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Practical advice

Tax Free

Consumer products in the European Union carry 16% Value Added Tax (IVA). For more information, call 900 333 555.

Services and tips

In restaurants, menu prices are obliged to include all services. Only where menus indicate "IVA no incluido" (VAT not included), may this be added to the bill. Tips are not obligatory, although they are often given when the service is satisfactory.

Electricity

The most common electrical current is 220 volts and 50 Hz, although in older buildings this may be 125 volts.

Post

You can buy stamp at the tobacconist's or at post offices. To send parcels you have to go to the post office. Post boxes for mail are distributed all over the city, in easily recognisable yellow (normal mail) or red (urgent mail).

  • Central Post Office
    Via Laietana, 1
    Barcelona
    Telephone: (+34) 93 310 04 04
    Opening times: Mondays to Saturdays, 08.00 - 20.00. Closed Sundays
    For stamps, parcels, telegrams, phone calls, telex and fax.
  • L'Eixample Post Office
    Aragó, 282 (paseo de Gràcia)
    Barcelona
    Telephone: (+34) 93 216 04 53
    Opening times: Mondays to Fridays, 08.00 - 21.00; Saturdays, 09.00 - 14.00. Closed Sundays.
    Postal service only.

Telephones

Public telephones take coins or phone cards which can be purchased from tobacconist's.

  1. 1. To make a telephone call:
    To make international calls first dial 00, then the country code and finally the regional code and the subscriber's number. To make local or provincial calls you must dial the code for the province and then the subscriber's number.
  2. 2. To receive a call:
    If someone needs to call you from abroad, they must dial 34 for Spain, 93 for Barcelona and then the corresponding telephone number.

Fax

You can send or receive a fax at the central post office, from Sants station or from any of the bookshops or photocopy shops which now offer this public service.

Sants station
Opening times: Mondays to Saturdays, 08.30 - 21.00.
Telephone and fax service.

Internet

There are several establishments all over Barcelona which have Internet connections, especially in the city centre. For more information, call 010 or log on to http://www.easyeverything.com.

Main fiestas and festivals

The diversity of festivals which Barcelona offers its citizens and visitors is one of the most complete and varied in Europe. Some of the most famous are the Festival Grec, which takes place during the summer; the Jazz Festival in the autumn, and the Sónar Festival for electronic culture and music, also during the summer.

The calendar of festivities in Barcelona is, without doubt, one which is lively, rich and of great cultural interest. They normally take place in the street, where collective creativity, artistic variety and a spirit of participation become signs of enrichment and shared vitality. The following are some of the most established fiestas: the Kings' Parade (January 5th); Carnival (February); Santa Eulàlia, co-patron of Barcelona (February 12th); Sant Jordi (Saint George's Day), the day of books and roses (April 23rd); Saint John's Eve, celebrating the summer solstice, a night of bonfires and fireworks (June 23rd); the Fiestas de la Mercè, celebrated all over the city and during which a million people take part in 382 spectacles of all types and which take place in Septermber; and the Santa Llúcia Fair, in preparation for the Christmas festivities and the winter solstice (in December).

In addition to these fiestas there are also the annual fiestas celebrated locally by each neighbourhood in honour of their traditional patron or patrons.

Calendar of holidays in Barcelona:

  • 1st January: New Year's Day (Spain)
  • 6th January: The Epiphany (Spain)
  • Good Friday: variable every year(Spain)
  • Easter Monday: variable every year (Catalonia)
  • 1st May: Labour Day (Spain)
  • Whit Monday: variable every year (Barcelona)
  • 15th August: Ascension Day (Spain)
  • 11th September: National Day of Catalonia (Catalonia)
  • 24th September: La Mercè Saint's Day (Barcelona)
  • 12th October: Columbus Day (Spain)
  • 1st November: All Saint's Day(Spain)
  • 6th December: Constitution Day (Spain)
  • 8th December: The Immaculate Conception (Spain)
  • 25the December: Christmas Day (Spain)
  • 26th December: Saint Stephen's Day (Catalonia)

At newspaper stands you can find the weekly Guía del Ocio, which offers information about cinema, theatre, musicals, exhibitions, museums, restaurants and other current activities in Barcelona.

For more information about cultural activities in Barcelona, contact:

Opening times in Barcelona

Businesses open at 10.00 and close for lunch between 13.30 and 14.00. Afternoon opening times are usually from 16.30 or 17.00 to 20.00 or 21.00. Some large stores - department stores and hypermarkets - do not close at midday.

Restaurants are open from 13.00 or 13.30 until 15.30 or 16.00. In the evening they open from 20.00 or 20.30 and close between 24.00 and 01.00.

Cafeterias and bars are open all day, from 07.00 or 08.00 to 23.00 or 24.00. Some close even later, at 01.00 or 01.30.

Banks and savings banks open Monday to Friday, in general from 08.30 to 14.00. Some banks open on Saturday mornings, and savings banks open on Thursday afternoons from 16.30 to 19.45, except from June to September.

Cinemas normally offer sessions at about 16.00, 18.00, 20.00 and 22.00. Some cinemas offer late-night sessions at 24.00 at weekends.

Theatre times are very variable, but as a rule it could be said that from Tuesday to Saturday performances begin between 21.00 and 22.00, and on Sunday between 18.00 and 20.00. Normally there is no performance on Mondays.

Museum opening times are very variable, but as a rule it could be said that from Tuesdays to Saturdays they open morning and afternoon, until midday on Sundays, and close on Mondays.

Climate

Barcelona enjoys a Mediterraneran climate, and extreme temperatures are uncommon. Average temperatures throughout the year (in degrees centigrade) are as follows:

January February March April May June
9º 10º 12º 14º 17º 21º
July August September October November December
24º 24º 21º 17º 13º 10º

Accommodation

Accommodation and lodgings services for foreign students

Barcelona Centro Universitario offers accommodation for foreign students through the Barcelona Housing Service for Students (booking office), where students can choose from seven different types of service:

  • Information and enquiries.
  • Flat rental service for young people.
  • Rooms in shared apartments.
  • Lodgers club: living with families.
  • University residences.
  • Youth groups and associations.
  • Special service for foreign students.

For more information:

Other useful addresses:

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