Every Friday in July, Park Güell will be the venue of a night concert, organised along with the Museum of the History of Barcelona (MUHBA), seek to recover the Catalan literary heritage. The concerts, which will start at 10pm, in the gardens of Austria, inside the Park, will be dedicated to Catalan literary figures such as Verdaguer, Espriu and Vinyoli. Performers will sing, recite and set to music works of these writers where Barcelona is present. Admission is free, with limited seating, and the Guard House will open to the public from 9 pm.

The first concert will be set on July 4th, it is titled “Paraules i sons de Barcelona” and it is a literary itinerary over the 19th and 20th century in Barcelona by the actress Gemma Sangerman and the clarinettist Oriol Romaní. Second concert will be the 11th, Xavi Múrica and the Poesia Coral will be performing “A través de Vinyoli”. On July 18th, Alfons Encinas, with his guitar, will be in charge of the third concert, dedicated to Jacint Verdaguer, called “Sons de la Terra que el meu cor estima” and the show “El Minotaure i Teseu” will clode the concert series the 25th of July in which Dídac Rocher and Jordi Solans will pay a tribute to Salvador Espriu.

Summer begins at Tibidabo Amusement Park with the third edition of “Tibidabo Magic” and starting summer time, which means the park will be open from Wednesday to Sunday until the 14th of September. Every weekend in July, visitors will enjoy the 4 different shows by magicians with national and international prestige.

The 5th and 6th of July, Enric Magoo will be in charge of the show, Rubèn Vilagrand will be hosting the second show the 12th and 13th, Felix Brunet will do his show the 19th and 20th and, finally Adrià Màgic and Zion Wizzardium will show their magic the 26th and 27th of July. Those magicians will surprise the audience with their thrilling, enigmatic and humouristic magic and illusionism, performing handheld games and escapism among other tricks.

Tibidabo starts summertime, which means the park will be open from Wednesday to Sunday until the 14th of September. During July, the park will be open until 21h, Saturdays until 23h and Sundays until 22h. From the 1st of August the park will be closed every day at 23h, except for the last week that the hour of closing will be at 22h. In September, the schedule will vary depending on the day. The park will close at 22h on the weekends, at 21h the 11th and 12th and at 20h the rest of the days.

It’s been just a month since Giradabo launched the new lighting system, with more than 4,252 LEDS which, combined, create effects like spirals, circles, windmills and color changes that illuminate the park and have changed the night skyline of Barcelona. The lights will be on every night, will start with the sunset, and will not turn off until 2h.

Giradabo, with 16 cabins, one of them adapted for disabled people, has 20 metres of diameter and a capacity for 750 people per hour. The new Panoramic Wheel will maintain its traditional location at 500m high over Barcelona, to strengthen its virtue of panoramic vision.

Barcelona Nord Station welcomes Megabus.com, a new international bus line which will connect Barcelona with the major cities in United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany, from a cost of 1€. Megabus.com is one of the leading bus companies with more than 15 million passengers a year in Europe and North America.

Megabus fleet includes top class buses with green engines equipped with air conditioning, toilettes and wireless internet connection. Furthermore, Megabus’s buses can accommodate more passengers than an usual bus, 72 passengers in front of 50, which allows the company to adjust costs and keep fares low while maintaining service profitability. The new daily route, including London, Paris and Toulouse, connects Barcelona with more than 100 European destinations and it will attract more visitors to the city offering an economical and comfortable journey. Bus tickets can be purchased through the website www.megabus.com.

Barcelona Nord bus station is one of the major points of entry and exit of Barcelona. More than 2 and a half million travellers per year and approximately 320 buses per day prove the importance of the station. Barcelona Nord is the point connecting Barcelona with major cities in Spain, Europe and the north of Africa. For further information and ticket purchase, visit https://www.barcelonanord.cat/en/home/. 

By the end of this year, the new electric Bicing, born as a complement to the current Bicing, will be launched with the aim of improving the efficiency of the current service, facilitating long and ascendant rides and promoting the use of electric bicycle, while it enhances Barcelona’s leadership in Smart Cities. It will be launched as a pilot program in order to prove its efficiency and acceptance. 

