The Complete MWC 2022 Barcelona Guide: Food, Fun, and Travel

Mobile Globe Congress is coming back to Barcelona, just don't worry most the reports of political instability. Barcelona is open up for business, locals tell me, with thrilling new restaurants and gorgeous modernist buildings open up to the public for the first time.

We've been updating our MWC travel guide for five years now (the base 2022 guide has more information). As e'er, nosotros worked with Turisme de Barcelona to observe out what's new in town. This year, nosotros besides collaborated with ByHours, a local company that developed an app to allow you reserve hotel rooms for a few hours at a fourth dimension. It's perfect for grabbing a place to nap when you arrive in Barcelona and can't bank check into your conference hotel yet.

Every bit always, start with the official MWC website for all of your MWC planning.

What Land Is MWC in, Anyway?

Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, which has been in a standoff with the Spanish government in Madrid over an independence referendum in Oct. Parliamentary elections in December returned separatists to power, although they got less than fifty percent of the popular vote. Madrid has been running Catalonia through "direct rule," fugitive the region's parliament.

That said, things on the streets of Barcelona are at-home, according to Noemi Rosell of Turisme Barcelona. There haven't been demonstrations since Oct and transportation, the aerodrome, and hotels are running smoothly, she said. Unlike in previous years, we haven't heard threats of transportation or workers' strikes during MWC.

That said, there'due south always some sort of shenanigans going on in boondocks during the show. There will inevitably be someone with a banner making a statement, similar in 2022 when members of the Femen feminist group protested Facebook's photo censorship policies, or in 2022 when a Greenpeace protester interrupted the Samsung press conference to make a statement well-nigh recycling. Barcelona is a politically active town, and MWC is just too large a phase to plough down.

Getting Around

MWC is mostly held at the Fira Gran Via, which is out in the suburb of 50'Hospitalet de Llobregat, between Barcelona and the airdrome. The Fira is an extremely efficient, well-laid-out convention center, but it'southward also extremely long. If you're headed to Halls 1-3 or Registration, you need to go to the South Archway. If you lot're headed to Halls 6-8, yous demand to get to the North Entrance. (Halls iv and v are in the center.)

You tin selection up your badge and transit pass at the airport, so make certain to do that before heading into the city. The best manner to get from the aerodrome to the city center still isn't the railroad train, but the frequent and direct, E5.90 Aerobus to Placa Espanya and Placa Catalunya.

The relatively new Line 9 subway (shown to a higher place) runs from the airport to a stop directly nether the Fira's South Entrance and it connects with several other lines. But if yous're coming to the evidence from the Placa Espanya area and headed to the Southward Archway, it'due south notwithstanding faster to switch at Espanya for the suburban trains, which go to the Europa-Fira station. Here's a full Barcelona Metro map.

The railroad train stations are a long manner from the North Entrance and Hall viii. If that'southward where you're going, your best bet is still to have a taxi, or the frequent H16 public jitney from Placa Espanya or Placa Catalunya to the corner of Passeig de Zona Franca and Foneria, which is shut to the Northward Archway. MWC will too run a shuttle between the North Entrance and Hall M8 at the older convention center by Placa Espanya.

Barcelona has besides simplified its bus network in recent years, with new routes running more often in straighter lines. The nigh relevant buses for MWC-goers are the H12, which cuts a direct line from the Southward Entrance of the Fira, past the old Fira, downward to the Placa Catalunya and beyond; and the aforementioned H16, which tin can take you to the Forum or to the Northward Entrance of the Fira. Here's the new double-decker map.

Uber and Lyft are illegal in Barcelona, but y'all can however get a taxi using an app. MyTaxi is the ascendant app in Barcelona, having subsumed Hailo last year. Taxis are relatively affordable, especially if y'all're on an expense business relationship. Tip by rounding upwardly to the next euro. A MyTaxi from Placa Catalunya, in the center of town, to the Fira Gran Via should cost 15-xx euros. Just traffic can get insane during elevation hours, making the frequent and like shooting fish in a barrel-to-employ trains a speedier bet.

MWC also runs special shuttle buses from hotels in outlying areas to the result. In my feel, these buses frequently get stuck in very bad traffic, so if in that location's a way for you to take the train instead, take it.

