Life & Style

‘Blue flags’ recognise clean beaches, with quality services, and are awarded at international level by the Foundation for Environmental Education and the United Nations agencies for Tourism and the Environment. In Catalonia 83.42 kilometres of its beaches have been awarded a blue flag.

The family company Mallafré has captivated International attention and recognition with its gourmet olive oils, flavoured with thyme, rosemary, garlic, coffee or tangerine, among other ingredients. 70% of the production is exported, mainly to France, Germany and Italy, but also to Japan where Mallafré’s ginger flavoured olive oil is a major success.

Ferran Adrià has been considered for many years as the best chef in the world and his restaurant El Bulli, the world’s best restaurant. Together with Lisa Abend, ‘Time’ magazine’s Spain correspondent explained a movie project based on Abend’s book ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentices’. The movie will show the experience of young cooks in El Bulli.

According to a study released by the Spanish Observatory of the Wine Market, Catalan wine exports increased by 8.8% in 2010 in terms of revenue, but at a lower rate than other wine producing areas in Spain, with an average increase of 10%. However, foreign customers seem to appreciate the quality of Catalan wine, as its price increased by 3.6%, while the average Spanish wine price dropped by 4.9%.

Catalan tradition dictates godfathers to offer a “Mona de Pasqua” to their godsons or goddaughters for Easter Monday. The cake goes with a chocolate sculpture or figurine, which in some cases are true masterpieces. Chocolate houses, chocolate trains or popular cartoons made out of chocolate are some of the creations that top the cake. Catalan patissiers expect to sell 660,000 “mones” this year, although smaller ones due to the economic slowdown.

The Catalan restaurant came second in the ‘S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards’, organised by British Restaurant Magazine, with Copenhagen's ‘Noma’ topping the list.

Catalan Antonio Àlvarez runs the Park Hyatt Hotel in Buenos Aires, the most important and luxurious hotel in the Argentinian capital. He is an example of a new emigration phenomenon.

During last year all signposts have been unified, beach bars have been enhanced and a new urban plan has been presented. The Catalan coastal town of Sitges (20 km south from Barcelona) is ready for the sunny season.

Valentí Mongay, President of Garraf’s ‘Slow-food’ and coordinator of the 'Km 0' initiative, has said that by reducing the number of intermediaries, there would be more affordable quality products available, that would be respect seasonal products. He also explain the ‘Flavour Ark’ initiative to preserve local species.

The young singing sensation trained with FC Barcelona’s first team and even joined in a game with some of the players. Yesterday, Barça won Shakhtar at the first round of the Champions League’s Quarters.

Torres is one of Catalonia's most globally recognised wine houses, with vineyards and wineries in places such as Chile and California. Company President Miguel A. Torres believes that innovation in every step of the process of wine production is necessary. He also stressed the importance of exports to get over the crisis.

Chinese businessmen have chosen the Catalan coastal village to be the model for their new holiday resort in China. This Costa Brava village will thus have a carbon copy in Zhangzhou, Fujian region’s Xiamen bay.

The Catalan coastal town was nominated in the “Government” category of Twitter’s “Shorty Awards”. The Mayor of Newmark, Coory Booker won in this category. Vilassar de Mar was third, just behind Barack Obama’s Twitter.

The Rovira Brothers make an unrivalled gastronomic duo. They claim that having a close relationship with the producers is a key element to get the best out of the products they use.

Catalan Olga Fontanillas is the founder of this NYC-based company. She assures this is the best time to break into the American market.