This pilot program will begin with 300 electric bicycles distributed in 45 stations (600 slots), 32 of each will be located in the B:SM car park network and 8 more in private car parks. The location of the station in car parks allows the system to use the 250 charge points already installed there, and avoid high costs on the construction of stations with an electric charge system outside, in the streets. Furthermore, as the car parks have vigilance, the effect of the vandalism will be minimized. There will also be 5 more stations on the surface, in strategic points of the city, to complete the station network.

The introduction of the electric Bicing will be done in two phases. The first will take place in December 2014, where the 50% of the stations will become operational with 150 bicycles. The second phase of implementation will be in January 2015, the other 50% of the stations will come into service and the remaining 150 bicycles will be operative as well. The validity of this pilot test will last until 31/03/2017 and the experience will continuously be rated during the duration of the pilot.

Electric bicycles system will be complementary to Bicing, so our users will be able to make use of the electric bikes by an additional annual subscription and pay per use. The annual subscription price will be 14 € and the user will have to pay for ride: 0.45€ the first half hour and 0.80€ for each half hour fraction with a maximum of 2 hours. The pay for ride adds value to the trips and will help to rationalize the use of the service; to promote rides of less than 30 minutes so the maximum number of users can enjoy the service.

Bicycles, which are manufactured locally, are designed to be comfortable and ergonomic, with anti-vandalism security characteristics. The bike will have a light aluminum alloy chassis, with seat suspension and anti puncture tires. Its maximum weight is 23 kg and can reach top speeds of 25 km/h. The lifetime of the high-quality lithium battery will be 20,000 km. The electric Bicing will be charged when anchored, and will take up to two hours to be fully charge.

This pilot program will be fully integrated into the Bicing system, which means that they will share the same schedule, the same computer system, customer care and the application Via Bicing. Two electric adapted vans will be responsible of replenishing and maintaining bicycles.

With the aim of offering high quality electric service, and considering that this is a pilot, the service will be limited to number of subscribers, between 7000 and 8000. If there is a higher demand, there is a possibility of rotation between subscribers, since the intention is to allow that the maximum number of users to enjoy the test. During its seven years of existence, Bicing has been strengthen as it has become a public transportation with nearly 100,000 subscribers, an average of 50,000 trips/day and a rotation between 6 and 8 uses/bike/day, one of the higher rotations in public bike-share systems worldwide.

1 Plaça Navas c/ Jaume Fabra, 12
2 Plaça de les Arts c/ Padilla, 159
3 Urgell c/ Urgell, 14
4 Wellington - Zoo c/ Ramon Trias Fargas, 19 (c/ Villena)
5 Bilbao Llull c/ BILBAO, 24 S
6 Flos i Calcat c/Flos i Calcat, 2
7 Ferran Casablancas c/ Josep Balarí, 2
8 Tanatori les Corts c/ Menéndez Pelayo, 1 S
9 Estació Barcelona-Nord C/ Alí Bei, 54
10 Francesc Cambó Avda Francesc Cambó, 10
11 Tarradellas - Nicaragua Avda Josep Tarradellas, 46
12 Tarradellas - Sarrià Avda Josep Tarradellas, 139
13 Paral·lel c/ Abat Safont, 2
14 Illa Borbó Ramón Albó, 77s
15 Mitre - Putget Ronda del General Mitre, 203
16 Pg. Maragall Pg Maragall, 54
17 Sant Andreu Teatre c/ Monges, 2
18 Rambla Poblenou Rbla.Poblenou, 130 BIS
19 Cardenal Sentmenat-Vergós Cardenal Sentmenat, 8
20 Marquès de Mulhacén Marquès de Mulhacén, 51 B
21 Torrent de l´Olla C/Torrent de L´Olla, 221
22 Garcia Fària Paseo García Faria, 71
23 Gal·la Placídia Pl. Gal.la Placidia, 2
24 Marina Gràcia Trav de Gràcia, 330
25 Ona Glòries c/ Ciutat de Granada, 173-175
26 Moll de la Fusta Paseo Colón, 1
27 Barcelonetworka Centre C/ Escuder, 1
28 Marina Port c/ de la Marina, 19
29 La Boqueria C/ Floristes de la Rambla,  8 S
30 València-Calàbria c/ València  77
31 Plaça del Fòrum Pg Taulat / Pl Fòrum
32 Rambla Catalunya Gran Via - Ronda Universitat
33 Plaça Urquinaona Plaça Urquinaona
34 Gràcia I - Jardinetworks de Gràcia Passeig de Gràcia – Diagona
35 Hospital Clínic Pl. Ferrer i Cajigal
36 Parking Mariscal - Sagrera Av. Meridiana, 257
37 Parking Mesican - Besòs Gran Via Corts Catalanes, 1121
38 Parking Miete - 22@ c/ Badajoz, 58
39 Parking Viajeros (Sants) c/ Carreras i Candi, 65
40 Pl. Tetuan Pl. Tetuan
41 Pl. Sant Miquel Pl. Sant Miquel
42 Pg. Gràcia - Aragó Pg. Gràcia - Aragó
43 Pl. Espanya Pl. Espanya
44 Sagrada Família Marina – Mallorca
45  Per determinar 

