Their work has seen the number of unlicensed online ads reduce by 70%

Barcelona City Council and holiday rental websites have pledged to work towards zero tolerance on illegal tourist flats and to explore all possible means of working together to be quicker at immediately removing them from the Internet. The work of the “Visualitzadors” (Spotters), who actively search for illegal tourist activity, has been key to reducing the amount of illegal accommodation advertised by 70%. The municipal government has called for holiday rental websites to be held jointly accountable for compliance with the law and stop advertising illegal flats: "Barcelona has drawn the line, which is the law, and we will work with the websites towards joint and collective zero tolerance”, said deputy mayor, Janet Sanz. To do so, "the city wants to reach the point of having zero ads for illegal tourist accommodation, with the support of the website operators". This was the position of municipal officials Janet Sanz and Agustí Colom after attending a new meeting of the holiday rental websites action group, along with representatives of Booking.com, Airbnb, Apartur, Homeaway, Rentalia and TripAdvisor, as well as municipal technical staff connected with the areas concerned. The Spotters’ mission is to search for illegal tourist activity in order to safeguard improvements to the coexistence of all Barcelona citizens by ensuring that activities linked to tourist accommodation are standardised, as well as guaranteeing the proper functioning of those activities and highlighting any improper use. The Spotters’ duties, as required by the City Council, include, among other things, actively searching for illegal tourist accommodation and spotting other activities or aspects of public and city life that do not comply with municipal byelaws. A 70% reduction in the amount of illegal accommodation advertised thanks to City Council inspections
The emergency action plan to tackle Illegal Tourist Accommodation has seen the total number of unlicensed ads on Internet sites decrease from 5,875 in 2016 to 1,714 in June 2018. This figure represents a dramatic reduction of 70%. As such, the massive amount of tourist accommodation on offer, which grew exponentially with the appearance of holiday rental websites, has been curtailed, since the sanctions put in place have acted as a deterrent. The numbers on each platform, as of the start of June, show Airbnb with a total of 1,082 illegal ads for apartments, Homeaway with 115, Niumba with 7, Only Apartments with 18, Rentalia with 22, TripAdvisor with 46 and Wimdu with 424. Based on this snapshot of what illegal tourist accommodation is being offered in Barcelona, dating from the beginning of July, the City Council has already sent a request to Airbnb and Wimdu to remove the ads detected as being illegal, and continues its work to detect other ads that may have emerged in recent weeks. Two years of the emergency action plan Two years on from the launch of the emergency action plan against illegal tourist accommodation, started in July 2016 with tools to act more quickly, efficiently and effectively against the overwhelming number of properties on offer, 4,148 warrants have been issued, ordering the properties to be closed, and it has been confirmed that the owners of 2,129 properties – more than half – have obeyed voluntarily and have ceased to operate, while 226 have been ordered to be shut down, showing how effective the municipal action has been. The holiday rental websites action group was created in May 2017 as a forum for stable dialogue between the City Council and the main websites advertising holiday rental accommodation in the city, to promote joint action to improve the sector and action to support Barcelona as a sustainable tourism destination.

The award is given out by TripAdvisor every year from the millions of comments registered on the website

Tibidabo Amusement Park is among the prize winners at the Traveller's Choice Awards 2018, which are allocated annually by the website TripAdvisor, based on the comments and opinions published by users. Tibidabo has been named the 3rd best amusement park in Spain, behind Siam Park in Tenerife and Port Aventura. Tibidabo is also one of the Top 10 amusement parks in Europe, sharing the honour with places such as Disneyland Paris or Europe’s best theme park, Le Puy du Fou. The Traveller's Choice Awards, founded in 2002, evaluate quality, service and the satisfaction of customers and users, who are ultimately the people who decide the winners via their ratings. Therefore, not only do the most popular attractions stand out, but also those that are exceptional, which ensures that holidaymakers keep coming back. TripAdvisor is the largest travel social network on the Internet, with more than 630 million opinions and comments and a reach of 455 million unique visits a month, covering 49 countries around the world.

The Report – the seventh published – demonstrates B:SM's commitment to transparency when providing information about the company's economic, social and environmental sustainability

The 2017 Sustainability Report from Barcelona de Serveis Municipals (Barcelona Municipal Services, or B:SM) is now available, summarising all the work carried out by the organisation in 2017. The publication of the report is an annual commitment by B:SM, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility strategy, the purpose of which is to measure how far the company has met its objectives in economic, social and environmental terms. The most significant achievements made by the company in 2017 have been identified in the report, which also reflects on the challenges set the previous year and highlights the company’s sustainability commitments for 2018. Click here to go to the report
 

David Alcodori, of the People department, has walked the 43 kilometres between Beget and Besalú

