1. Describe the Spaces for Public use in Raval Area. People, public spaces, stores and private areas.

There are many public spaces in the Raval area that allows people of all cultures to come together, such as areas by schools such as parks and libraries and social spots for pedestrians to hang out. The 13th century convent is now a school for young students where there is a playground in the back. This illustrates a public space for children to play after school hours. Behind the park, there is an open space where parents and elderly people can relax and enjoy time alone. There is also a public area outside of the MACBA museum, where one can see people skateboarding. After the church is Raval was demolished, a school and theatre program took its spot. Outside this school, there is garden with orange trees, where students can hang out.

2. Where is Raval placed in the City Map. The most expensive area of the core of Barcelona for public use.

Raval is in the center of the city, located next to Las Ramblas. The core of the city can be very expensive but there are places for everyone to live and afford. Raval was once a spot for sailors as it is close to the water. There was a high rate of drugs and prosecution as the nightlife was extremely popular. The rebuilding of Raval took almost 20 years and was rebuilt to create public spaces for pedestrians. Raval is like the melting pot of Barcelona as Moroccans, Pakistanis, and Muslims live here.

3. Make a list of Public buildings and explain its uses. What kind of people are the target of these buildings? Do you think this area was planned for youth?

• Social houses: The social houses are basic apartment buildings that have all types of amenities. These houses are affordable as they only cost 70 euros a month. This allows people to live in this part of the city without moving because of the expense.
• Convent of the 13th century: The convent of the 13th century was transformed into a school for young students. This area was planned for the youth because there is a playground behind the school for children. This area is known to stay clean to make children feel comfortable in their neighborhood. Behind the playground was a public space where I saw elderly people sitting, relaxing in the sun.
• MACBA: The MACBA museum targets all types of individuals, ranging from tourists, to students, to the elderly and people who have interest in the art. The outside of the museum is aimed to create a public space for people to come together, in specifically there were a lot of skateboarders practicing.
• The University: The University targets students to come to Raval, where they can hang out with their friends, use libraries to study, and can form social groups to bring change. In one public space close to the University, there was a basketball court allowing students to have fun after their studies.
• The Church: The church is now used as a school and a location to practice theatre. In this area, there is a garden filled with orange trees which allows students to have a space to relax.

4. What signs can you see in this neighbourhood that explain its nature (stores, bars, public buildings, street art, etc…). Take photos of 5 examples that justify your answer and show symbols of alternative culture in the area.

–  Street Art: Throughout Raval, I saw a lot of spray painting that was very bright and colorful. In my opinion, the art illustrates how this area wants to create a happy place for cultures to come together.

–  Social Movements: Outside of the University, there is a public space for organizations to come together to bring change. It was very interesting to see the feminist movement as there were outlines of woman, who were killed because of their gender. This illustrates the culture of students that want to bring change to their society.  

–  Playground: There are a few playgrounds around Raval for children to come together after school. The playgrounds are kept very clean to make students feel comfortable in their area. The playground shows that Raval is very family centered and the youth play a major role in their community.

–  CCB: By the CCB, we saw a building that resembled Catalan culture. I think that the design of the building shows that the community supports the Catalan culture, beliefs, and way of life.

–  Libraries: There are many libraries in Raval that are public spaces for both youth and the elderly. In my culture, libraries are only used for studying and getting work done. However, libraries here are used as public spaces for parents to bring their children after school, for the elderly to read newspapers and for people to have a meeting spot.

5. Conclusions: Why do you think the area of Raval district of Barcelona has become one of the centres of alternative culture in Europe during that period? Why do you think this space have determined people’s action?

The area of the Raval district is clearly one of the centers of alternative culture in Europe. In the raval district, there are many people, such as immigrants, that take up most of the housing in the area. Because of this, this area is not very touristy and serves as a place for locals to meet their friends and family. Also, there are many open spaces for people to hang out in, which is rare to find in the city of Barcelona. I think that because of the people who live in this area and the open spaces, this space has determined people’s actions. I think this because it allows local people from Barcelona to have somewhere to go, where it is not filled with tourists.

Before coming to study abroad in Barcelona, one of my favorite things to do when I was feeling stressed was to get my nails done. When I go to the nail place, it allows me to be alone and not have to worry about things I must do, such as schoolwork. Because I loved having this time to myself, I was determined to find a relaxing nail salon to go to in Barcelona. Luckily, in the area I live, there are many different nail salons. I decided to go to Dream Nails, which is a nail salon that is across the street from my apartment. On my first visit, I knew I had found my new spot to get my nails done. When I was getting my manicure, I felt relaxed and comfortable with the staff in the salon. The staff allowed me to enjoy my “me time” by letting me sit there silently, with small talk throughout the service. Now, I go to Dream Nails about once every other week to get a manicure and to relax from my busy days in Barcelona.