From the 1st of august to the 31st, parking spots of green AREA will be free, as well as the majority of the spaces in blue AREA. On the other side, exclusive zones for residents will maintain its regulation for authorized resident. This measure is aimed at bringing the green AREA to the users, being more practical and comfortable, and at the same time the service is adapted to the needs of the city during August. 

Payment blue AREA is maintained within the areas marked in the map, with the regular tariffs. As seen in the map, a central zone has been demarcated inside the area of Comte d’Urgel, Diagonal, el Passeig Sant Joan, Passieg Colom y el Paral·lel; the Sagrada Família area and la Barceloneta, as well as other smaller zones in Doctor Andreu square, Joan XXIII street and a little area in Guinardó. Blue zones regulated for buses also maintain their regulation.

Users of AREA can take advantage using apparkB, which allows the user to pay through the mobile phone, more easily and in a comfortable way, with no need of going to the parking meter and paying just for the real time of parking. The app also allows the user to renew the parking time and check easily any related information.

ApparkB has already issued more than a half million tickets, with an average of 4.000 tickets a day and has now more than 40.000 users and 70.000 downloads. The user can make the registration directly in the app and also through the webpage www.areaverda.cat. In the parking meters of the city there is information on how to use the app and there is also a QR Code to download it.

ApparkB is available for iPhone and Android

Ali Bei (Rda. Sant Pere - Pg. de Sant Joan)
Almirall Cervera
Aragó (Comte d’Urgell - Pg. de Sant Joan) (Diagonal – Padilla)
Aribau (Av. Diagonal - Rda. Sant Antoni)
Ausiàs Marc (Pl. Urquinaona - Pg. de Sant Joan)
Bailén (Av. Diagonal - Rda. Sant Pere)
Balmes (Av. Diagonal - Pelai)
Bruc (Av. Diagonal - Trafalgar)
Buenos Aires (Comte d’Urgell - Av. Diagonal)
Cartagena (Sant Antoni Mª Claret - Mas Casanovas)
Casanova (Av. Diagonal - Rda. Sant Antoni)
Casp (Pg. de Gracia - Pg. de Sant Joan)
Catalunya Pl.
Catalunya Rbla (Av. Diagonal - Pl. Catalunya)
Comte d’Urgell (Av. Diagonal - Rda. Sant Antoni).
Comte de Salvatierra
Consell de Cent (Urgell - Pg. de Sant Joan)
Consolat de Mar
Còrsega (Comte d’Urgell - Av. Diagonal) i (Nàpols - Padilla) costat mar.
Diputació (Comte d’Urgell - Pg. de Sant Joan)
Doctor Aiguader
Pl. Doctor Andreu
Doctor Salvador Cardenal
Enric Granados (Diagonal -  Diputació)
Floridablanca (Comte d’Urgell - Rda Sant Antoni)
Girona (Av. Diagonal - Trafalgar)
Gracia Pg. de (Gran Via - Consell de Cent)
Gran Via Corts Catalanes (Pg. Gracia - Pg. de Sant Joan)
Joan XXII, Av.
Lepant (Còrsega - Diagonal)
Litoral Av. (Marina - prolongació Rbla Poble Nou)
Lluís Companys Pg.
Londres (Comte d’Urgell - Av. Diagonal)
Mallorca  (Comte d’Urgell - Av. Diagonal) i (Nàpols - Padilla)
Marina (Còrsega - Diagonal)
Marítim de la Barceloneta Pg.
Méndez Nuñez
Mas Casanovas (Cartagena-Sant Quinti)
Muntaner (Av. Diagonal - Rda. Sant Antoni)
Nàpols (Còrsega – Diagonal)
Nou de la Rambla (Av. Drassanes - Rambles)
Ortigosa
Padilla (Còrsega - Diagonal)
Paral·lel (Rda. Sant Pau - Abad Safont)
Paris (Comte d’Urgell - Av. Diagonal)
Pau Claris (Av. Diagonal – Pl. Urquinaona)
Picasso Pg.
Pla de Palau
Provença (Comte d’Urgell – Av. Diagonal) i (Nàpols – Padilla)
Ramon Trias Fargas (Av. Litoral - Pg. Marítim de la Barceloneta)
Roger de Llíria  (Av.Diagonal – Pl. Urquinaona)
Rosselló (Comte d’Urgell – Av. Diagonal) i ( Nàpols – Padilla)
Sabino de Arana
Sancho de Avila
Sant Antoni Rda.
Sant Joan Pg. de (Diagonal - Trafalgar) costat Llobregat
Sant Pau Rda.
Sant Pere Rda.
Sant Quinti (Sant Antoni Mª Claret - Mas Casanovas)
Sardenya (Còrsega - Diagonal)
Sepúlveda (Comte d’Urgell - Rda Sant Antoni)
Sicília  (Còrsega - Diagonal)
Sota muralla
Tamarit (Comte d’Urgell - Rda Sant Antoni)
Torres i Amat
Trafalgar
Universitat Pl.
Universitat Rda.
Valencia (Comte d’Urgell - Pg. de Sant Joan) i (Nàpols - Padilla)
Via Augusta (Diagonal - Trav. de Gracia)
Villarroel (Diagonal - Rda. Sant Antoni)
Zamora
Blue Zone for buses
Camèlies ( D’Albd Al-Kader - Tous)
Consell de Cent (Lepant - Padilla)
Diagonal (Lepant - Padilla)
Diputació (Marina - Lepant)
Lluís Companys Pg. (Pg. Pujades - Comerç)
Miramar carretera
Padilla (Ribes – Meridiana)
Paral·lel (Portal Santa Madrona - Josep Carner Pg.)
Ramon Trias Fargas (Av. Icària - Villena)
Sardenya (Ali Bei - Almogàvers)

