Delia - trend analyst with our Strategic Partner "TrendOne" (Hamburg/Berlin) - came back to Barcelona this summer, after having lived there for over a year. She describes the unique inspirational atmosphere of the Catalonian capital, in which with Picasso and Gaudi some of the greatest artist of our time lived. Be inspired!

As we travel all over the world for spreading the word on micro trends, we always want to grasp the inner feeling of the cities we visit and we are curious about their culture. There are many things that make Barcelona a charming place to be but most of the times it is about special people in special places. The mixture between Spanish, Catalan and the thousands of nations coming to live there for a while make the city one of a kind in terms of trends and influences.

El Borne and also Gracia are about the New Traditionalist, a developing trend we are seeing here. Young people are opening stores with very upscale, well made locally produced products. Bespoke tailored suits, handmade shoes, not Desigual style but very chic, mostly using traditional products in new ways. Spotted: revived interest in original Catalan craft.

In Ribera, the area which is slowly becoming an upper-Born, the old city is excavated while workers are remodeling its walls, building inside new trendy shops. In the past 6 months 4 new art galleries opened their doors along with many new cafe's and boutiques.

El Raval stands for diversity, colors and mods. Ex-Chinese neighborhood, el Raval is now a mixture of old and new, kebab smell, pakis (Berlin’s spätis), international phone booths, very good bars with Betty Ford at lead and some of the best shops in terms of vintage clothes and furniture in the city. More and more cool museums raise the area, like MACBA is doing, but Raval‘s inhabitants complain about the new “very modern” hotel (Barcelo Raval) which was thrown down in the neighborhood’s heart. They say it completely transformed the space where young people used to hang out, making its authenticity disappear.

At night, the Digital Nomads pop up. They are those who move a lot, always online connected to people, amplifying their presence through smart tech like Iphones, Ipads etc. Mobility is part of their bodies and soul and technology is part of their veins.

Barrio Gotico is the aristocratic version of El Raval. Charming and elegant, smells like pastry and goes well with a red wine in the jazzy atmosphere. Funky, small art galleries and antique shops fill the neighborhood. An emerging group of young people here are the New Italians, young entrepreneurs from Italy that are opening cafes and restaurants everywhere. They started with Spritz/Aperitivo Italiano which is a big scene in itself and livelier then the Vermouth scene for young people because it includes free Italian tapas and in some places great DJs and live music on a Sunday night. Lots of Vespa clubs and piadina chains along with gelaterias everywhere now.

Along with meeting all the world’s nations, hearing all the languages, enjoying whatever type of cuisines gets through your mind, the architecture follows the same trend. Modernist walls marked with tags or stencils, outstanding modern buildings thrown down into old and authentic neighborhoods, Catalans and tourists, all this mix of different styles and behaviors somehow works perfectly and gives the city its charm. In the end, it is a great match!

Credits text and photos: Delia Dumitrescu · TrendOne