What to Eat

Yous're going to eat a lot of jamon. But y'all don't accept to requite in to the jamon entirely: Barcelona is a global food hub, known for exciting, cutting-edge cuisine. There'southward a lot of Asian-European fusion going on around town correct now. The city has also ramped up its international condolement-food options in the past few years—pizza and Mexican nutrient, for example, have gotten much better.

The Civilisation Trip has a rundown of new restaurants in Barcelona; Asian, Indian, and pizza places take the pb.

Rosa Gonzalez of ByHours suggests heading to "elBarri," a vi-plex of restaurants all run by the Adria brothers, celebrated Barcelona restauranteurs. (One of the restaurants, Bodega 1900, is shown in a higher place.) The six restaurants are all within ii blocks of each other by the corner of Carrer d'Entenca and Avenida del Paral-lel, only a curt walk from Placa Espanya. The link to a higher place leads you to a site for all of them.

"At Bodega 1900 you lot'll notice a vermouth bar served with reimagined snack foods. You besides have Tickets that'south a contemporary tapas bar. If you want to effort an elevated Mexican cuisine you lot accept Hoja Santa. In case you lot are craving Mexican food, merely the traditional one? Then you have the Niño Viejo taco bar where you tin can eat delicious food for around €40.00 per person. Desire something exotic? At Pakta y'all tin have a gustatory modality of a Peruvian-Japanese food fusion," she wrote to us.

I'd besides similar to make a pitch for my current favorite Barcelona cocktail and tapas spot, Vivant (Carrer del Consell de Cent 394, 08009; +34 933 1588009). Vivant has a mod take on traditional tapas; they're all recognizable, but they're a cutting above the preparations you go far the big Rambla de Catalunya tapas joints. They too serve gin and tonics in giant earth spectacles.

Hither are another options: two more than loftier-end recommendations, two inexpensive ones, and two unusual "modernista" experiences.

• Marea Alta. (Av. Drassanes half dozen-8) is undoubtably the most spectacular new eatery in Barcelona. It'southward on tiptop of the Columbus monument at the lesser of the Rambla! Astonishing views and nautically themed décor keep you busy while yous await your excellent grilled fish. Yes, it's an all-fish card, with several options priced by the kilo. This isn't cheap by whatever ways (you'll be lucky to get out at 60 euros/person) but it'll be a memorable repast for sure.
• Kak Koy. (Carrer de Ripoll, sixteen) Koy Shunka is the best sushi restaurant in Barcelona, and its sibling Shunka may exist the best overall Japanese. Kak Koy brings the same attentiveness to other Japanese preparations, most specifically charcoal-grilled sumiyaki meats, served in a small space forth marble bar tables. It'due south a hidden gem, although you lot should expect to pay betwixt l-100 euros per person.
• La Esquina Barcelona. (Carrer de Bergara, ii) It's a nouvelle-English chophouse with artisanal coffee and a fifteen-euro lunch set menu near the Placa Catalunya. It'southward a lot similar somewhere you'd find in a nice neighborhood of London or San Francisco, which may offering a refreshing alternative to the amount of jamon you lot're going to be consuming this week.
• Parking Pizza. (Carrer de Londres, 98) Parking Pizza offers upscale pizzas and shareable dip appetizers at very reasonable prices of around 20 euros per person for a repast. You'll notice several traditional preparations with a little extra flavor, similar adding fennel to a pepperoni pizza, or sage and shallots to a four-cheese pizza.
• El Mama/La Papa. (Passatge de Pere Calders 2) This dual eating house/nightclub combines fusion cuisine with alive cabaret shows. Information technology's "el mama" before 9 p.chiliad., a more than traditional restaurant, transforming into "la papa" at dinnertime. (Yes, they're mixing upward the genders on purpose.) Performers in elaborate costumes march out into the crowd as multicolored disco lights strobe, acrobats appear, and the food teeters between Castilian and global, with Thai influences claimed.
• Opera Samfaina. (La Rambla 51) is a Modernista experience with food, and it'due south getting lots of buzz for its overall experience. It'southward function nutrient court, part theme park, part argument of cultural identity: everything in hither is Catalan, down to the dreamlike, Dali-esque décor. There are four different bars, various tapas, and a sit down-down dining space called Odisea where you lot enjoy a tasting menu while surrounded past a 360-degree project of prominent Catalan chef Jordi Roca.