Today has started running the new extension of the green AREA at the district of Sant Marti, with 287 spaces for residents-only. Signposting tasks were made at the end of September and the firsts days of October. The extension of the 19th AREA zone is located between Gran Via Corts Catalanes (Bilbao - Selva de Mar) costat mar, C/Perú (Fluvià - Selva de Mar) Passatge Tèxtil (Espronceda - Bac de Roda) Marina (Almogàvers-Llull) Pallars and Pujades (Marina - Joan d’Austria). On the other han, 8th zone of AREA has been extended with 53 spaces between Joan d’Àustria, Llull, Almogàvers and Marina.

The implementation schedule for this new parking area started on September with the signposting and advertising tasks to begin with the painting of the parking spots on the surface. Then the vertical signposting was installed too. During the firsts days of October the new parking meters were set and the residents have also received their identification cards so they can use the new AREA.

The new green AREA works with the same schedule and payment than other AREA in the city, check them at www.areaverda.cat

ApparkB has been consolidated in its first year of existence and its use continues growing day by day: an average of 4.000 tickets is issued per day, a 6% of the total amount of the AREA tickets issued. With the aim of issue a 10% of the tickets, today has started an outreach campaign to reach as many people as possible to make them easier to park their cars in Barcelona.

More than 400 little flag banners with the image of apparkB will be settled in the city, as well as 100 OPIS (billboards) and information in LED screens. There have also been produced 50.000 leaflets that will be handed by AREA guards and the 1.000 parking meters at blue AREA will be covered with information panels and a QR code to download the app. There also shown to the users some other non municipals app with a similar working through the website www.areaverda.cat/operaration-with-a-mobile-phone/

One year of apparkB The past 1st of September apparkB celebrated a year since its kick off. During this year, the app has become an useful tool for citizens and its wide acceptance is reflected with the almost 650.000 AREA tickets issued during this year, being July the month with more issued tickets with a total amount of 93.850. In addition, this data has to be analysed taking into account that most of the AREA is not operational during weekends and August. 

Furthermore, there have been more than 80.000 downloads for iPhone and Android and there ara almost 45.000 registered users. With a score of 8.9, apparkB is one of the most rated apps in at www.apps4bcn.com, both in the Smart City category and in Traffic and Transport category. 

