Scarlett Johansson, Taxi Tours & Barcelona Taxis in general

I was just on my way home from teaching a class when I came upon police on motorcycles stopping traffic to let a caravan of vehicles through the intersection of Colon and Laietana. Along came a van followed by a truck pulling a Barcelona City Taxi Cab. I didn't notice if Woody Allen was in the truck with the camera but Scarlett Johansson was definitely the platinum blond perched in the back seat of the taxi.

She looked as though she was enjoying her ride, as I believe most taxi passengers in Barcelona do. However, her driver probably didn't speak much English. Taxi drivers here rarely speak the international language of commerce and tourism. In all the years I have lived (and before that, travelled) here, I have only come across one Taxi driver who spoke English.

That's why I was surprised to come across a service company called Barcelona Taxi Tour, offering not only reserved airport pick-up and drop-off but a variety of tours provided by drivers with supposedly "perfect English." Tours include a Gaudí tour, a Moderism Architecture tour, an Olympic tour and a general tour called, "The Global View." According to the web site prices are agreed upon when you make your reservation but it's a safe bet that they don't fall into a back packer's budget. That's OK though, because the city's buses and metro are great - plus Barcelona is a really great place for walking!

If you are a visitor or new to the city and do need to catch a regular taxi, though, here is a little info for you. Barcelona's taxis are regulated by the local government. Aside from controlling rates, another thing is the look of the cab. For that reason Barcelona's taxis are always black and yellow vehicles. Usually they are compact cars but a few are minivans. They are almost always comfortable and air-conditioned.

In front of the airport, train station and bus stations there are special taxi lanes for collecting passengers. On the street, you can flag one down when the green light on top of the car is on. Tip the driver by rounding up slightly - local people do not usually tip more than a few cents or 1 or 2 euros. Although local taxi drivers are usually honest, to be extra safe ask for a receipt as the driver's information is printed on thses. Click here for current information about taxi fares.

Taxis are available anytime, although it can sometimes be a bit of a challenge to find a free one on weekends around 3, 4, 5 and 6 in the morning because of all the people pouring out of bars and discos. That may be why some people don't go home until 7, 8, 9, 10, 11...or later. ;-)

Spain’s Saturday News Highlights: The pájaros are coming! Will the Ratistas, too? Well, golf won’t be coming to Girona

Originally posted by Carloz on 30 June, 2007 at http://myspainblog.wordpress.com/

Singer-songwriters Joaquín Sabina (Andalusia 1949) and Joan Manuel Serrat (Catalonia 1943) started their Dos Pájaros de un Tiro (Two Birds in One Shot) Tour to a standing-room only crowd in Zaragoza last night. For the next six months the singers, who were icons of the transition to democracy in the 70’s and 80s, will perform more than 60 concerts throughout Spain and Latin America.

Both were exiles during Franco’s rule — Sabina living in London and Serrat in Mexico. Until now Sabina and Serrat were not a duo, but two indivdual stars with their own styles and hits. For the tour they are performing each others songs jointly and individually. The two will reach Madrid in September (three concerts scheduled, two already sold out) and Barcelona in October (two concerts, one already sold out). The final concert of the tour will be in Montevideo, Uruguay on December 20th.

Here’s the tour’s official web site: http://www.dospajarosdeuntiro.es/

More re Rato: Speculation continues about IMF chief Ricardo Rato’s early resignation and planned return to Spain this autumn. There was talk in the media today of Rato followers making preparations to convince him to return to Spain’s political life as well. El Pais pointed out that Popular Party leader Mariano Rajoy doesn’t have one “Ratista” on his team.

Conservationists applaud decison to halt two housing construction plans in Catalonia: The Planning Commission of Girona Province has rejected a proposal to build 1,000 new homes on 85 hectares in a woooded area situated between the developments of Lloret Blau and Lloret Verd in Lloret de Mar. The Commission also denied permission to construct 370 new homes and a golf course in Garrigoles, where only 155 people currently live. In their campiagn against the golf course, conservationsists crossed out the name of Garrigoles on the sign at the entrance to the town and hung one with “Garrigolf” next to it!

Responses

By: Colin on July 1st, 2007 at 2:35 am

Too many golf courses in Spain as it is - though having said that I guess they bring money into the country and provide jobs for people.

By: Carloz on July 1st, 2007 at 12:35 pm

Yes, too many golf courses — and way too many houses!! As the European Parliament declared recently, the huge construction projects do not respond to real needs of the people of Spain! (See: http://myspainblog.wordpress.com/2007/06/22/in-fridays-news/) What Spain needs more of is sustainable development and efforts to diversify its job market. While I think it’s basically a good thing that Spain has such a great tourism industry, there really needs to be a push to develop jobs in areas other than leisure and tourism.

In Today’s News: Summertime, Solsticio and Luz

A las 20.06: verano (At 8:06pm: summer): ADN2 had a photo of Stonhenge at sunrise on it’s cover, in honor of the summer solstice. I think of photo of a sunrise over the sea would have been more appropriate for Barcelona. At the end of my last class this evening, my student pointed out that we began the lesson in springtime and ended in summer. Hmmm.

Summer solstice celebrations in Barcelona: Barcelona has it’s own unique way to observe the change of season — Sain John’s Night. (La Noche de San Juan in Spanish and La Nit de Sant Joan in Catalan.) And what a night it is - fireworks, night swims, bonfires on the beach, and of course MUSIC! I’ll write more about this special event in another post later.

Luz - a survivor! Spanish singer Luz Casal has officially thanked her fans for their well wishes and support during her treatment for breast cancer. The disease, which was detected in January of this year, forced her to cancel a world tour. Luz’ voice was one of the early ones that lured me to Spanish music. “Piensa en Mi” and “Un Año de Amor” are classics! Here’s a link to the English version of her web site: http://www.luzcasal.es/home_en.html

Copied from original http://myspainblog.wordpress.com/ posting by Carloz on 21 June, 2007

In Tuesday’s News: Movie Theaters on Strike & The Rolling Stones Jazz

Ninety-three percent of Spanish cinemas did not open on Monday to protest the proposed Ley del Cine (Cinema Law) and today Spanish film stars gathered to voice their concerns. Cinema owners are opposed to a requirement that at least one of every four films shown in theaters is Spanish or European. The Federation of Spanish Cinemas claims that this would result in finacial losses as theaters would be forced to show movies that the majority of the cinema-going public would not be interested in. On the other side of the argument, the Spanish Ministry of Culture views the law as a way to protect the Spanish film industry. If the law is passed the Federation wants theater owners to receive subsidies for having to show films that don’t make the money Hollywood movies do. While the actors unions have disagreements with the proposed law as it stands now, they are not opposed to the cuota requirement. Their complaints have more to do with the an inadequate mention of actors in the new law.

The Rolling Stones are set to appear in BCN on Thursday night. (No, I don’t have tickets. Been there; done that; didn’t buy the t-shirt.) Meanwhile, some of their musicians were scheduled to play jazz versions of their reportoire at the Jazzroom of La Cova Drac on Tuesday night.

Finally, the ever topical Que newspaper-ette devoted about a third of it’s front page to the disturbing headline: MEDIA VIDA BUSCANDO LOS PAPELES. (Half a life looking for [important] papers.) The complete second page and part of the third were dedicated to the shocking revelation that many Spaniards can’t find important personal papers when they need them. Well, do you know where your tax returns, home insurance documents, passport, social security card and family book are? Do you even know what a family book is? ¿?

Copied from original http://myspainblog.wordpress.com/ posting by Carloz on 19 June, 2007