If you don't experience like sitting after a mean solar day at the show, keep on to Placa Europa for Come across & Eat, a food court and entertainment serial run by a bunch of local L'Hospitalet restaurants. It'll exist open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the bear witness, with xvi food stands and live music. This is the tertiary year for Meet & Consume, and I retrieve it being a buzzing scene, albeit with long lines for food tickets.

Looking for an event eating house? Grouping Sagardi and AN Grup are two multi-brand restaurant businesses with high-quality spaces all over town. Sagardi is more upscale, while AN Grup is extremely affordable. Both are easy one-finish shopping for events.

What to Exercise

If you haven't been to the flagship Barcelona attractions like the Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllo, and the Cathedral, you'll have plenty to do in Barcelona. Merely if, like me, you've been coming to Mobile World Congress for several years at present, yous probably desire some new things to exercise.

Several new, notable buildings have opened up in the past few years. The Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site (C. Sant Antoni Maria Blood, 167), in a gorgeous one-time infirmary, now offers tours of a reconstructed 1920s hospital ward. Tickets cost xiv euros.

From a infirmary, permit's head to a prison house—a Modernist panopticon prison house. The "model prison" in Barcelona was closed in June 2022 and reopened for tours earlier this year on Fridays and Saturdays. Tours run every 15 minutes from 3-8 p.thou. Friday and ten a.m. to 6 p.m. Sabbatum. Just stop by the prison house at Carrer d'Entença 155, 08029.

The touring exhibition of official Game of Thrones props and sets is in town while we're at Mobile Globe Congress. They have costumes, props, weapons, armor, and sets. It's down at the Maritime Museum on the waterfront, and timed tickets price fifteen.50 euros. Tickets sell out, so purchase in advance, if you can.

That all sounds a little stressful, correct? Let'south go to a dwelling instead. Casa Vicens, an early Gaudi house, opened to the public just before MWC 2022, so you probably oasis't seen information technology however. The firm is in the Gracia neighborhood, which has been called "Barcelona's Greenwich Village" for its small shops and boutiques. Entrance costs sixteen euros.

Gaudi isn't the only Modernist with a relatively fresh new building open. Josep Puig i Cadafalch's Casa de les Punxes (Av Diagonal 420, +34 930 185 242) opened in 2022. It's non Gaudi, but Puig i Cadafalch is a major Barcelona effigy in his own right. The house is full of gorgeous architectural touches and themed to the legend of dragon slaying Sant Jordi, complete with an "interactive experience" on the main floor.

Barcelona Turisme also has a great brochure on "new attractions", which take opened since 2022, including a quartet of design museums and the Born Cultural Center, which has swiftly become ane of Barcelona's about-visited sites. If you feel like Barcelona's paths are well beaten, the dozen new attractions in this brochure will give you fresh ideas.

Staying Connected

Barcelona has a irksome, citywide Wi-Fi system that works throughout the city and is plumbed into the public buses. Connect to the "Barcelona Wi-Fi" SSID across the city.

If you want to apply your phone on 4G in Spain, you need to have LTE bands 3, 7, and 20. Use FrequencyCheck.com to run into if your phone supports those bands. All iPhones back to the vi, along with the iPhone SE, will work fine; Android phones vary model to model.

Your commencement stop should be your The states carrier's roaming plan. AT&T and Verizon both permit you use high-speed information as if it's coming from your plan allowance at home, at a rate of $x/day. Sprint gives you free data at 128kbps, with high-speed information costing $five/day or $25/week. T-Mobile gives y'all unlimited 256kbps information and charges $20/1GB of fast 4G data.

You tin save coin by using a local SIM card, although and so yous lose your US phone number for the duration. Vodafone Spain's Tourist Programme offers 2GB of data and 50 minutes of calling for xv euros. Yous can become information technology at any Vodafone shop in town; in that location's one in the one-time bullring, "Arenas" shopping mall across from the former Fira on Placa Espanya, besides equally one in the El Corte Ingles section store on Placa Catalunya.

