Travel Information

CONGRESS VENUE

 The 57^th ESCVS International Congress will be held in the

Palau de Congressos de Catalunya
and
Hotel Rey Juan Carlos I

Hotel Rey Juan Carlos I

Avda. Diagonal, 661-671

08028 Barcelona (Spain)

Tel. +34 933 644 040

Fax +34 933 644 264
www.hrjuancarlos.com
hotel@hrjuancarlos.com

Located in Barcelona´s main avenue, the Diagonal, the Hotel Rey Juan Carlos I has splendid panoramic views over the city and the sea as well as an easy access to the airport and the motorways to Madrid, France and the Mediterranean coastline.

It was inaugurated by the King and Queen in 1992, shortly before the Olympic Games. Of spectacular and daring design, the hotel balances the beauty and elegance of such classic and noble materials as marble and wood with the sobriety and strength of concrete, steel, and glass.

Only steps away we find the Palau de Congresos de Catalunya, a modern congress and exhibition centre, with a capacity of 2.027 in its main auditorium and 32 meeting rooms.
The Palau is situated at the end of the Diagonal Avenue , the financial district of Barcelona. It is well connected to the airport, and on a 20 minutes ride to the city centre.

HOW TO REACH THE CONGRESS SITE

From the airport: Aeropuerto Barcelona El Prat (11 km)
The airport is located 12 km from the city in El Prat de Llobregat (airport code: BCN) and can be reached by the Castelldefels highway and by public transport. Website: www.aena.es - info tel +34 93298 3838

• By car: leaving the airport take B-17, direction Barcelona for 5 Kilometres, follow the signs
  B-20, Ronda de Dalt (blue). Once on the B-20, go until the exit 11 (Les Corts - Zona Universitaria) where you shall get out. From there you have a visual reference of the Hotel. Drive 200 mts on the right hand side of the Diagonal Avenue and take the second turning on the right to get to the Hotel. (Travel time: around 15 min.)
• By taxi: Barcelona Airport taxis - Tel: (0034) 93 303 3033
  You'll find the airport Barcelona taxi rank on the left hand side when you leave the airport main exit.The journey to the city centre will take you between 20 to 30 minutes depending on road conditions. Expect to pay around 25 Euros for the journey into the centre. There will also be an additional surcharge for each bag you're carrying. You'll find the rates displayed inside the cab.
  All official Barcelona taxis are black and yellow and are required to charge you only the value on
  the meter (Plus any surcharge. Surcharges include a supplement for travelling from the Airport, or to or from the port and also for each suitcase, all surcharge rates are displayed in the back of the taxi).
• By train/metro: You will find the railway station directly next to the airport. Take the train until the main station of the city called Sants Estació. When you get there take the metro line number 3 (green line) and get out at the stop called Zona Universitaria (2 minutes walking distance from the hotel). (travel time: around 40 min.)
• The aerobus is a shuttle bus service that links Barcelona airport to the most important places of the city centre (Tel: (0034) 93 415 6020). You can catch the aerobus directly in front of the airport (in all 3 terminals). This service normally runs every 15 minutes.To reach the Hotel, get out at Plaça Espanya (first stop). Take the metro line 3 (green line) and get out at the stop called Zona Universitaria (2 minutes walking distance from the hotel). (Travel time: around 40 min.)
• By Limousine: Limousine transfer on request (85 € + VAT) – contact the Hotel Rey Juan Carlos I.

From Girona airport to Barcelona

• By bus: The Barcelona bus is probably the most convenient method of transfer between Girona Airport Barcelona and Barcelona city centre. Barcelona Bus times of departure and arrival are arranged to co-incide with the arrival and departure of RyanAir flights.
  The bus stops right outside the airport and will take you to Estacio d' Autobusos Barcelona Nord (Barcelona's main bus terminal) in Barcelona city centre. From there you can catch the metro underground system to take you to your final destination. The nearest Metro stop to the bus station is Arc De Triomf (Red Line, L1) Make sure to leave at the exit called Sortida Nàpols. The metro stop is only 5-10 minutes walk from the bus station. The journey time from Girona to Barcelona city centre is approximately 1 hour 10 mins.
• By train: The journey time from Girona to Barcelona is approx 1 hour and 10 minutes, but you must also account for about half an hour (cost by taxi about 20 euro) from Girona airport to Girona centre.  http://horarios.renfe.es/hir/ingles.html
• Girona Airport to Barcelona Centre by Taxi is quite an expensive option, the cost is around 120 Euros for a one way trip.

Barcelona Train Stations:

The two main stations serving Barcelona are Estaciós (stations) Sants and França.
Sants services destinations in Spain and a few international trains, while most long distance trains (from Geneva, Milan, Paris and Zurich) depart from Estació França.

Barcelona Bus Stations:
Estació del Nord is the larger of the two. It handles busses to most major Spanish cities as well as hosting international busses run by Eurolines/Linebús and Starbus. Location: Carrer d'Alí Bei near the Arc de Triomf metro station. The Estació d'Autobuses de Sants near the Sants train station handles buses to Montserrat and international services operated by Eurolines/Julià Via.

Tourist Information: Centre d'Informació Turisme de Barcelona in the Plaça de Catalunya, tel: 906 30 12 82

Local transportation in Barcelona:

Public transport in Barcelona is very efficient: an extensive public network - 6 metro lines, 800 buses - covers the whole of Barcelona. In the city there is an Integrated Tariff System and the cheapest way to travel by public transport (either bus or underground) is getting a travel card. You can get a T-10 card, it allows 10 combined journeys in any means of transport. It costs 6,65 Euro and you can use the same ticket during 1 h 15' once validated. You can acquire the cards at the Metro Tickets Offices and Automatic Machines and at the "Tabacs" shops. More information is available on http://www.tmb.net/en_US/barcelona/moute/targetes/targetes.jsp

See further details on the following sites:

www.tmb.net   (Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona)

www.trammet.com   (el TRAM)

www.renfe.es   (RENFE, the spanish railroad company)

Taxis

WELCOME TO BARCELONA!

