Barcelona is a nightlife-lover's paradise. Between the city's thriving music scene, liberal drinking laws and the generally hedonistic social attitudes of many Spaniards, you're almost assured a good time when you go out. I have spent many a night wandering the narrow streets of the Barrio Gotico neighborhood, hopping from one tiny bar to the next while enjoying a few mojitos with friends.

If that's not convincing enough, an article in today's Guardian points out that nightlife-lovers have yet another reason to visit Barcelona - a growing trend of "hidden" bars. In recent years an estimated 40-some-odd illegal drinking establishments have sprung up, thanks largely to the okupas, Spanish squatters who occupy the city's many empty buildings.

Spiraling housing costs have put buying or renting apartments out of reach for many Spaniards, who have taken to occupying empty buildings as a last resort. Some of the more enterprising squatters have created bars with their space, earning themselves some extra cash. A few spots to check out include:

• El Mariachi - a favorite hangout for the city's musicians, this quirky spot is nothing more than a few mismatched pieces of furniture. The real highlight is the cocktails, which include the Hydro-Miel, the house specialty mixed with honey. (Corner of Carrer dels Codols and Carrer d'en Rull, Barrio Gotico)
• El Armario - another tiny spot in the El Raval neighborhood. The name in Spanish means "wardrobe," which is accurate: you literally walk past the owner's clothing collection to get inside. (Carrer de la Riereta, El Raval)
• The Front Room - this bar, which does not seem to have an "official" name, occupies a small front room behind a tiny metal door on the Carrer d'en Carabassa. (Metal door opposite 5 Carrer d'en Carabassa, Barrio Gotico)
  

If you want to visit these places, be prepared and be patient. Most don't have signs or set hours of operation, usually opening after 2am when Barcelona's other bars are shutting down. Furthermore, their illegal status makes them targets for closure by police. In other words, have some back-up drinking options. But if you're headed out with an open mind and little bit of persistence, Barcelona's hidden bars look ready to offer a uniquely Spanish "night on the town."

With summer in full swing it, finding good outdoor spaces to have a drink is the thing to do. Nothing says summer more than a couple of friends sitting on an outdoor terrace sharing a pitcher. But even better than your average terrace or patio has to be a rooftop.

Stopping for an evening drink is an excellent activity, but if you can find a bar on top of a tall building with an excellent view of your host city, even better. While in Vietnam last fall, my hostel in Hanoi had a rooftop bar and it seemed none of us ever wanted to leave. Our friends over at Matador Nights -- part of the Matador Network -- think along the same lines and have graced us with an article on The World's 10 Best Rooftop Bars. It's the insider's guide to finding the best rooftop nightlife, from the ultra cool to the ultra sexy.

Here are the top five:

1. Sirocco, Bangkok, Thailand
2. The Penthouse, Madrid, Spain
3. Luna Bar, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
4. Rooftop Bar, Melbourne, Australia
5. Gravity, Dublin, Ireland

For the rest of the list and descriptions to all of the bars, read the Matador Nights article here. Do you have a favorite rooftop bar?

One of Spain's most iconic monuments La Sagrada Familia, a humongous Roman Catholic church in Barcelona that has been under construction since 1882, will finally have a roof. Expecting to be ready by 2010, the church will then be able to host services and events inside its premises.

Originally designed by Antoni Gaudi, the church is recognised by its 18 tall towers and its architectural style is a cross between Art Noveau and Cubism.

What's most interesting about this structure is that it's not funded by the government or any church. It has been built purely on private donations and money from tourist tickets, the main reason why it's still under construction for the last 125 years. The church attracts about 2 million visitors annually and standard entrance is €10.

Word is that the structure will be completed in 2026, but since its construction relies heavily on tourist pennies, that date is debatable.

The world famous wonder that it has become, you'd think that an official body would take over its completion; 144 years for a church to be completed is just way out of line. But then again, what's a dozen more years, eh?

[Via Globorati]

As Abha already mentioned in one of her posts, the 9-day bull-running festival in Pamplona, Northern Spain, started today.

BBC reports that today's run only took 4 minutes and claimed thirteen injured people. Although the injuries were mostly cuts and bruises suffered by people falling over or getting trampled by one of the six bulls set loose, some more serious injuries were reported.

One man suffered a collapsed lung, ruptured spleen and broken ribs. Another, 23-year old man from Ireland, died after falling from the city's walls. (This actually happened yesterday and had nothing to do with being chased by the bulls though.)

Here is how the festival works. "Up to six bulls and a number of steers are released at 8 a.m. from a pen into a closed-off street. They then run 825m (2,700ft) to the bullring, where they face matadors later in the day. Ahead of them are the runners, who try to stay as close to the bulls as possible without falling or being gored," BBC reports.

Today, the sprint through the cobbled streets apparently turned chaotic after the pack bulls became separated after ploughing into a crowd of people. Ouch.

It is quite amazing that "only" 14 people have been killed during the festival since record-keeping began in 1924.

Spain is is known to create their own festivals because, oh, it's fun! Anything to have a party and drink on a large scale.

Most of the festivals have some deep-rooted historical connections to a saint, but other than that, Spaniards do not have solid reasons for celebrations, nor will majority be able to explain the root of the traditions.

Two such festivals, now famous as they've become tradition are 1) The Tomatina: where people get together in the street to throw tomatoes at each other, 2) San Fermin: where people get chased by bulls for the fun of it -- a festival that started today in Pamplona, and runs till July 14.