While walking through Placa de Catalunya and down Passeig de Gracia,  we were able to see how the architecture from the past is very present in today’s city of Barcelona. In the first photo, the windows relfect the gothic style, from the 13th Century. These windows would likely be seen in a castle that was built during this time. Additionally, this building shows that the most important rooms were on the principle floor. This is evident due to the fact that those windows are made out of stained glass, while the rest are made out of regular glass. This represents the ideal that the most important things are on the first floor, like they were in the cassa de taller. The lamps on the streets are curved, with a bench on the bottom and a symbol of Barcelona on the top. This lamp is similar to Gaudi’s architectural style, which is seen throughout the city of Barcelona. The next building exemplifies what columns look like. The building clearly uses columns around the windows, each made with intricate details. The roof of this building also showed the French styles that are incoroprated in the architecture.  The next building uses an Arabic style to create the windows. These windows are similar to the windows being made in the Middle East throughout the late 1800s. It was easy to see the difference between Arabic style and Roman style because the buildings were close to one another and appeared to be designed very differently.

Before I came to study abroad in Barcelona, working out on a daily basis was something that was very important to me. I enjoyed working out not only to help stay in shape, but also to keep my body functioning in a healthier manner. So, when I arrived in Barcelona, I knew I would have to find a gym that I enjoyed going to because it would encourage me to continue my regular fitness routine. I had heard about a gym that was approximately 10 minutes away from my apartment and decided to become a member there. This gym is called Metropolitan Las Arenas. Sine I have become a member, I have utilized all of the amenities that the gym has to offer. One thing I love about going to the gym is that I get some alone time, away from the hectic life of being abroad. Another thing I love about this particular gym is how many things it has to offer. Whether I am using the machines throughout the gym, or taking a class, I  always feel like I am getting a great value for what I paid for in the membership. Additionally, the trainers walk around the gym to make sure that all of the members are properly using the equipment and offer tips if they think they can be doing something more efficiently. Another great aspect of the gym is that it has a spa. In the spa, you can get a massage, a facial and other great services. I am very glad that I joined this gym in the beginning of my semester abroad, as it has given me a place to go, relax and of course, exercise!

Whenever I have free time on the weekdays, or return early from a weekend trip, my favorite thing to do is go to La Barceloneta. Before coming to Barcelona, I had always seen pictures of the beach, with people hanging out on it and enjoying their time in the sun. When I first arrived in Barcelona, I didn’t really think it was warm enough to go to the beach, but when I arrived there on one of the first weeks in January, I was pleasantly surprised. There were many people laying on blankets, relaxing in the sun with their friends or even by themselves. When I go to La Barceloneta, I instantly feel so relaxed. I love to just sit on the beach with my friends, looking out into the ocean, laying in the sun and relaxing. My favorite part about La Barceloneta is that I have never experienced people just laying on the beach if it isn’t during the summer. Where I am from, people only go to the beach during the hot summer months to get a tan. Here, the beach seems more like a place where people will gather to hangout and catch up, rather than just to tan during the summer. I also find it very interesting that there are places to workout on the beach, as well as sand volleyball courts being put in the middle of the beach. La Barceloneta is definitely one of my favorite places to visit in Barcelona because of the relaxing feeling I get while being there.

One of Germany’s richest families, the family who controls Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Panera Bread, Pret a Manger and many other successful businesses, has decided to donate millions to charity. This family has decided to donate this money because they have recently learned about their close ancestors’ intense support of Adolf Hitler and their direct use of forced labor under the Nazi regime. The family has been made aware of documents that directly state that this family’s ancestors were forced laborers. The family did their own internal research and found that the documents were fully true. The family believes that their ancestors belonged in jail. The family members that were forced laborers had died in the mid and late 1900s, and did not talk about the Nazi era. The early generation of the family revealed only small details about their Nazi involvement in 1978, but the younger generation questioned those details and examined the history more thoroughly. The younger generation is ashamed of their ancestors’ actions and believe that what they did is absolutely disgusting. During the second World War, the company used forced laborers in its industrial chemical companies. The company also used French prisoners of war. The family has made a firm decision to donate 10 million euros ($11.3 million) to a charity, one of which has not yet been determined, as a gesture. The family is proud of itself for putting themselves on the line and bringing all of the truth of the story to the table. I think that what the Reimann family is doing is right. During World War II, many families were scared to go against the Nazi regime, which is why they followed their orders. In this case, the Reimann family used what the Nazis were doing to their advantage and put the prisoners to work in their factories. Although the younger generation of the Reimann family was unaware of their ancestors’ full involvement during the war, it is great to see them taking action for the injustices done by their past family members.

The Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) has officially announced that by 2021, it wants to be the home of one of Europe’s most powerful supercomputers. This computer would partially be funded by the European Commission, which would prevent Spain from being the main financial back behind this computer. The European Union will also allocate $250 million to fund two of the chosen projects. The idea of this project is in order to keep up with China, the United States and Japan. These countries are also building some of the world’s supercomputers. These new supercomputers are expected to have a minimum capacity of 200 petaFLOPS. These two proposed projects will be the most powerful ones in all of Europe and among the top 10 in the world. Since the Barcelona Supercomputing Center is Spain’s to supercomputing center, it makes sense to have this project here. I think that it is a great idea to have this project take place in Barcelona. Barcelona is a very progressive city, so it would be ideal to have this project of a supercomputer happen in Barcelona. Furthermore, the center that Barcelona has specializes in high-performance computing, so a supercomputer would be efficiently built and maintained here. I also think that this supercomputer could help not only Barcelona, but all of Spain and Europe further its technological advancements.

On February 16th, 2019, approximately 200,000 people protested in Barcelona. These people were protesting against the trial of Catalan separatist leaders. In 2017, these Catalan separatist politicians and activists tried to break Catalonia from Spain. They are on trial and face up to 25 years in prison. This is important because it made Spain reminded the Spanish people of their transition to democracy after Franco had died. The people who believe they shouldn’t be arrested believe that what they did wasn’t truly a crime. Although many Spanish people support the trial, many others believe that they should not be arrested for what they call “their ideas.” The prosecutors believe that they should be tried based on their actions, which others believe aren’t violent. The supporters of the separatists believe that the accusation of violence is false. These people are the ones who support the Catalan independence from Spain. They witnessed voters being beaten with batons and dragged away from polling stations, so they condemn the police force, rather than the separatists. The main point of the separatists is that they reject violence. I think that the separatists should not be put on trial for what happened. I believe that if these people want to express their thoughts on how they feel about becoming independent from Spain, they should be allowed to. Although I am not fully aware of all of the details of the trial, I think that the protestors have every right to voice their opinions on the matter as well. These protestors acted in a non-violent way, which is the proper way to go about a situation such as this one.

On March 7th, 2019, Cabify stated that it would make its return to Barcelona just one month after it halted its services due to the strict regulations Barcelona has enforced. On January 31st, 2019, the government of Catalonia passed new regulations, which required customers using services, such as Uber and Cabify to request their booking at least 15 minutes before they wanted their ride to pick them up. These were put into place because the government felt pressured by the taxi drivers’ protests requesting more regulations. The taxi drivers feel that these ride-hailing services have an unfair advantage over taxis because they can be called quickly by the customers. Cabify stated that they would reinstate their services with approximately 300 cars. The company claimed that it had changed its business model that would meet the new regulations that were put into place by the government. With Cabify coming back in Barcelona, Spain estimated that about 3,000-4,000 jobs would be at risk.

I think that Cabify should not have stated that they were going to resume its services in Barcelona. After hearing about why the taxi drivers were truly going on strike, it became evident that the other ride-hailing services had a clear advantage over them. Many taxi drivers explained the process they had to go through in order to become a taxi driver, a process that Uber and Cabify drivers did not have to partake in. With that being said, I believe that what the government of Catalonia did was justified because it is helping their local taxi drivers and not a huge company.

In Barcelona, I live in L’Eixample Esquerra. The street that I live on is Carrer de Rocafort, which is off of Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes. Since I have lived here for a few months, I have become very familiar with my surroundings and my neighborhood definitely feels like a home. To get to many places around the city of Barcelona, such as school, I take the metro. I mostly use the L1 line, which is conveniently located on the corner of Carrer de Rocafort and Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes. I have also learned how to use the metro to get to other, further places around the city, simply by transferring lines. There are many places in my neighborhood that I go to a lot throughout the course of the week. One of those places is Mercadona, a supermarket that is right underneath my apartment building. This supermarket has everything my roommates and I need for the week and it is great that it is right underneath where we live. Additionally, there are a few restaurants near my apartment that I go to on a weekly basis, such as Copasetic. I love to go here every week to get breakfast, lunch or dinner. I have become very friendly with the people who work at the restaurant to the point where they already know what my order will most likely be based on the timing I am coming in. I love living in L’Eixample Esquerra because it is very residential and not very touristy, like other places in Barcelona. I feel safe in this neighborhood and truly feel like it is now a second home.