Barcelona, more than just a single city, is really a collection of multi-faceted and diverse cities. The visitor unfamiliar with its history might be surprised that such a modern and enterprising city preserves its historic Gothic center almost intact, or by the curious contrast between the maze of narrow streets and the grid-like layout of the Eixample, the urban planning "Enlargement" project of the end of the 19th century.
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain in both size and population.
It is also the capital of Catalonia, one of the 17 Autonomous Communities that make up Spain.
There are two official languages spoken in Barcelona: Catalan, generally spoken in all of Catalonia, and Castillian Spanish.

Barcelona was founded on the Mediterranean coast more than two thousand years ago. It is located in the North East of the Iberian Peninsula between the rivers Besos and Llobregat, just a short distance from France.

Romans, Arabs and Christians all influenced Barcelona throughout the centuries. Traces of this diverse history with contrasting cultures can be found all over the city, that is a genuine open-air museum.

Useful links

·         www.bcn.es  Barcelona City site

·         www.barcelonaturisme.com  Tourism in Barcelona

·         www.gencat.net/catalunya/eng/  Catalonia

• http://www.liceubarcelona.com/teatreliceu.asp The Grand Theatre of the Liceu

·         http://home.palaumusica.org/  The Palau de la Musica Catalana

·         http://www.auditori.com/  The Barcelona Auditorium

·         http://www.tnc.es/ca/index.html  The National Theatre of Catalonia

·         http://www.poble-espanyol.com/  The Poble Espanyol (Spanish Village)

·         http://www.catedralbcn.org/ The Cathedral of Barcelona

·         http://www.bcu.cesca.es/  Barcelona University Centre

·         http://www.barcelona.com

·         http://www.softguides.com/barcelona/

·         http://barcelona-on-line.es/eng

Climate

Thanks to its position, Barcelona enjoys a mild climate and pleasant temperatures all year round. In April you can expect temperatures of 16°-18° C.

For weather forecasts visit www.barcelonaturisme.com

Currency

The official currency in Spain is Euro (€).

Banks and post offices

Opening hours are 9.00 to 14.00, all banks are closed during weekends and public holidays

Restaurants

Spanish people have their meals later than in other European countries. Normally, they go to restaurants for lunch between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm in the afternoon and for dinner not earlier than 9:00 pm. Restaurants therefore mostly open their kitchen at 9:00 pm and close at about 12: 00 am. Nevertheless, due to the huge number of tourists, many restaurants in Barcelona start to serve earlier, especially around Las Ramblas and the Barrí Gotic.

There are no fixed rules for tipping and local people tip very little. It is common to tip about 5 percent for a waiter in a restaurant. Leave the money on the table when you are leaving.

Shopping

Shops in Barcelona open between 9.00 and 10.00 and generally close for lunch at 13.30 or 14.00, to open again in the afternoon between 16.00 and 17.00 until 20.00 or 20.30 – except for shopping centers or department stores, which do not close at midday.

Telephone calls

Local and interprovincial calls: Province code + number
International: 00 + country code + area code + number

To receive a call 34 (Spain) + 93 (Barcelona) + No.

LOCAL EVENTS

Spain Grand Prix of F1 2008
Formula 1

Barcelona-Montmeló: Date 25th, 26th, 27th April

The date will be confirmed 10 days approximately before the match.

The event will take place in the Circuit de Catalunya.

http://www.circuitcat.com/ingles/index.asp

Sant Jordi, 23 April

Saint George (Sant Jordi), is the patron saint of Catalonia: on 23 April the Catalans celebrate Saint George's day by offering a rose and/or book, and the main shopping streets of Barcelona (especially La Rambla) are filled with book stands.

The main event is the exchange of gifts between sweethearts, loved ones and respected ones. Historically, men gave their girlfriends and wives roses, and women gave their boyfriends and husbands a book to celebrate the occasion. In modern times, the mutual exchange of books is customary.
Roses have been associated with this day since medieval times, but the giving of books is a more recent tradition. In 1923, a bookseller started to promote the holiday as a way to honour the nearly simultaneous deaths of Miguel Cervantes and William Shakespeare on April 23, 1616.
Barcelona is the publishing capital in both Catalan and Spanish and this heady one-two punch of love and literacy was quickly adopted.

On Barcelona's principal street, La Rambla and all over the city, hundreds of stands of roses and makeshift bookstalls are hastily set up for the occasion. By the end of the day, some four million roses and 400,000 books would have been purchased in the name of love. You will be hard-pressed to find a woman without a rose in hand, and half of the total yearly book sales in Catalonia take place on this occasion.

The sardana, the national dance of Catalonia, will be performed throughout the day in the Plaça Sant Jaume. And many book stores and cafes host readings by noted authors (look out for 24-hour marathon readings of Cervantes' "Don Quioxote”)  And there will be a variety of street performers and musicians on hand to add a romantic ambience to nearly every public square and plaza.

Additionally, April 23rd is the only day of the year when the Palau de la Generalitat, Barcelona's principal government building, is open to the public.
Inside this Gothic architectural masterpiece you'll see huge displays of roses created to honour Saint George.

Catalonia has exported this tradition of the book and the rose to the rest of the world. In 1995, the UNESCO adopted April 23rd as World Book and Copyright Day.