Rolling Stones to perform at Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium Thursday

Rolling Stones ready for Spain after 2006 cancellations: After having had to cancel several concerts in Spain during last year’s tour, the Rolling Stones return this month to play several dates, with the Barcelona Olympic Stadium gig on Thursday | The band’s lead singer Mick Jagger released a televised message Wednesday to greet fans ahead of the Barcelona concert.

“Sorry we had to cancel our concert last year. This time we’re ready,” was how Jagger, in passable Catalan, urged fans to come along to their opening “Bigger Bang” tour date, in the message broadcast on Catalan-language TV3 television.

Last year the band cancelled several shows after guitarist Keith Richards was injured after falling out of a coconut tree in Fiji in April and frontman Jagger then suffered a bout of laryngitis in August.

www.barcelonareporter.com 

Barna gets its WTA

Barcelona has always been proud of it’s ATP tennis tourney, the Godo, won once again this year by Rafa Nadal, but what has been lacking in these parts has been a decent ladies tournament.

All that changed this year, whit the KIA getting the WTA seal of approval, and thus forming a ranking part of the regular ladies professional tour.

The driving force behind the inaugural tournament is none other that Spain’s most successful tennis playing lady of all time, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario. It is set to be the biggest ladies compo of the year in a country that has been strangely bereft of any major tennis featuring the fairer sex.

The venue is the Vall d’Hebron tennis complex, which was used for the 1992 Olympics, and is right next to the Montbau Metro Station.

The clay court facilities are top notch, and so is the city, but the biggest problem has been attracting big names to an event that has absolutely zero tradition in an already very crowed world tennis calendar.

Fourteen of the current TOP 100 in the world will be taking part, but they are far from the cream of talent in the world of ladies tennis. Top seed will be Italy’s Francesca Schiavone, followed by Spanish number one Anabel Medina, although it has also been rumoured that a wild card will be offered to world Nº15 Patty Schnyder of Swizerland.

The other relatively big names to look out are Emilie Loit, Martina Muller, Kaia Kanepi, Shaugnhessy, Virginie Razzano, Romina Oprandi, Jelena Kostanic, and local girls Lourdes Dominguez and Vivi Ruano.

There may not bee too many household name in there, but it really isn’t bad at all considering the dates.

You see, it’s playing played right on the back of the French Open in Paris, and with less than a month between that and Wimbledon, what most sensible players want to do once Roland Garros is over is starttweaking their grass game in preparation for the All England Club.

Barcelona really need to either sort the dates out or get some grass courts installed if they want to attract the really big names to this event.

However, the prices are more than reasonable. For the qualfying rounds a general ticket costs just 5 euros, and you can get a seat in the grandstand for 10.

For Friday’s Semifinals they are asking 10 for a general ticket and 15 for grand stand, while the final on Saturday is selling for 15 general and 20 grandstand.

For 35 and 50 euros respectively, you can get a pass for the entire tournament.

How to reach Camp Nou in Barcelona

One of the most important Tourist attraction in Barcelona is FC Barcelona Venue, called Camp Nou.

If you want to reach the stadium just follow those instructions:
Take the green line (L3) on the Metro to Maria Cristina (direction Zona Universitaria) and then walk up Diagonal towards Hotel Princess Sofia (the Pa Caixa towers are on your left. Turn left after the hotel and head down Avinguda dehorn XXIII. Or, you can take the blue line (1.5) Metro to Collblanc (direction Cornellà Centre) and walk down Travessera de les Corts and the stadium is on your left. Numerous buses also travel up Diagonal to the Princess Sofia.

Pretty easy, isn’t it?

For more information you can visit the Barcelona Metro website.
Or just the Barcelona metro map.

Barcelona new Mayor

Hotels

Soon!!

Barna gets its WTA

Saturday , June 9 to Saurday June 10.

Barcelona has always been proud of its ATP tennis tourney, the Godo, won once again this year by Rata Nadal, but what has been lacking in these parts has been a decent ladies tournament. All that has changed this year, with the KIA getting the WTA seal of approval, and thus forming a ranking part of the regular ladies professional tour.

Coming smack, bang on the back of the French Open in Paris, the driving force behind the inaugural tournament is none other than Spain’s most successful tennis playing lady of all time, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario. It is set to be the biggest ladies compo of the year in a country that has been strangely bereft of any major tennis featuring the fairer sex. The venue is the Vail d’Hebron tennis complex, which was used for the 1992 Olympics, and is right next to the Montbau metro station.

The clay court facilities are top notch, and so is the city but the biggest problem has been attracting big names to an event that has absolutely zero tradition in an already very crowed world tennis calendar.

Spanish number 1 and number 31 in the world, 25 year old Anabel Medina the reigning Olympic champion, was one of the first to put her name down for Barcelona, and she was joined by Madrid’s Vivi Ruano, her Federations Cup team-mate and doubles winner in the French, US and Australian Opens, usually in tandem with Argentina’s Paola Suarez.