With the demise of XCom, we're still picking My Webspot (shown above) for the best 4G hotspot bargain. They'll give you 1GB per 24-hour interval for E9.xc per day, and they'll deliver to your hotel.

7 Barcelona Apps You Demand

All of these apps are available on both iOS and Android. Seek them out in your app shop.

• MyTaxi—The indispensable Barcelona taxi app, and pretty much the merely one that works whatever more.
• Citymapper—The most efficient transit app for getting effectually in Barcelona, if you take data.
• Here WeGo—Offline maps, plus transit and walking directions, make this a great mapping app if y'all take no or slow information.
• Glovo—An accented lifesaver, Glovo volition deliver almost anything to you lot inside an hour for v euros.
• ByHours—There'due south always a identify to crash on an exhausted day in Barcelona with this app, which lets you lot grab 3-hour blocks at local hotels.
• XE Currency Converter—Our favorite free currency converter app has useful Android widgets.
• Google Translate—Google's translation app handles both Catalan and Spanish like a charm.

ByHours MWC Party List

ByHours provided us with this MWC afterparty and issue list, with events from Sunday through Thursday. Some of these require tickets, some are invitation-only, merely you should never be solitary on an MWC night in Barcelona. Longtime tech PR fixture Karen Thomas as well has her ain list, which includes some events that aren't on ByHours' list. (We aren't going to steal Karen's list, but link to it.)

Mobile Sunday 2022 with Tech.european union (Sunday, 25 February from vi to x p.m.)
Don't miss the nearly important networking consequence before the Mobile Earth Congress in collaboration with Tech.eu. You'll take a expect at the hereafter of mobile and the current trends from some of the world'southward leading entrepreneurs, startups, investors and corporations.

See the Editors & Analysts (Sunday, 25 Feb from 7 to 8:30 p.m.)
Join Light Reading, Heavy Reading, Telecoms.com, and Ovum, and almost 100 service providers at a cocktail party, where you will gustation the local beverages and finest tapas with the squad of editors and analysts.

IoT Garden Political party (Tuesday, 27 February, 4 to vi p.m.)
The IoT Garden political party is the but dedicated IoT Networking effect at the Mobile Globe Congress 2022. Go to meet the leading lights of the global IoT manufacture.

IoT Stars (Mon, 26 February, 7 to 10 p.m.)
IoT Stars is an issue for IoT companies to pitch in forepart of a top international jury and for companies to connect to a C-level audience of entrepreneurs, developers, designers, investors, industry players, press and media working in the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem.

Mobile Marketing Mixer 2022 (Tuesday, 27 February, from 8 p.m. on)
Network with the loftier-fliers of mobile marketing at this year's Mobile World Congress. It volition be hosted by Masterclassing and Mobile Marketing Mag at the onetime Moritz beer factory.

#MWC18 – Networking Outcome Past TechTribe (Wednesday, 28 February, from 7 to 11:xxx p.m.)
Tech Tribe is a customs with the vision to share knowledge through interactive events that combine multi-disciplinary talent and thought speakers who inspire, educate and bring people together. Go and network with international talent from dissimilar fields, local and foreign startups.

QUOBIS tapas party (Wednesday, 28 February, from 8 to ten:xxx p.grand.)
Enjoy the Quobis party at the MWC Barcelona with some delicious tapas and a drinking glass of wine.

Out of Metrics (Dunne&Raby, Thursday, 1 March, from 7 p.yard. on)
This is an event series curated by FAD to discover the work of international designers and architects working at the intersections of blueprint, technology, and the environment.

Further Reading

• Tripadvisor Lays Off 25 Percent of Workforce, Citing COVID-xix Bear upon
• Airbnb Extends Counterfoil Policy, Helps Cover Host Losses Amid Global Pandemic
• SpaceX Will Fly 3 Tourists to ISS Adjacent Year
• Nib Gates Is Probably Not Buying a $644M Hydrogen-Powered Yacht
• More in Travel

Travel Reviews

• Travefy
• Hotwire (for iPhone)
• TripIt!
• Fareboom
• Sidekick 4 (for Mac)

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/mwc-2017/13545/the-complete-mwc-2018-barcelona-guide-food-fun-and-travel

Posted by: aguilarproself.blogspot.com

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