Category: #wearedotbarcelona

The .barcelona domain fosters culture

Posted on by Comunicació

Barcelona is a global leader in culture. Along with Madrid, the city is the national culture and science capital for the performing arts, theatre, urban culture, music and gastronomy. Culture is one of the main reasons why every year Barcelona attracts people from all over the world.

This is why cultural institutions and stakeholders in the city use the .barcelona for their websites. Being linked with the Barcelona brand in the realm of culture generates opportunities within the city and elsewhere.

Many cultural institutions use a .barcelona domain. Here are some of them:

  • La Model. The former prison which has been part of Barcelona’s contemporary history since 1904. As the name suggests, the prison had to act as a model in terms of the treatment of inmates and ended up symbolising repression in the city. The complex has now embarked on a process to become a leading space for culture in the Esquerra de l’Eixample neighbourhood. 
  • OFFF Barcelona. A meeting point for design talents from around the world, this international festival for digital creativity, art and design was held at the Disseny Hub Barcelona from 5 to 7 May 2022.
  • Urban Art Barcelona. This open platform for artists producing all types of street art puts the city at the forefront for all artistic trends revolutionising the new paradigms of urban art. The platform organises artistic events and showcases artists and their work.
  • FAD. Also based at the Disseny Hub Barcelona, Fostering Arts and Design is a non-profit organisation of professionals and companies linked to design. Cristina Gosálvez, head of communications with FAD, opts to link the brand with the city: “With both our social media and our domain we’ve chosen to link ourselves with Barcelona to set ourselves apart from other international organisations”.
  • Jazz Barcelona. And lastly, an example of how the world of culture and the Barcelona brand do wonders when they work together. This is the case with the traditional Barcelona Jazz Festival. In the words of Agustín Borlán, from The Project, the company which organises the festival: “The advantages of having a .barcelona domain are obvious, from directly linking the festival and the city to the realm of publicity. Barcelona is jazz during the festival, so nothing beats jazz.barcelona for getting the message across”.

Model Barcelona Architectures Festival’s got the dot!

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The first edition of the Model Barcelona Architectures Festival is set to turn the city into an experimental lab from 5 to 15 May, the goal being to rethink urban environments and build new perceptions to move towards the cities of the future. The recently launched website model.barcelona offers full information on the festival.

The first edition of the Model Barcelona Architectures Festival gets under way with the theme of “Regrowth”, the aim being to explore new perspectives, lines of thought and values that will help refocus the growth of the city.

The ten-day event sees the city host a global dialogue on the conflicts, challenges and opportunities that converge in urban environments, with international experts offering their vision of the cities of the future.

Over a hundred activities

Jointly organised by Barcelona City Council and the Architects’ Association of Catalonia (COAC), the festival is to offer a series of debates in iconic spaces in Barcelona, as well as a tribute to Oriol Bohigas at the Ateneu Barcelonès and over a hundred activities organised by independent bodies. These include open days, workshops for people of all ages, physical installations and augmented reality, communal meals, routes, debates, exhibitions, book fairs and even a film cycle.

Participants in the Model festival include key figures in architecture, philosophy and anthropology, along with emerging thinkers. Notable names include Rotor, Carolyn Steel, Rafael Moneo and Carme Pinós.

This first edition of the festival represents a first major event ahead of the city becoming the UIA-UNESCO Word Capital of Architecture 2026.

The .barcelona domain as a loudhailer for local gastronomy

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Barcelona is a global leader in gastronomy and has its own identity in this sphere. One of the things which attracts tourists to the city every year is its wide array of restaurants, the variety on offer and the options for all budgets and tastes, something the city’s restaurateurs are well aware of.

Making use of a .barcelona website for a restaurant in the city offers a loudhailer and a business opportunity: the value of the Barcelona brand enjoys worldwide renown.

This is why more and more gastronomy businesses are choosing the .barcelona domain to represent them on the internet. One example is the Bao Bar, where customers can enjoy these typical Asian sandwiches with a local touch: “We chose to be part of .barcelona because it’s very important for us to position ourselves geographically in our city”, affirms Irene Lopo, from the Bao Bar.

Other important gastronomy spaces in the city using the .barcelona domain include the Moka Restaurant, La Boqueria, the iconic Sol Soler in the Gràcia neighbourhood and the Pastisseria Brunells, one of the city’s oldest cake shops.