But, unless there are any late surprises, the rest of the field is not massively inspiring. Martina Muller, Meghann Shaughnessy, Emilie Loit, Romina Oprandi, Lourdes Domfnguez-Lino, Tathiana Garbin and Catalina Castano are the biggest entries so far, and let’s be honest, these girls are hardly the cream of global tennis talent. However, the prices are more than reasonable. For the qualifying rounds (Saturday to Thursday) a general ticket costs just five euros, and you can get a seat m the grandstands for ten. For Fridays semi finals, they are asking ten for a general ticket and 15 for the grandstand, while the final on Friday is selling for 15 general and 20 grandstand. For 35 or 50 euros respectively, you can get a pass for the entire tournament. For full details of the competition, check out this website.

Spanish Rugby League

FC Barcelona v Spyro Bera Bera. Sun May 27 at 12 00

UE Santboiana v Madrid Noroeste. Sun May 27 at t2 30

The Spanish rugby league drew to a close last week with Santboiana giving local rivals Barga a 44-9 thumping in the final game of the season. But the 2006 champions only finished third in the table this season, while Barga had to make do with sixth.
Now. though, both sides get the chance of a fresh start as the Copa del Rey gets under way this weekend. Both of our local sides will have home advantage in the single-match encounters.

The side from Sant Boi, the oldest rugby club in the country, will be facing Madrid Noroeste. a side that has been associated to a possible deal with Real Madrid next season. Meanwhile, FC Barcelona (who became part of the football club in a similar deal last summer) face Basque outfit Spyro Bera Bera, who finished one place above them in the league. To get to Sant Boi. the satellite town that is home to Santboiana. any of the FFCC trains leaving Placa Espanya will be there in about fifteen minutes, although it is quite a hike from the station to the ground. Perhaps best to take a cab.

Meanwhile, Barça play at La Foixarda, which is best reached from Plaça Espanya. From there head up Maria Cristina as far as Rius i Taulet and turn right along Marques de Comillas. You’ll go past the Poble Espanyol and eventually come to a roundabout, where you should turn left. You should now see the rugby ground below you. and if you look closely you’ll even find some signs telling you where it is.
Do you want some tickets for any event in Barcelona? Just buy it here!

Spanish ACB Basketball Plays Off

FC Barcelona vs Akasvayu Gerona

FC Barcelona’s basketball team are currently in the eight-team end season of the Spanish ACB League, and as SM went to press, after an excellent win in game one, had just been beaten 85-70 in Gerona to see the series go to 1-1.

Game three was back here at the Palau on Friday night, while Game four is in Gerona on Sunday.

If the best-of-five series goes to a final match, then that will be back here in Barcelona, in all probability at 20.45 on Thursday May 31. but you should check www.fcbarcelona.com for confirmation. Should Barcelona make it through, their semi final opposition will probably be Tau Ceramica of Vitoria, who are currently 2-0 against Unicaja Malaga. The semi final dates are May 31 or June 1 iG1) June 2 or 3 (G2) June 7 or 8 (G3), and if needed June 9 or 10 (G4) and June 12 (G5).

Again, you will need to check the web for the exact times and dates nearer the day, with the basketball federation’s web generally being your best bet.

The basketball team form part of the same setup as the football team, and play just across the car park from the Camp Nou in the Palau Blaugrana, next to the club shop and the ice rink. Tickets tend to go for around 15 euros, and as we never tire of pointing out to our readers, it really is not a bad idea to check out a bit of hoops while you are in town. The quality is about as good as you could hope to see outside of the NBA, and atmosphere sure beats the hear-a-pin-drop Camp Nou.

Volta a Catalunya Cycling

Final stage arrival at Tibidabo. Sunday May 27 at 13.15

Now in its 87th edition, the Tour of Catalonia is generally the biggest event in the local cycling calendar, given that the Vuelta a Espaha seems to have a nasty knack of giving the delights of Barcelona a wide berth and parading instead around the most uninspiring Castilian scenery it can find.

The Volta. though, is a cracking little seven-day race, which generally attracts some quality entrants, which this year include current world number one Alejandro Valverde of Spain, the winner of last year’s Tour (following the Floyd Landis scandal) Oscar Pereiro. and last year’s winner of the Tour of Spain, Kazakhstan’s Alexandre Vinokourov. Starting on May 21 in Salou, the week takes the cyclists across inland Catalunya as far as Andorra and the Pyrenees, before coming back down to Lloret de Mar, the starting point for the final stage, and the one that most interests us, because it will end here in Barcelona On Sunday May 27.
And what a cracking end it promises to be too, with a 450m climb from Montcada up to Tibidabo, the spectacular choice of location for the finishing line. That ascent will be up the back of the mountain via Valldoreix and Vallvidrera, which you can reach on the Ferrocarriles, with arrival at Tibidabo car park expected from around 13.15 onwards. For more precise details of the routes and times, see their web page.