Oct cover
The nights are drawing in once again and this month sees the clocks going back (that's 'fall' back remember), so there's lots of opportunities to stay in and read the October issue of Barcelona Metropolitan.
This month's cover story goes to the heart of Barcelona and one of the most recent controversies to hit the city, the state of the Rambla. Matt Elmore investigates whether things really are getting worse or if it's pretty much business as usual for one of the most famous streets in the world.
We also have a feature story about Barcelona's booming business as a cruise ship port. While other areas of tourism have been hit by the crisis, the ships are pouring in and out of Barcelona, which has rapidly become one of the Mediterranean's leading turnaround stops, as Vincent Dams reports.
Our La Vida article in October is aimed at dogs and their humans, with details of various services and companies that aim to make a dog's life worth living. Regina W. Bryan speaks to a dog trainer, a volunteer at an animal refuge and pet-shop owner, amongst others.
There are various interviews in the latest edition of the magazine: Quicksand Remedy is a band made up of three foreign residents that has got its foot wedged well in the door of the Barcelona music scene and they feature in our 'Over to you' slot this month; Nicola Thornton interviews Angel Lucas Serra is a local policeman in the town of Cerdanyola to the north of Barcelona; and Edi Barceló is a Brazilian musician from who's made his home in Barcelona for the past 13 years and this month presents his latest album featuring original and traditional capoeria music.
The restaurants reviewed are Mediterrasian locale Koy Shunka, awarded five stars by Tara Stevens and brunch at Marmalade in the Raval, where the eggs Benedict get a very positive "as good as it gets" from Tara.
Finally, our culture section includes: six (count 'em) film festivals happening in and around Barcelona in October as reviewed by our film expert Jonathan Bennett; Natasha Young tells us about the month's exciting international contemporary dance line-up at Mercat de les Flors; two big music festivals on this month, the Voll-Damm Festival Internacional de Jazz de Barcelona and the Auditori's 14º Festival de Músicas del Mundo; the Year of Cerdà, paying homage to the man who designed the Barcelona Eixample neighbourhood; a night celebrating John Lennon and community arts; and a rockers and mods evening at Apolo, Aces and Faces.