Downtown Barcelona is great. Sometimes, though, you get tired of the slick, international atmosphere and the neatly designed but overpriced restaurants.

Café-life in Poble Nou                                                                                       Photo by Thomas Vilhelm

Sometimes you feel like some genuine, Spanish neighbourhood-life; like a strong café solo at a shabby Manolo-bar while you listen to loud discussions about FC Barcelona’s latest match, labourers shouting obscenities at bypassing ‘señoritas’ and old women quarrelling with their dogs.

It’s quite easy to find. You just have to get away from the centre and head for ‘barrios’ like Poble Sec, Sants, Gracia or Clot.

Café-life in Poble Nou                                                                                      Photo by Thomas Vilhelm

For me the nearest choice is Poble Nou. Once known as ‘Catalan Manchester’ because of its many textile factories and as a stronghold for Barcelona’s anarchist movement this old working class neighbourhood is changing fast but still conserves its industrial charm.

The most interesting part is the one near the market and in particular the Rambla de Poble Nou, a semi-pedestrian street that gives you an idea of what the famous Rambla at the centre must have been like before it became permanently flooded with tourists.

There are several good bars around and a couple of brilliant restaurants. My favourite is called Barlovento, a small and economic tapasbar with a nice terrace facing the Rambla. Apart from the seafood you should also try the snails in spicy sauce and the blood sausage.
             
Barlovento, Rambla del Poble Nou, 21. Metro: Poble Nou.

Open Tuesdays to Sundays from 8.00 to 24.00 (kitchen closes at 23.00). Mondays closed. Metro: Poble Nou.

I hate discothèques just about as much as I on occasions love to dance. Which would be a problem if not for the fortunate Spanish concept of the ‘bar musical’: A space that combines drinking while listening to good and not necessarily ‘strictly ballroom’ music with the possibility to move your body in a corner of the bar.

The lower part of Raval – the notorious but nowadays quite harmless ‘Chinese quarter’ – hosts quite a few of the kind. My favorite is called La Concha del Barrio Chino – a small, dark and somewhat exotic place in the backstreets of Ramblas.

The decoration is dedicated to the actress and gay icon Sara Montiel, top vamp of Spanish cinema in fifties and sixties and with celebrities such as James Dean, Ernest Hemingway and Gary Cooper on top of her endless list of lovers.

As a perfect match to Sarita’s mysterious features on the walls the music played is mainly flamenco-inspired mixed up with raï, the festive Arabian answer to the Blues. The crowd is from just about anywhere and La Concha is the only place where I on certain inspired occasions have come close to dancing some decent rumba.

During afternoon hours the bar surprisingly turns into a laidback and quiet Moorish teahouse and water pipe-joint.

La Concha del Barrio Chino, C/ Guardia, 14. Tel. 93 302 41 18. Metro: Drassanes.

La Central in the MacBa museum                                                Photo by Thomas Vilhelm

Pepe, an old friend from my Erasmus days in Granada, is one of the most devoted book readers I know. And when I a few months ago came across a Spanish translation of my favourite Danish novel – ‘The Fall of the King’ by Johannes V. Jensen – I bought it straight away and sent it to him.

A week later I received a long mail with a detailed analysis followed by Pepes final judgement: ‘Literatura de primera, macho! (First-class literature, mate!). Nothing like pushing a good book to a friend and see it appreciated.

Where did I find it? At ‘La Central’, off course, the best bookshop in town when it comes to fiction – Spanish, translated from just about any language or in English, French and Italian – and solid on non-fiction as well.

La Central in Raval                                                                 Photo by Thomas Vilhelm

There are three ‘Centrals’ in Barcelona – one of them specialized in artbooks and situated in the MacBa museum of contemporary arts – but I prefer the one in Raval. The contrast with this chaotic and multicultural neighbourhood near Ramblas is perfect when you step into the solemn quietness of the shop underlined by the fact that it is situated in a former church. It also has a nice bar where to have a first look at your new acquisitions having a beer or two.

One complaint. The section with Spanish literature translated into English is limited. In this case Come In at C/ Balmes 129 bis is a better choice.

La Central del Raval, c/ Elisabets, 6. Metro: Plaça Catalunya.

Go further: Read Francis' guide to his favourite book stores in Stockholm here.

I didn’t use to be much of an early riser. For most of my adult life I’ve only been out of bed before 8 am on rare occasions. That has changed radically, off course, since my son was born a few months ago. And in some strange, masochistic way I’ve come to enjoy the early hours of the day.

Mainly because of the brilliant coffee served at Café Mozart where my wife and I have our breakfast almost everyday once the baby is fed and dressed. This smooth and thick-flowing liquid is served from around 7.45 and most of the year you can enjoy it outside on the terrace, bathed in the golden light of the morning sun that filters through Barcelona’s twin towers down at the nearby Olympic Port.

After the first, quick and well deserved shot it’s a good idea to order a bikini along with the second cup. This local version of a toasted cheese and ham sandwich is almost another everyday miracle and definitely one of the best in town.

Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges said about poetry that it’s like the taste of coffee or a sunrise: Obvious and essential but impossible to define. Some mornings down at ‘el Mozart’ I know exactly what he meant. 

CAFÉ-HELADERÍA MOZART, C/ Moscou, 26. Metro: Ciutadella-Vila Olímpica.

Go further: Read Masha's guide to her favourite morning coffee-spots in Moscow.

Photo by Thomas Vilhelm

The people behind Casa Camper would like to save the world. Not that they make a big fuss about it, but whenever possible they try to teach a lesson on healthy lifestyle to the guests at their hotel.

Next to the elevators a big sign reminds that you get more exercise using the stairs. Hammocks installed in the rooms invite you to take a break.

Photo by Thomas Vilhelm

“We also removed the TV to stop people from watching stupid series in bed instead of getting a good nights sleep. But too many complained so we put them back,” explains Miquel Fluxà, heir to the mallorcan shoe-dynasty Camper that owns the hotel.

Photo by Thomas Vilhelm

A pragmatic attitude that makes you feel at home at Casa Camper whether you have seen the light or not, along with the cool and welcoming design.

Each guest has an entire mini lounge at his disposal. In the bedroom warm and red colours provide a cave-like atmosphere and bathroom-views of the ‘vertical garden’ in the patio almost makes you forget that the hotel is placed in central Barcelona.

Photo by Thomas Vilhelm

Access to a 24-hour open buffet with organic food is included in the room rate as is free use of the hotel’s bicycles.

“This is not a NGO. We are doing business here but at the same time trying to introduce the guests to our values. Then they can take it or leave it,” explains Miquel Fluxà. Seems fair enough.

CASA CAMPER, C/ Elisabets, 11. Metro: Plaça Catalunya.

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