If you want to associate your business with the .barcelona brand, you can find full information here.

“boqueria.barcelona is our market’s showcase to the world”

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The founding stone of the Mercat de Sant Josep was laid on 19 March 1840, yet the history of this market, popularly known as La Boqueria, dates back to the 13th century. There are currently over 200 establishments opening daily at the market, offering local people and visitors a unique range of gastronomy and culture in the city. We spoke to Òscar Ubide i Marcet, the manager at the market, and asked him to explain its importance for the city and its identification with the .barcelona domain.

-The Mercat de la Boqueria is not just any market. How does your location in the city and the type of people who go to the market have an impact?

Its location halfway down La Rambla means lots of tourists go to the market. There’s a mix of customers, with restauranteurs, locals and people from other places too.

-The history of the market dates back centuries. How important is it for the market to maintain this legacy and to show it to the world?

It’s very important in two ways. On the one hand, in maintaining a structure, often archaic, which continues to offer customers fresh produce a thousand years on. On the other hand, in terms of visitors, to show them a space which in many cases is older than their countries. This is very powerful.

-Activities at the market also go beyond food. What values do the market’s cultural activities bring and how relevant are they for La Boqueria?

For us it’s an obligation to go beyond the action of buying and selling. We have always had strong ties with the neighbourhood, the city and the country, and this is why the market must offer culture, nutrition, technology and all the things linked to food that we can show.

-How important is it for the Mercat de la Boqueria to have a website? For instance, when it comes to informing people about the activities held there?

It’s our showcase to the world. Many people use the site to check what stalls there are and where to find them, while others check the agenda to see what activities we offer there.

-How does the market’s website help establish a closer relationship with local people in Ciutat Vella?

Well precisely that, by people identifying stalls and their contact details and checking activities.

-Boqueria and Barcelona are two very closely linked concepts. How important is it for the Mercat de la Boqueria to be identified through the .barcelona domain?

The moment the domain appeared, we thought it was the one which connected with the market better than other existing domains, and that it strengthened our identity and our image. Whenever we give the domain to others it comes as a positive surprise to them.

-The .barcelona domain represents a map of opportunities in gastronomy, culture, commerce and sports for iconic organisations and projects in Barcelona. How does this community map of Barcelona help the Mercat de la Boqueria?

We believe that as a market and an iconic city facility, we are doing our little bit to strengthen the domain and what it represents, the strength and personality of our city.

Barcelona with Ukraine

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Given the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation and the resulting social emergency, Barcelona has made preparations to provide shelter and guarantee the rights of refugees in the city. The website ciutatrefugi.barcelona offers full information for refugees and for people wishing to help out.

This .barcelona website will be regularly updated to respond to the social emergency resulting from the conflict in Ukraine.

The site includes resources for refugees arriving in the city and facilitates information for members of the public wishing to collaborate or offer support for those affected by the conflict.

The “Barcelona, Refuge City” project was set up in September 2015 to prepare the city to provide shelter, assistance and necessary services to guarantee the rights of refugees, as well as to urge states to comply with the most basic rules on human rights.

More information: ciutatrefugi.barcelona

LGBTI Centre: a pioneering space for sexual and gender diversity

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Located at Carrer del Comte Borrell, 22, the Barcelona LGBTI Centre is a leading facility in the sphere of LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersexual) and uses the .barcelona domain as part of its communication strategy.

The centre offers guidance, advice and direct support, as well as giving a voice to artistic expression and collective action. To ensure all types of assistance for its users, the centre has specialists in psychology, social work, law, healthcare, community management and more. It also has its own protocol for tackling LGBTI-phobic aggression, in conjunction with municipal services such as the Office for Non-Discrimination, the Barcelona Social Emergency and Urgent Care Centre and the Prosecution Service for Hate Crimes.

Cultural and awareness programme

The centre is also a place for artistic expression and standing up for the historical memory of the LGBTI movement. To this end, it hosts exhibitions, discussion cycles, lectures, debates, performing arts shows, screenings and reading clubs, details of which can be found at centrelgtbi.barcelona. One example is the “Corporalitats” cycle being held until the end of April, offering a series of activities to explore bodily diversity in all its joyful resilience, such as the photography exhibition “Les corps incorruptibles”, by Emilie Hallard, a declaration of feminist, queer and anti-racist love. Besides these photos, the centre is also offering mini-videos of the documentary “Famílies Trans*”, by Mar Llop, a project giving a voice to 29 families bringing up children according to their felt gender.

