Tuesday 15 December 2009

Barcelona. Why I don't like it 2.

Lets' get the moaning out of the way before I move on.

Go into a bar. Looks a bit expensive, so check the prices before ordering. How much for a congac?

Depends on which one.

The cheapest one?

€5

OK. I'll have that one. Then when it's time to pay...

That will be €6.50.

What?

€6.50. I gave you the expensive one.


It's just a commercial, penny grabbing scam everywhere you go.

It's also extremely difficult to make money on the streets. Tightly controlled where it's 'good'. Policed to an extreme. I got accused of selling beer on the streets the other day. My sketches were apparently just a cover! It is also saturated with street performers, buskers, beggers and others just trying to scrape a living. It is also saturated with thieves and bag snatchers. Because of this, many tourists are forever on guard and reluctant to take time to look, listen, or speak to any stranger on the street. It is by far the most difficult city to work in Spain.

I imagine it's nothing new. It has always lured artists and musicians on a false promise. Anyone thinking about working the streets in Spain - be forewarned; Barcelona is not the place to come.

I could moan more, but my fingers are to cold to type.

Onwards and upwards...

1 comment:

Unknown said...

So you defenetly don't recomended playing on the streets in Barcelona, but it's possible without permission in general? I'm asking because with have 2 violins band and we don't do any electric noise... and what about police, how they trated musicians, they do confiscation on instruments or something like that ? Could you reply ? Thanks !