona. And there is no better time for that than breakfast time, where we will walk you to a traditional catalan cuisine place, normally in front or near by one of the Barcelona old municipal markets.

«A true traveller always takes time to have look to the newspapers of the place is visiting.» Joan Ferrer

We will introduce you to the city current issues, what are the things happening in the city, which are Barcelona people current problems and challenges, we will introduce you the city from a local point of view using the day´s local newpapers as a guide.

«I have wandered all my life, and I have also travelled; the difference between the two being this, that we wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment.»

Hilarie Belloc

We enjoy a true traditional breakfast; old-style Catalán style where the calories are not a taboo anymore and the fresh products straight from the market send you back to times were breakfast was not rush, but a pleasure.

Catalan style breakfasts are full-on calories and a energy boost for the hungry visitor, but don’t be fooled because the rich Mediterranean cuisine is omnipresent in these hearty knife and fork breakfasts . You would be surprised by the delicacy of the tastes and the audacity of some its combinations were fresh products from the land and sea combine with simplistic beauty.

«The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.»

Saint Augustine

We want you to enjoy something that has been common here for many years and that is disappearing in the modern times. Locals still enjoy these kind of breakfast from time to time but is not a regular thing to do anymore, as modern times marks a rushed routine, making it almost impossible for most. But tourists can do it, and is a really interesting way to start your day in a city you don’t know.

Lito & Fito feeds you with local insight.

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Barcelona city receives around 7.5 million visitors per year; the city has a population of hardly 1.5 million habitants and the biggest density per square metre in Europe after Paris. Myself I´m from the Sagrada Familia neighbourhood, and for me the tourists are part as the city as much as the traffic lights, the tiles on the streets and the post boxes. These amounts of tourists flocking the streets and bars and restaurants has produce a funny reaction from the locals: we hide what we like! If I discover a new place (Bar, Restaurant) that has a good price and me and my friends like it, well…. we try to keep it our secret, we will not talk about the place to other groups of friends, we will not post anything on any social media and we will not made any type of reviews about the place. We keep it for us until becomes too popular and we look for a new place.

Why? Is easy to understand, as this city touristic boom has changed many things in the way locals deal with the reality of their city. Imagine your favourite spot in your local city always crowd with tourists, the restaurant you use to go on Sundays with your parents now have triple the price and the bars around your house have become a multilingual tapas platform.

The phrase, “the place was great as it was full of locals” is a classic amongst the tourists and also shows you how locals try to avoid too touristic spots and search for more affordable sites and other tourists “follow” them searching for “something authentic”.

But believe it or not we like tourism, and we really enjoy see a person from the other end of the world enjoying our way of living, our city and of course our favourite restaurants and bars, the only problem is that sometimes the places become too touristic and we avoid them like cat avoids water.

Thanks to a group of really clever people, restaurant owners and some local empreneurs many places have managed to maintain a balance between the local factor and the touristic reality, and I really love these places.

I like to see a classical big family table of locals beside a table with tourists, which not only are there for the food but for the social element of it. I like to see how the tourist’s looks around the food on the tables of the local costumers trying to decode what they are eating.

These places that managed to keep the loyalty of the local costumers but also integrate the tourist are the best for me and I would like to mention some of them in this blog.

I will start with the Asador de Aranda, actually Asador de Aranda restaurants are all over Spain and they represent the Castilian cuisine at its best. They have three restaurants in Barcelona, two of them downtown and the other in Avenida Tibidabo Street which is my absolute favourite. The food is based in the Castilian tradition of lamb slowly cooked in the owen, with all your Spanish food favourites and excellent wines and desserts.

But the building is what for me gives the plus any outsider wants from Barcelona. The building where Asador de Aranda restaurant is placed is a former high-class family house from the local bourgeoisie, a reference modernist building that oversees the top of Avenida Tibidabo, the city and the sea. Remember to book in advance, it is essential. If you visit Barcelona in winter, lunch will be perfect but for summer I would recommend going for dinnertime and enjoy their terraza.

I could start with other Catalan style restaurants in Barcelona but I will have plenty of times to do so and for me this place is a must for any visitor to the city and the Asador de Aranda represents exactly my vision of the places who manage to balance the local element and the tourism.

http://www.asadordearanda.com

reservastibidabo@asadordearanda.com for bookings.

Avenida del Tibidabo, 31,08022 Barcelona

+34 93 417 01 15

Lito & FIto local insight for non locals.