In order to use this new and alternative method of payment, the user needs to download the application apparkB to the smartphone and sign in. The user can either register using the application or filling in the registration form at www.areaverda.cat.

At the parking place, the user just needs to indicate the vehicle’s number of plate and the colour of the area where the vehicle will be parked. The system locates the vehicle’s position using the mobile GPS and applies the appropriate tariff. When this is done, the user has to confirm it pressing the “Start” button, and when he wants to take the car again, he will have to press the “Stop” button in order to finish the operation. 

Once the operation is over, user’s information ins transmitted to the cloud and AREA guards have access to that information with their PDA, in order to check if the car is properly parked.  ApparkB assures users maximum guaranties. The process of counting time is certified by Catcert, meanwhile card payment is easy and safe to use and fulfil the standards PCI DSS.

Touristic bus stops have been rearranged in Ciutat Vella. The stop at Plaça Ramon Berenguer el Gran is cancelled from now on and, in fact, in this square is about to start an urban development project to turn it into a larger space, giving continuity to Via Laietana and highlighting the remains of the old-city walls and the statue of Ramon Berenguer The Great. On the other hand, the stop in Plaça Antoni Maura will be exclusive for coaches transporting people with reduced mobility or school groups, with previous reservation through the website www.zonabus.cat.

Reorganization is aimed to optimize existing bus stops and to create new ones, in order to preserve the historic centre and to disperse tourist pressure. In this sense, Consolat de Mar and Isabel II stops will be cancelled, and lead to the creation of a new stop in Passeig Colom, with 7 places, near the B:SM car park of Moll d’Espanya, that has 20 places for the buses to park for longer periods of time.

Passeig Lluis Companys’ stop and parking zone remains as is with 2 and 4 spaces each, and so is the Plaça Catalunya stop, with 2 spots. Furthermore, there are other bus stops available for touristic coaches, sucha as Drassanes stop (3 spaces) Paral·lel parking zone (5) and Carrer Sardenya stop (10), which is near to the Barcelona-nord B:SM car park (3).

Coaches are allowed to be 10 minuts to drop and pick up tourist at the stops, 2 hours at the parking zones and longer stays, even days, at Barcelona-Nord and Moll d’Espanya car parks. 

ZonaBus is a exclusive parking zone net for touristic buses located near the busiest tourist areas in Barcelona. With this service, touristic bus parking is much easier and organized for professionals, but also for citizens.

The new product at Palau Sant Jordi is now available. VIP Corporate offers business tickets packages for their customers to live high level VIP experiences, making unforgettable anb unique experiences out of every concert at Palau Sant Jordi: their customers will be our guests.

This VIP Corporate pass offers the possibility to be in an emblematic place like Palau Sant Jordi and enjoy a concert with various exclusive benefits, such as entering without making any queues, a seat in the preferential zone, a reserved parking spot and exclusive access to the Club Gaudí and hour and a half before the concert, in which they will enjoy a luxurious catering with open bar.  

All of these privileges are complemented with sensations made exclusively for each show, and tametically adapted gifts depending on the artist who performs the show. The package costs 200 to 310 euros, depending on the concert.

VIP Corporate experience was available for the first time at Kylie Minogue’s concert the 14th of October, and will be available again the next 23th of December for Joaquin Sabina’s show, priced at 220€ per person. The reservation of the VIP Corporate pass will be available at the new website of Palau Sant Jordi, as well as the scheduled concerts and much more information.

Barcelona Nord Bus Station renewed its air conditioning system with geothermal technology, which allow the station to save 40% of the energy consumption, 70.000€ approximately. This new system make the most of the thermal stability of the subsoil: in summer the place is cooled by storing heat in the ground, and the accumulated heat is used in winter for heating. The geothermal air conditioning system cost 738.000€.

Geothermal air conditioning is renewable resource, free and available for everybody, which also allows reducing CO2 emissions and that has already improved users comfort at the station. The system consists of a geothermic heat pump and a vertical exchanger system with 28 wells of 133 meters deep, where a solution made of water (79%) and antifreeze (30%) circulates, acting as a heat transport fluid.

The station has received an overall score of 7.5 during 2014, representing an improvement of 0.3 points from last year. It keeps well the level achieved during the last seven years, during which the score has increased almost 1 point.