Finally, there's been a shift in the weather, some may say for the worse, I say any change from the intense heat is a good one. It rained last night. Hard to believe after weeks of forest fire warnings and heat waves, but the heavens opened at long last. The sky is overcast and humidity levels are up, but temperatures are expected to remain below 30ºC. There's more good news as temperatures could drop slightly later on in the week.
You may remember last week's blog which mentioned poor Cecilia Giménez and her disastrous attempt at art restoration. The subsequent ridicule and criticism she received from national and international news outlets has been met with a backlash from people in support of Cecilia. Along with an online petition calling for the Ecce Homo to be left in its current condition, a Madrid crepery has decided to turn religious art into a chocolaty masterpiece. Yum!
Building work on the Barcelona public transport system is expected to affect mobility during the month of September (great timing, right?), thoroughly cheesing off commuters and Barcelona residents. However, the city is also preparing itself for a new bus system, opening five new routes in October and making changes to the bus lanes on the Gran Via.
We all know someone who's a little too attached to their BlackBerry, or is (jokingly) more concerned about their virtual friends than their real friends, but when does it become a medical problem? The Hospital de Bellvitge is currently treating 52 patients who are addicted to social media. Judging by the rate at which the world of social media is expanding, from long-standing favourites such as Facebook and Tumblr, to up-coming power houses like Twitter and relatively new sites such as Pinterest and Instagram, it seems evident that addictions such as these will also be on the increase. What's more, given the greater accessibility of social media through smartphones and tablets, we can carry our addictions in our pockets and handbags.
Speaking of smartphones, 'smart' technology has reached the beaches of Barcelona. That's right, they're 'smartbeaches'. Companies responsible for designing environmentally-friendly, sustainable beaches which meet the needs of residents, tourists and Mother Nature are updating coastal hotspots such as Sitges amongst others.
You may want to give the beach a miss today given the weather, but for our weekly round-up of films released this week click here! And because we here at Metropolitan want to make your life as easy as possible, here's a list of cinemas playing films in their original language.
More from the Summer in Barcelona blog in the coming days.