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Barcelona has been always a city mad about motor sports; motorbike racing is a national sport for the Catalans as many racing world champions are proof of it. Also you will see that Barcelona is plagued with motorbikes, you will only see comparable amounts of scooters in some Asian capitals, but nowhere like Barcelona in Europe, not even in Italy. The Mediterranean weather, the affordable price of the scooters and the city shape with its narrow streets old neighbourhoods combined with the long wide and symmetric streets of l´Eixample make Barcelona the perfect place to own a small motorbike. This is why motorsports are so close to Barcelona people and Catalans.

Next May the 10^th will be a Formula 1 race in the Circuit de Catalunya racing track of Montmeló, www.circuitdebarcelonacatalunya.com  a few miles away from Barcelona city. This is a well known race, as it has been going on since the early 90ts .In this racing track many international motor sports events are held, but before that there was another track, in the city itself called the Montjuïc circuit.

Situated in the mountain overlooking the city from its sea flank, Montjuïc . The track nervously encircled the top of the mountain and it was marked with epic sucess and tragically fatalities too.

The first race took place in 1933, and both cars and motorbikes raced there until the early eighties with its last and tragic Formula 1 race in 1978.

The racing in the mountain was a magic event for the city. Families and fans flocked to the mountain and watched the racing from below the trees on the sides of the tracks. It was a picnic day for many that perfectly matched any Sunday plans.

Today you will see that Barcelona has the same traffic congestion problems as any other city, with perfectly timed rush hours when everyone decides to do the same things at the same time, Friday afternoons and Monday mornings are its best examples. But the visitor will be surprised by the quality of Barcelona public transport, even if expensive compared with other Spanish cities. It is really very good, you can reach almost any spot in Barcelona by public transport, the underground is perfect to move around the city.

Barcelona was also home of the beginning of the Spanish car industry , Hipano Suiza a mythical car maker was born in Paseo de San Juan street in Barcelona, a Pegaso factory was situated in the port area. The new SEAT factory is only few miles from the city centre, and the motorbikes maker Derbi created its products in the streets of Barcelona. Other car makers have establish themselves in Catalunya and with different success levels they added more to the local tradition of motorsport. Other events related to motorsport are the Catalunya Costa Brava rally, the 24 hours resistance and the Car Maker auto show that takes place in Barcelona every year.

Lito & Fito, on your marks, get set, go!!!

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It was not that long ago, but before mobiles, maybe around the time of the Walkman!. Back in those days Sant Jordi day or “día de Sant Jordi”

in Barcelona was somehow something different. Don´t miss understand me; the great things of Sant Jordi day are still here: the colours, the thrill of finding an interesting book, the gift of the rose, the long lines waiting for an author to autograph your book or even special celebration cakes that are only made on this day.

Now this day is bigger, way bigger than it used to be. Take the tourist as an example. Before back in the time of the Walkman you could hardly see any tourists at the book stalls in the old times, or carrying a rose in their hands. Now Sant Jordi, the rose and the book are one more of the myriad of cultural events that make Barcelona one of these places that many people want to see. Because this city, as Sant Jordis day, has changed a lot, for most this change has been a good thing.

But Sant Jordi is more than what you see in the streets, what Sant Jordi was really about was to find that book for the people you care for. The tradition says you give a rose to the woman and a book to the man, but in my family we also gave books to the women. The book you chose would be a way to show how much you knew them, their interests, their likes and dislikes, and that is a challenge.

With the rose it is different. If you had a girlfriend one of the worst things you could do was not to give her a rose on Sant Jordis day!, but don’t forget your female relatives , each one of them MUST receive a rose too! Big business the rose! I have a friend who MUST give a rose to each one of his female employees when he arrives to his office first thing in the morning on Sant Jordis day. Now they even sell blue roses, of course a wink to FC Barcelona and its marketing muscle!

Another fact with the rose is that the price goes down in the afternoon, and they are cheaper in less central neighbourhoods. That was my tactic when I was a student. I had many roses to buy J, so I walked long ways to find the roses with the right price. So remember if money is an issue and you don´t want to spend over the odds then try and buy the rose after 19:00h and as far away from the city centre as possible! The rose also became a fast income source in my student days. Once, and together with some friends we bought hundreds of roses the previous day in a big market miles away from the city. Then on the 23^rd we sold them for almost ten times the original price! That was nice to make an extra penny or two but it also meant you lost two days of classes.

I will skip the political and cultural implications of a day like Sant Jordi, but for Catalunya and Barcelona it is a really big deal. Just wanted to give you my view and memories of a day that above all the things I mentioned before is for me an excuse to wonder around the city, see its neighbours thriving with a positive energy and saying a formal hello to the spring.

Lito & Fito Experiences based on real memories.

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Today we launch Lito y Fito, we hope you enjoy the experience!!!!!!