In a context of climate emergency, the search for innovative solutions to achieve greater comfort and energy efficiency in buildings is essential. Barcelona is testing three prototypes that use industrialised construction to respond to the challenge to improve the habitability and sustainability of existing buildings, reducing CO₂ emissions and energy consumption.
The three winning projects from the ideas competition launched in 2022 by the Fundació BIT Habitat and the Municipal Institute of Urban Planning are the prototypes ALIGRA, Regenerar Barcelona and InnoFAB. The projects consist of large modules that resemble three building façades, designed to adapt to existing residential blocks.
Made of wood and metal, the structures add a new façade to buildings and help create new spaces (balconies, new rooms and communal areas), or to improve their insulation and the impact of the sun. Constructions are also planned for rooftops, to add solar panelling, green rooftops and enable buildings to collect and reuse rainwater. These industrial systems can be manufactured in parts in workshops and then assembled directly on buildings quickly, easily and economically.
The three prototypes will be monitored for 12 months at a site on the Campus Diagonal – Besòs of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), in Sant Adrià de Besòs, to assess their impact for health and comfort, urban resilience, energy efficiency, circular economy and biodiversity. This will be possible thanks to the installation of a smart sensor system able to continuously measure various parameters. You can find more information on the website bithabitat.barcelona.
If you’ve recently registered a .barcelona domain and you already had a website, now it’s time to migrate your website to the new domain. We know this can be a complex task and that it needs to be planned properly. While we advise you to do this with the help of a programming professional, here we explain what you need to bear in mind when it comes to the migration.
1. Planning the migration and assessing the current site
Before you start the migration, you need to plan the change properly and review the state of the current website. This is a good time to produce an inventory of the content and decide what we want to keep and what’s now obsolete.
One way of knowing what content generates the most interest is to analyse the traffic that your site gets, this way you can see which pages get the most visits and the resources used the most by your visitors.
2. Preparing the new domain
If you haven’t done so already, before the migration you need to register the .barcelona domain: Make sure the new domain is registered and configured correctly. To do this, check the list of accredited registration companies that appear on our website. Here you’ll find the services they offer, as well as their set-up and renewal charges.
Once you have the domain registered, you need to configure the new hosting: If you’re changing your hosting service provider, make sure the new server is ready for your website. If you’re unsure, contact your new provider for help.
3. Transferring content
This is one of the key points in the migration. We recommend that from this point on you proceed with the help of somebody with programming knowledge.
You’ll need to make a complete back-up copy of your current site, including all the files in the database. Once you’ve made a copy of the files, the transfer to the new server associated with the .barcelona domain can be carried out.
Besides the files, you also need to migrate the database from your current website and import it to the new server.
4. DNS configuration
DNS configuration is crucial for your new .barcelona domain to lead to your website correctly. You need to access the control panel of your domain and update the A and CNAM registers with the IP address of your server. These changes can take up to 48 hours to be applied across the whole of the internet. Finally, you need to check that your website loads correctly and that all the links work.
5. Redirections and SEO
To maintain site traffic and SEO when you carry out the migration to the .barcelona domain, you need to configure 301 redirections from the former domain to the new one and ensure that visitors and search engines are directed correctly. You will also need to update all external links, as well as sitemap.xml and robots.txt files to reflect the new URLs. The permanent redirections will help preserve the position of the website and the authority of your website.
6. Verification and testing
After migrating to the .barcelona domain, check that all the pages load correctly and there are no 404 errors. Check all the forms and links work as they should. You can add the new domain to the Google Search Console to monitor its performance and ensure that Google Analytics is configured to monitor the traffic to the site. Keep checking the website to detect and solve any issues.
7. Communication with users
After migrating to the .barcelona domain, inform your users and customers of the change through communications and updates on social media. Make sure that all platforms and marketing materials reflect the new domain. Establish a support channel to help users with any problems they might have. Monitor your site to identify and quickly solve any issues that appear after the migration.
Finally, we recommend you carry out the migration at a time when your website has little traffic, so if something isn’t working you can always recover the website with the back-up copy you made at the start. We hope this step-by-step process will help guide you with migrating your website to the .barcelona domain.
We recently had the chance to meet part of the team from cdmon. We spoke to David Blanch, Digital Director, and to Marina Moreno, Marketing Specialist and Content Writer with the registration company.
During the meeting we addressed various topics to help promote the .barcelona domain in this new stage. cdmon showed great interest in exploring new forms of collaboration that can help boost the presence of .barcelona domains in the digital market. Their experience and knowledge of the market and its needs make them an essential partner for the future of the domain.
We hope soon to be able to outline some of the initiatives we are working on with cdmon for the .barcelona domain. The aim of all of them is to offer the best possible service and promote the values and advantages of the .barcelona domain in the digital sphere.
One of Barcelona’s classic summer events is back. The Grec festival goes into its 48th edition with a return to its origins. This year’s programme is an inner journey, in search of the essence of this performing arts event and looking back at the history of the theatre. Most of all, the event seeks to celebrate artistic friendships and the alliances formed over the last eight years.
The programme includes big names from the international scene, essential figures in theatre, dance and circus arts: Lola Arias, Angélica Liddell, Christiane Jatahy, Jan Lauwers, Krzysztof Warlikowski, William Forsythe, Johan le Guilhem and Hofesh Schechter will be bringing their projects to the Teatre Lliure, the Mercat de les Flors and the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya.