Five of B:SM’s “Corresponsables” (Jointly Responsible) team have taken part in the “Transpirenaica” (Trans-Pyrenees) Social Solidarity walk – a journey of more than 800 kilometres through the Pyrenees in which 300 young people at risk of social exclusion have shared the experience with more than 200 professionals from different organisations. The last of the “Corresponsables” to participate was David Alcodori, of the People department, who has walked the 43 kilometres from Beget to Besalú. David joined David Mas, of the Civic Officers, Elisabet Córdoba, of Zona Bus, Nadia El Mouali, of Park Güell, and Gabi López, of Administration and Accounts, who have already participated in the walk. “Transpirenaica” Social Solidarity is a non-profit organisation, created in 2013 as an educational project with the aim of enabling better social integration for young people at risk of exclusion, encouraging their talents by using the mountains as a "classroom". B:SM is taking part in the event as part of the remit of its Social Action and Volunteering programme, which, this year, is focused on poverty and social exclusion.

A total of 11 projects, chosen from the 52 applications received, will benefit from the Foundation’s research and conservation programme

The Barcelona Zoo Foundation has awarded grants which are allocated annually to projects involved in the research, conservation, protection and preservation of wildlife and biodiversity. The grants awarded are the “Floquet de Neu” (Snowflake) grant, the Antoni Jonch grant and the PRIC (Research and Conservation Programme) grants. This year, 52 applications were received, of which 11 projects have been chosen by the jury. The Foundation will contribute €77,000 to fund the 11 projects this year, marking a 50% increase in the research budget and the number of projects in situ. In total, more than €900,000 has been awarded in grants since 2009. The “Floquet de Neu” (Snowflake) grant is the oldest of those handed out, this year being awarded for the 14th time, and is aimed at the best research project on primates. The project chosen, receiving €9,000, is "Urgent conservation surveys for the endangered Ashy red colobus monkey (Piliocolobus tephrosceles) in unprotected areas of Tanzania," by researcher Julius Kibba from the University of Oslo. The Antoni Jonch grant has also been awarded, named after the director of the Zoo from 1965 to 1987 and dedicated to research projects on native fauna. For this 6th awarding of the grant, the jury has decided to give it to "The wild cat (Felis silvestris) populations of Catalonia: Effects on their habitat and the presence of domestic cats on their state of conservation", by researcher Ferran Sayol from the Osona Naturalists Group.
Lastly, the Barcelona Zoo Research and Conservation Programme (PRIC) grants have also been awarded for the 10th time, supporting those projects which fit in with the areas of research that the Foundation wishes to promote.Nine projects have been chosen to receive a combined total of €62,000.

On Sunday 22 there will be a charity concert performed by the Vozes school, which works towards social integration through music

On Sunday 22 July, Tibidabo Park will be the setting for a charity concert performed by the VOZES school, a music-social project that works towards integration through music and aims to contribute to social change. The concert will take place at 8.00 pm at the Plaça dels Somnis, and will be divided into two performances, one by the children’s school and the other by the adults’ school. Vozes provides free access to musical training for children from 3 years old and with no age limit, through 16 “Vozes” areas situated in public schools, educational institutions or civic centres. They work with music as the main means of social and intellectual improvement, achieving results that go beyond music to include improvements to personal skills, academic performance or the quality of family life.
  
Tibidabo Magic On Saturday and Sunday, visitors to the park can also enjoy the magic show, "Encara Belluga" (Still Moving), part of Tibidabo Magic, which is being held every weekend in July. It’s a show with audience participation, performed by magician Montserrat Escopinya, in which spectators will see a mix of humour, magic and improvisation. The show can be enjoyed at the Plaça dels Somnis at 8.30 pm and 9.30 pm on Saturday and at 5.30 pm and 6.30 pm on Sunday. Summer opening hours As usual, the Park is extending its opening hours for the summer and will be open from Wednesday to Sunday from 11.00 am. In July, the closing time will depend on the day of the week: Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 9.00 pm, Saturdays at 11.00 pm and Sundays at 10.00 pm. During August, for the first time, the Park will stay open every day until 11.00 pm. For the first two weeks in September, the summer opening hours will continue. You can check the opening hours by clicking here.