Over 1,200 square metres of multi-purpose space

With its 1,254 square metres of space, the LGBTI Centre offers a welcome and information area, a display area with a regular programme open to all, an auditorium with a capacity for 100 people, a healthcare area, a family area and five rooms for meetings, counselling, training and workshops.

The centre is managed by the Platform for Catalan LGBTI Organisations, the federation that brings together various LGBTI rights entities. Their volunteer work and initiatives give the centre vitality.

What do you know about the Barcelona Ring Roads LEZ?

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Vehicles which pollute the most have been unable to access the low emission zone (LEZ) delimited by the city’s ring roads (Rondes) since 2020. The area covers over 95 square kilometres and circulation restrictions apply to the most pollutant vehicles with the aim of protecting the atmosphere, people’s health and the environment.

The LEZ covers the entire municipality of Barcelona (except for Zona Franca and the neighbourhood of Vallvidrera, el Tibidabo i les Planes), the municipality of Hospitalet de Llobregat and part of the municipalities of Cornellà de Llobregat, Esplugues de Llobregat and Sant Adrià de Besòs.

Users can keep up with all the information relating to the Barcelona Ring Roads LEZ on the project’s website at zbe.barcelona, which uses the city domain to provide details and the latest news on this programme. The site includes information such as which vehicles are affected by the restrictions, details on the regulations, applying for daily authorisations for the most pollutant vehicles to circulate and information on what is being done in terms of sustainable mobility.

Reduction in journeys by vehicles that pollute the most

Since the low emission zone was announced, the most pollutant vehicles have been replaced. These are vehicles which are not suitable to be issued with an environmental rating badge from the Directorate General for Traffic (DGT). In three years, journeys made by cars and motorbikes which pollute the most have dropped, with 550,000 fewer journeys.

At the same time, between the first half of 2020 and February 2021, the volume of vehicles circulating within the LEZ without the environmental badge from the DGT fell from between 9 and 10% to between 3.5 and 4.5%.

Moratorium for vans, lorries and coaches being replaced

The circulation of vehicles without the DGT badge, namely lorries and small coaches (N2, N3 and M2) affected by the end of the moratorium on 31 December, is currently allowed as long as vehicle owners sign a declaration of their intention to acquire a new vehicle. This declaration involves a commitment to renew the vehicle by 30 June 2022. With the moratoriums now over, the hope is that the volume of vehicles circulating in the Ring Roads LEZ without the DGT environmental badge will drop to below 1%.

Vehicles with the following badges can continue to circulate in the LEZ with no restrictions from working Mondays to Fridays this year, between 7 am and 8 pm:

  • Yellow badge (B)
  • Green badge (C)
  • Eco badge (Eco)
  • 0 badge (Zero emissions)

“Barcelona is jazz during the festival, so there’s nothing better than jazz.barcelona to get that across”

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We spoke to Agustín Borlán from TheProject, the company organising the Voll-Damm Barcelona Jazz Festival. Borlán is in charge of communications for Amics del Jazz, the festival’s loyalty collective, and is also part of the communications team.

Tell us a bit about the history of the Barcelona Jazz Festival

Crumbs! That’s not easy considering we’re into the 53rd edition. The festival started on 3 November 1966, with a concert by The Dave Brubeck Quartet at the Palau de la Música Catalana, and since then it’s only failed to be held in Barcelona on two occasions. The main universal jazz figures have taken part, from Duke Ellington to Sarah Vaughan, Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett, Ella Fitzgerald, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Nina Simone, Jimmy Smith, Ornette Coleman and many more. The local scene has always featured heavily in the programme, which has witnessed the rise of greats such as Andrea Motis and the Sant Andreu Jazz Band. It includes a globally unique cycle of masterclasses from the participating artists themselves, and in 2008 a book was published with the history of the festival, marking its first forty editions.

How important is digitalisation in your business? What channels do you use to communicate with clients?

A sector like ours needs strong connections with the digital framework, as this is basically where ticket sales happen. Traditional channels have less and less impact on the public, hence the shift towards digital publicity. Besides our website and mailshots, which would be the first line of contact, the festival’s social media offer an excellent means of reaching our target audience and also allow for paid advertising campaigns to broaden our follower base and sales. In this respect, investments through Google in both research and display become important tools for promotion and marketing.