So this is how it works: people get drunk the night before, at 8am runners put on white shirts and red scarfs and prepare to race with the bulls along an 800-meter path. The idea is to beat the bulls to it or you will get trampled to serious injury or in some cases even death. The afternoons are normally filled with bull-fights.

Of course, the main runners are professionals who practice for this festival, but there are always the over-enthusiastic and semi-drunk tourists who think they should have a go at it. Although only 13 deaths have been registered since the festival began in 1924, the tourists are the ones who always get severely injured.

This time round, 9 people have already been injured and one has died from falling off a wall after a night of binge drinking.

This festival is worth going to to experience the craze and the chaos that Spaniards are known for, but be sure to book way in advance. Getting a hostel or finding place in a bar that over looks the street on which people run, is the best situation you can be in to enjoy this stuff safely.

I've never understood how the concept of a silent rave ever got popular. People in a club listening and dancing to their own music on headphones. The hook is around the fact that you can dance to whatever music you want in a social environment.

How is this fun? Why wouldn't you just do the same at home? It's a social thing, but when do you talk? On drink breaks?

The concept originated in the Netherlands some years ago under the notion of "going wild in silence", and ever since has been floating around Europe. A couple of months ago, Union Square in New York held a huge "Silent Disco", apparently the first ever in New York.

In Madrid, it's come on a small scale. Organized by a youth center at their premises, I can't imagine it to attract too large of a crowd, but then again, it's Madrid -- you just don't know.

According to the CNN, the DJ's involved in introducing the concept say that they are confident that in the ever changing world of clubbing, it's better to be seen than heard. Hmmm.

I'd go to watch, but I doubt you can get away with just being a spectator to this silliness. Maybe I'll just go and join in.

Between several other vacations, high summer airline prices and the ridiculous Euro/Dollar exchange rate, I am sadly not heading to Europe this summer. But even though I haven't been able to make it "across the pond," I have been vicariously soaking up some European culture through this year's Euro 2008 soccer championships. Today marks the final between Spain and Germany of what has been another tournament of surprising upsets and nail-biting finishes.

Pish-posh, what's this about "soccer" you say? Actually, I don't know a whole lot about European soccer either. Yes, I know a few of the popular club teams like FC Barcelona and Manchester United, but I'm fairly clueless about the day-to-day standings and players. Why then, should anyone bother watching? Because European soccer is more than just a simple sporting event - it's a defining aspect of European cultural identity. Ask your typical European citizen to tell you about their favorite team or best soccer experience and you're bound to get an enthusiastic answer.

So if you're near a television today, crack open a nice cold Hefeweizen and switch over to ABC around 2:30 EST for the big event. Next summer when you're in Munich you'll be swapping Euro 2008 stories with the locals in no time.

Ha! The title of this photo is "Making friends with the locals." Could not have said it better myself.
It was taken by RXX in Madrid.

***To have your photo considered for the Gadling Photo of the Day, go over to the Gadling Flickr Pool and post it. Make sure it is not copyrighted, otherwise we can't post it here.***

It really shouldn't come as a surprise, but when you are trying to save those euros this summer, you are going to want to spend your time discovering cities by way of public transportation. Buses, street cars and metros are what the European continent is known for, and this article in the New York Times highlights how many good deals you can find aboard different forms of transportation.

The article lays out how much you'll have to pay and where public transportation can take you in five European cities: London, Paris, Barcelona, Berlin and Rome. Any budget conscious traveler will most likely already be well versed in the variety of modes of public transportation and how to pay for them -- the constant "single tickets vs. multi-day pass" question -- but what I do like about the article are the recommendations for day trips, all accessible by main Metro, Tube or U-Bahn lines, and that take you to some off the beaten path destinations.

The budget basics:

London: The Tube. Invest in a pay-as-you-go Oyster Card to save some money, you have to pay a 3.50£ deposit to get the card, so make sure not to lose it so you can get your money back.
Paris: Le Metro. One trip passes are 1.50€, but the Times recommends that it's probably cheaper to buy a pack of ten than invest in a multi-day pass.
Barcelona: Metro. Single tickets cost 1.30€, but it makes more sense to buy a ten trip pass which starts at 7.20€.
Berlin: U-Bahn. Single ticket fares start at 2.10€ and a one day pass starts at 6.10€.
Rome: Metropolitana. It's super cheap: single-ride tickets start at 1€ and one-day passes at 4€!

Read the whole article here.

I generally find Spain very laid back and relatively lagging in the world of technology -- it's what I often enjoy about being here.

It's somehow possible to stay away from the high-tech hysteria everywhere else, be it use of technology in your personal life (I don't know anyone here who cares about the iPhone), or in the professional sector (when I went to pick up my resident card in Madrid, my appointment had been noted on 3 different hand-written(!) lists.

So when I read that a group of tourists who were robbed in Barcelona about a year ago are finally going to get justice by testifying via webcam(!) from their respective country, I almost fell off my chair!

According to the Guardian, 24 British, Belgian, German, Danish, Portuguese, American and Australian alleged victims of a Romanian gang who posed as police to rob tourists in Barcelona last year, will see the culprits punished, assuming the case is revolved. Time differences between the countries are being coordinated, webcam identification of the criminals, and stories of the victims, are being heard. Apparently, all this "tech-justice" process was devised to quicken clearing the backlog of nearly 270,000 such pending cases in the country.

Tourists often get robbed when traveling and can never do much about it because they are leaving the country shortly, this webcam justice initiative by Barcelona has taken things to a new level -- I would never have expected such a thing to come out of Spain. Bravo!