Barcelona (/ˌbɑːrsəˈloʊnə/ BAR-sə-LOH-nə, Catalan: [bəɾsəˈlonə], Spanish: [baɾθeˈlona])
It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within city limits, its urban area extends to numerous neighbouring municipalities within the Province of Barcelona and is home to around 4.8 million people, making it the sixth most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris, London, Madrid, the Ruhr area and Milan. It is one of the largest metropolises on the Mediterranean Sea, located on the coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs, and bounded to the west by the Serra de Collserola mountain range, the tallest peak of which is 512 metres (1,680 feet) high.
After staying in Athens for a month I had to figure out my next move. I was quite lonely over there, so I figured meeting some of the old friends in Barcelona was a good idea. It is always great to be back there, and be able to skate anywhere, skates basically replace any type of transport in the city, except for the metro, but only in the case of going up the hills surrounding the city. I had fallen out with one of my friends over there, but we managed to make peace again. I hadn’t been to Barcelona in a while, so I was busy repeating all the good things I remembered from my past times for at least a week. I stayed in an overpriced Air’b’nb with a lady called Montse in Urgell, definitely not the greatest Place I have stayed in.
We managed to get out quite a bit, despite the winter weather (which mainly starts around January, December is a bit of a gamble but mostly fine) Powerslide is always in need of promotional material, so we went out shooting for the Next skates and on another shoot for Roex with their newly designed lightning wheel.
Pushin’ it I, December 2017, Barcelona, Spain
This photo started a whole thing, I basically figured out how I can take photos of anyone I want without them noticing. As my soft-skills aren’t the greatest, this came as a great opportunity to finally get some good people shots. Natural, authentic and showing the person just as if no photo was taken.
The man Nick Lomax doin’ his thang, December 2017, Barcelona, Spain
If I remember correctly, this was a big achievement for Nick, he had been practicing his flips for a while but I don’t think he had done it properly to that day. A bit of motivation in combination with a big load of Powerslide pressure and here we go.
A few things I like to do after I haven’t been in Barcelona for a while:
- skate down the beach walk, basically skate from the W-hotel to Forvm
- have beers and spliffs with the homies
- skate with the boys Marbella skatepark
- wander around the city aimlessly
- eat at Bo de Be and Bacoa
- visit Pasquale at NAP and claim a free Pizza
- edit photos at the social club
- do the Mt. Juic downhill
- enjoy someones skate holiday
- play around on Tinder but never meet anyone
- get annoyed by the people that host you
- skate some of the classic spots, Marbella, Forvm park, Parallel
- meet Tim the first day I visit but then never again
- take advantage of the great shopping opportunities in the city
- go on distance skate missions up the river, towards Zona Universitaria or to Badalona
- run from the W to Forvm and back
- depending on the season go to Badalona for a beach day (clearly not in December though)
The craziest man I know, December 2017, Barcelona, Spain
This is Jara from the Czech republic, he came to visit Barcelona for a couple of days. It was winter, so nobody wanted to skate. I had a heart and went out with him, trying to avoid filming him with his selfie stick GoPro.
Pushin’ it II, December 2017, Barcelona, Spain
For some reason I noticed that a lot of people push things around in Barcelona, be it waggons, produce, a trolly, boxes, shopping carts, luggage… all kinds of things. When I got back in 2018 I decided to shoot a series dedicated to the topic.