Artists and companies with strong ties to the Grec also play a prominent part in this year’s programme.Silvia Pérez Cruz will be opening this edition with the project Circular, based on her latest disc, Toda la vida, un dia, offering three days of performances surrounded by artist friends. Other names at this year’s Grec includeAntònia Font, Pau Vallvé and Kae Tempest.
The festival extends to more than fifty venues in Barcelona from 26 June to 4 August, with 81 shows and over 51 parallel activities. You’ll find full information and ticket purchasing on the website: festivalgrec.barcelona.
Can you imagine a website where you can download over 17,000 free photos of Barcelona? It exists, and it’s calledimatges.barcelona, a repository created at the end of 2020 and allowing users to dip into a huge archive of photos of the city in different resolutions.
You will also find them organised into themed galleries, such as those for Sant Jordi 2024 and the Pla Endreça. In addition, the site offers a selection of the best photos every month in the current gallery. If you’d like to know where they are from, you can activate the map to automatically geolocate them.
Once you select the images you want, bear in mind that they are subject to a Creative Commonslicence, which allows them to be published freely, but they must be duly accredited and not used for commercial purposes or any works that result from them.
We recommend you spend some time browsing the archive and discovering everything that imatges.barcelona has to offer. Remember it just keeps growing too! When you come back you’ll always find new photos of the city.
The .barcelona domain was present at the latest edition of the e-Show Barcelona, the city’s leading event for the digital and technology sector, held at Fira de Barcelona on 13 and 14 May.
At the stand we shared with the .cat domain and the registration company DonDominio, we were able to introduce the new image for the .barcelona domain to members of the public, including professionals from the digital world, companies, entrepreneurs and technology enthusiasts.
Taking part in the e-Show Barcelona was clearly also a great opportunity to highlight the characteristics and values of the .barcelona domain, ideal for those wishing to connect with Barcelona through the internet.
During the event, we were able to resolve doubts, provide personalised advice and demonstrate successful cases of people and companies that have already adopted the domain for their digital presence. Sharing this space with the DonDominio registration company made it easier for visitors to get detailed information on registering a .barcelona domain and related services.
As ever, we would like to thank those who visited us on the stand. If you have any more queries about the domain or need advice, you can contact us on social media or use our contact form.
A new issue of the magazine Metròpolis Barcelona has been published with a new look. The magazine has a new design and its content has also been reorganised. Headed by Milagros Pérez Oliva, this quarterly publication will continue to foster calm and collected debate among the public, away from the vertigo of our times.
Issue 130, now available in full online on the websitemetropolis.barcelona, reflects on the city of five million people, how the metropolis has overwhelmed administrative borders, and calls for a coordinated transformation of public spaces and policies.
The magazine can also be downloaded in pdf format, purchased as a hard copy from the Sala Ciutat, or received directly by email by signing up for its newsletter.
Representatives from the .barcelona domain played an active role in the ICANN Contracted Parties meeting in Paris from 6 to 8 May. The event brought together domains, registration companies and groups of interest for the industry to address important topics for domains at a global level.
During the meeting we were able to meet with other geographical and city domains. We also played an active part in the various discussion sessions centring on important matters for the domain community, such as the NIS2 European regulation and the abuse of DNS. The NIS2 is an important regulation affecting cybersecurity at a European level and will come into force in October this year. On a separate note, DNS abuse, such as the improper use of domains for malicious activities, are a habitual concern for registration companies and we have been working for years to establish protocols that enable cases of abuse to be identified and eradicated quickly.
The presence and active participation of the .barcelona domain at this meeting demonstrates our commitment to the ongoing improvement of the domain industry and the defence of the interests of the digital community.
The LGBTI Centre is celebrating! Located at Comte Borrell, 22, the facility has been celebrating its fifth anniversary, becoming consolidated as a leading centre in theLGBTI sphere (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, trans and intersexual) in Barcelona.
The party was held on Saturday, 18 May. Activities in the morning were aimed at families, while in the afternoon the focus moved to Plaça Catalunya, with performances from Jim, LLUM, Chico Blanco and Oro Jondo, in an event hosted by Brigitta Lamoure.
During these first five years in operation, the LGBTI Centre has offered guidance, advice and direct support. The centre has specialists in psychology, social work, law, healthcare and community management, plus its own protocol for combatting LGBTI-phobic aggressions.
The centre is also a place for artistic expression and asserting the historical memory of the LGBTI movement. It hosts exhibitions, talks, lectures, debates, performing arts displays, screenings and reading clubs. The programme can be found on the website centrelgtbi.barcelona.
Barcelona is preparing a new edition of the eShow, to be held on 13 and 14 May. The annual event is the leading fair in e-commerce and digital marketing, bringing together professionals from the e-commerce sector, digital marketing, big data and AI.
The .barcelona domain will be represented at a joint stand with the .cat domain and the registration company Don Dominio. In addition, all those who drop in and see us will be offered a special promotion: a .barcelona domain with free hosting for a whole year. Through this promotion, we want to help local companies and start-ups to boost their business in the digital environment.
We’ll be delighted to share our new .barcelona domain image with everybody at the fair and address your doubts and queries relating to the domain. See you at the eShow Barcelona!