What is the bond between the Jazz Festival and Barcelona?

The festival collaborates with institutions here such as the Conservatori del Liceu and the Palau Robert, which is hosting the second edition of the DO Jazz Cat cycle this year and features emerging talent. The concerts are not just held in one place. They take place at big venues such as L’Auditori and the Palau de la Música Catalana, as well as small-format places such as the Harlem Jazz Club and the Milano Jazz Club. The Jazz & Food event, which was a big hit before the pandemic, offered people a free-access family event full of swing and gastronomy. The festival has also offered activities around the library network, at the Filmoteca de Catalunya and other public spaces, taking the big jazz festival out into different corners of the city.

The domain chosen is .barcelona. Why did you opt for .barcelona, what advantages does it give you?

Obviously, that domain didn’t exist in 1966 and neither did any others. For a long time we had more of an ‘international’ domain, but we didn’t hold back when .barcelona came along as the brand was much clearer and geolocated. At the beginning it was a risky move, as changing after so many years prompted certain confusion because of its simplicity, but now everybody agrees it was a good choice. The advantages are obvious, from the direct link between the festival and the city to a more compact, direct and simple brand in the realm of publicity. Barcelona is jazz during the festival, so there’s nothing better than jazz.barcelona to get that across.

Sustainable food’s got the dot!

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The Seasons Menu offers ideas and recipes to foster a healthy and sustainable diet which is good for people and good for the planet, at the same time backing the local economy and the city’s bars and restaurants. The project is being implemented within the context of Barcelona’s role as the World Sustainable Food Capital, an initiative offering over ninety projects and sustainable food policies in a programme which has been running throughout the year.

Sustainable and seasonal local ingredients provide the base for the new menu, designed by three hotel schools and the chef Pere Carrió, from the restaurant Gat Blau. The winter menu, published on the .barcelona website for Sustainable Food, defends the fight against food waste and backs the use of local seasonal produce to help reduce the impact of our food system. The recipes for this edition have been developed by Pere Carrió, chef at the restaurant Gat Blau, the Escola d’Hoteleria i Turisme, operated by the University of Barcelona (CETT), the Escola Superior d’Hostaleria i Turisme Jesuïtes Sarrià – Sant Gervasi and the Escola Superior d’Hostaleria de Barcelona (ESHOB).

The winter menu rounds off the Seasons Menu for this year, which began with the spring menu, courtesy of the chef Carme Ruscalleda. The recipe can be tasted at over 160 restaurants in Barcelona and around Catalonia which have signed up to take part in the Seasons Menu.

The Sustainable Food website also offers other recipes which are recommended as you can make them at home, along with information on healthy eating using seasonal produce, ideas for looking after the planet, workshops, activities and resources for promoting sustainable food.

Shops and businesses in Nou Barris are dot Barcelona

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A new project promoted by the .barcelona domain and the district of Nou Barris will help shops and businesses go digital in this part of the city. The initiative forms part of the social programme by the .barcelona domain, whereby all the funds raised are reinvested to create new projects with a social impact.

Thanks to the project https://www.domini.barcelona/en/elmeucomerc/, shops and businesses in Nou Barris wishing to take part will be able to get their new website published with the .barcelona domain through a quick and easy free process. Registering their .barcelona domain also links them to city values such as enterprise, innovation, proximity and diversity. Their web paths will also be included on the route map and promoted on the communication channels for the .barcelona digital community.

How to take part?

The promotion concludes at the end of December and is open to shops and businesses forming part of commerce networks in the district of Nou Barris, until the limit of 50 establishments for the first edition is reached. Registrations will be accepted in order of reception, and if the offer is oversubscribed the promotors will consider the option of a waiting list for establishments to be included in a new edition of the initiative.

To access the promotion, go to https://www.domini.barcelona/en/elmeucomerc/ for full information and the terms and conditions for taking part. The final step of the registration process is completed on the website for the Nominalia registration company, which is collaborating with the promotion and is tasked with creating the new website.

What will the new website be like?

The site will consist of a single page with vertical navigation and four sections: Who we are, What we do, Where we are and Contact. It will be connected with the establishment’s social media and feature a QR code, a contact form and the option of locating the business on a map. In addition, the promotion includes free registration of the domain for the first year, three email addresses, help with queries, online training to update the website, drafting of legal texts and more.