David Mas, of the Civic Officers, has walked 40.8 kilometres between the Puigmal ski resort and Beget

The “Corresponsables” (Jointly Responsible) team members are continuing to take part in the “Transpirenaica” (Trans-Pyrenees) Social Solidarity walk. This time it was David Mas, of the Civic Officers, who joined the route, completing the journey between the ski resort of Puigmal and Beget, a distance of 40.5 kilometres. David joined Elisabet Córdoba, of Zona Bus, Nadia El Mouali, of Park Güell, and Gabi López, of Administration and Accounts, who have already been taking part in the walk. The next “Corresponsable” team member to join will be David Alcodori, of the People department. “Transpirenaica” Social Solidarity is a non-profit organisation, created in 2013 as an educational project with the aim of enabling better social integration for young people at risk of exclusion, encouraging their talents by using the mountains as a "classroom". B:SM is taking part in the event as part of the remit of its Social Action and Volunteering programme, which, this year, is focused on poverty and social exclusion. You can follow each of the stages and the daily progress of our participants via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, using the hashtags #TSS18, #BSMsolidari i #BSM_TSS18.

Hotel Krueger is also nominated for best Halloween event

Tibidabo Amusement Park has been nominated for best amusement park in Spain at the 2018 PAC Awards, presented by the prestigious PA Community, the most important online network of leisure parks. The PAC Awards evaluate the opinions and ratings of thousands of verified users as well as the opinion of an expert jury made up of travellers, influencers and advisors to leisure parks. In addition, Hotel Krueger, now in its 22nd year, has been nominated for best Halloween event of 2018. In the category of Best Amusement Park in Spain 2018, judges evaluated the improvements and new features that have been implemented during the year, customer relations and the services provided, maintenance, the park’s policies, and the rides and events taking place in the park. In particular, Tibidabo Amusement Park was commended for the services provided to its customers, the implementation of a virtual queueing system to avoid physical queues and the holding of several charity events. Tibidabo shares the category with Port Aventura and Warner Park in Madrid.

Meanwhile, in the category of Best Halloween Event 2018, the judges evaluate innovation, plus the characterisation and interpretation of characters, among other factors. The show "Emotions of Terror" at Hotel Krueger was highlighted for its artistic quality and characterisation, as well as the success achieved in its first season. Hotel Krueger shares this category with Halloween events held at the Madrid Amusement Park and Warner Park.

The Zoo wants to raise awareness about the problems facing the species, which is critically endangered, their natural habitat and the need to protect them

Barcelona Zoo will celebrate the First World Chimpanzee Day tomorrow, Saturday – a day with the aim of working towards the conservation of this species and raising awareness of the problems they face in their natural habitat which threaten their survival. The date chosen, 14 July, was the date back in 1960 when Dr Jane Goodall arrived in Gombe (Tanzania) to study the chimpanzees, making it a date to mark by holding the first world day dedicated to the species. In order to make the public aware of the need to protect chimpanzees, the Zoo has been working with the Jane Goodall Institute in organising the event. Also participating in the day will be other organisations such as the Friends of Tacugama Association –Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, the Mona Foundation and SOS Primates, who will be at the Zoo with assorted information stands. At 11.00 am, in the 120th anniversary room, the exhibition "Jane Goodall Institute: Protecting Chimpanzees" will be opened, showing Dr Jane Goodall’s professional achievements, and visitors can see it until the end of September. Also, throughout the day, various educational activities will take place around the chimpanzees’ enclosure, and at 11.30 there will be a presentation where the organisations taking part in the day will showcase their work.  

 

The event is organised in partnership with the Ramon Martí i Bonet Foundation and aims to raise funds for the project "Vision For All in Catalonia" Tomorrow, Saturday, Tibidabo Amusement Park is holding the third charity festival on behalf of the Ramon Martí i Bonet Foundation, which works to ensure the right to healthy eyesight for children and adults who are vulnerable or at risk of social exclusion. The aim of the festival is to publicise the work of the Foundation and raise funds for the solidarity project "Vision For All in Catalonia”. Park tickets will be sold at a reduced price and all visitors will receive sunglasses in aid of the charity. A series of special events will take place throughout the day. In one of these activities, children can create their own musical instrument using recycled materials, but with the added difficulty of doing so with their eyes covered. The aim of this is for children to become aware and empathise with other children who suffer from visual impairment.
 
Tibidabo Magic On Saturday and Sunday, visitors to the park can also enjoy the magic show, "Jo, Xicana" (I, Xicana), part of Tibidabo Magic, which is being held every weekend in July. In the show, the magician Anna Montserrat plays Xicana, a clown who tries to do magic but always gets it wrong, mixing tenderness and innocence with the themes of the show. The show times on Saturday are 8.30 pm, and a second performance at 9.30 pm. On Sunday, the performances will be at 7.30 and 8.30 pm. Summer opening hours As usual, the Park is extending its opening hours for the summer and will be open from Wednesday to Sunday from 11.00 am. In July, the closing time will depend on the day of the week: Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 9.00 pm, Saturdays at 11.00 pm and Sundays at 10.00 pm. During August, for the first time, the Park will stay open every day until 11.00 pm. For the first two weeks in September, the summer opening hours will continue. You can check the opening hours by clicking here.