After a long and tiring journey in flight the last thing you need is to unnecessarily wait for your conveyance. So, when you get down at airport in the city (Barcelona), you wouldn’t love to wait for a taxi/cab. Long journey itself is tiring and then queuing up for a cabby to turn up can make you feel more irritated. This is exactly the reason why many people are now going for airport car service because when they disembark from the airport gate, their car rental from the airport is readily available to them for service. There are certain misconceptions among people regarding the car rental at airport. Many people are of the idea that car rental from airport is expensive but in reality it is not so. In-fact barring few exceptions they are almost the same like the one’s you find inside the city.

At times the charges can be on the higher side but going in for the airport service can give a peace of mind and can help you steer clear of any undue stress or pressure and helps you save important time. This is not all; another advantage for opting car service at airport is that when you avail this service, you almost certainly don’t have to worry about sharing your conveyance with any stranger or unknown person. The firms dealing in airport car rentals also make efforts to see that the vehicle they use is well maintained and hence is properly looked after. When you are going in for airport car hire remember few tips so as to enjoy a comfortable and problem free ride. Always opt for a reputed firm; a firm which has a good name in the market will always look to maintain its brand name so will make all possible efforts to take care of you. Reputed company can charge you little higher but they will provide good service in return. Online booking facility is also provided by many of these firms which make it convenient for people to book their cars in advance. So go for it.

At the 6th annual 2010 ACI EUROPE awards, has won the award as the best European airport in Europe for catering over 25 million passengers. The awards were held in Milan on 18th of June.
“The airport’s ambitious €100 million environment investment plan has impressed the jury with its valuable collaboration with the disability groups” stated ACI EUROPE.
The airport has received a positive appraisal from the jury regarding the opening of the T1 as it is well designed using the latest technology ensuring flexibility in the procedures, easy access to the terminals along with providing environmental awareness and protection initiatives, which has won for it an ISO 14.001 certificate in 1999. It is the first airport in Europe to receive this certificate.
The roof of the Terminal 1 is covered with 696 panels and there is new selective waste collection system that is based as a part of the environmental sustainability development.
The jury has also considered the quality of facilities and services at the airport comprising of a wide range of restaurants and shops, quality services for business users, VIP rooms and wellness areas.
The airport’s performance in catering over 25 million passengers and its excellence in the areas related to quality services, commercial offers, safety and environmental awareness have won for it the recognition as the Europe’s best airport.
Among a few handfuls in Europe, two other airports have also been announced for handling more number of passengers in April 2010.
Car hires available at the airport are Avis, Europcar, Atesa, Hertz and Solmar.

Barcelona is the second largest city of Spain and the capital of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia.
Barcelona is an important cultural centre, a major tourist destination and has a rich cultural heritage.
To see:
Barcelona is city full of parks, 12 historic, 5 thematic, 45 urban and 6 forest parks. The Ciutadella Park in the old military citadel houses the Parliament building, the zoo and several museums.
There are close to 50 museums in Barcelona each representing a different aspect of the rich history, culture and art of the region.
Montjuic Plaça Espanya is home to Fundació Joan Miró a modern art museum, the botanical gardens, the museum of ethnology, The Catalan museum of archaeology and The Olympic museum.
With seven beaches Barcelona has 4.5kms of coastline with Sant Sebastià and Barceloneta beaches being the largest, oldest and the most frequented.
The city’s historical centre is the area around the Plaça Catalunya especially known for its fountains and statues.
Shopping:
The main commercial area of the city is the upper half of Avinguda Diagonal which cuts the city in two. This avenue is 50 m wide and about 11 km long and has many historic buildings apart from being the main shopping area of Barcelona with largest shopping center Centro Commercial Diagonal Mar.
Theatre and Music:
Theatre and Live music have many venues in Barcelona including Gran Teatre Del Liceu opera theatre, the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, the Teatre Lliure and the Palau de la Música Catalana concert hall. The Sónar Festival and the Primavera Sound Festival are two annual pop music festivals held in the city.
Sport:
One of the largest in Europe, three-time winner of the UEFA Champions League FC Barcelona is a sports club known best for its football team. Barcelona has two UEFA elite stadiums. The Barcelona Marathon every March sees over 10000 participants apart from other major road running competitions held in Barcelona each year. Barcelona also is on the ATP World Tour 500 Series tennis tournament. The Circuit de Catalunya racetrack hosts the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix and the MotoGP Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix.
Barcelona Airport is located 10 km southwest from Barcelona in the town of El Prat de Llobregat.
Four main companies offering Barcelona Airport Car Hire are actually in the main terminal building. Car hire companies like Avis, Atesa, Europcar, Hertz, and Solmar can be found inside both Terminal B and Terminal C at Barcelona Airport.

Bull running is when a crowd of people run ahead of dozens of full grown bulls through the streets of Spain which leads to the areas bullring where bullfights are organized. Most famous for its running of the bulls is the festival of San Fermín in the city of Pamplona.
The weeklong festival held annually from the 6th of July to the 14th of July is steeped in tradition and folklore and attracts over a million people who attend to watch the festival.
But this event is not without risk to both people and the animal. 2nd July 2010 Fuentesauco in the province of Zamora, Sothern Spain, huge half ton bulls were released at 3 am and a 19-year-old teenager died after being gored in the chest by a bull. Several more bull runs part of a local festival were all cancelled due to the tragedy.
Every year between 200 and 300 people are injured during the run although most injuries are contusions due to falls and are not serious, though the number of deaths since 1910 is over 15.
Animal rights activists say the gory spectacles are one of the planet’s most blatant forms of animal cruelty seeking a ban. Also the number of bullfights across the country in decline, blamed on difficult economic times.
Bullfights are being questioned in Spain’s Catalonia region with local politicians set to vote on a proposed ban this month. That would see Catalonia’s last bullring in Barcelona shut down but bull runs would still be allowed.

The Spanish city of Barcelona, the autonomous capital of Catalonia, offers the out-of-town visitor the spectacular sites of a centuries-old city exquisitely preserved that blends superbly with the cosmopolitan sights and sounds of modern Barcelona in its entertainment, downtown architectures and museums.

• Entertainment

Like any cosmopolitan city in Europe, Barcelona offers excellent venues for live music and theater performances which include the world-renowned Gran Teatre de Liceu opera house, the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya the Palau de la Musica Catalana concert hall and the Teatre Lliura.  The city is also home to some of the finest symphonic orchestras in Europe with the Orquestra Simfonia de Barcelona i nacional de Catalunya, better known among the locals as the OBC under the Japanese musical director Eiji Oue who had been mentored by no less than Leonard Bernstein and conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra as well as the Osaka Philharmonic.

• Modern Cityscape

From there you can visit the Avinguda Diagonal, the main commercial area of the city where malls like the L’illia in the higher Diagonal avenue is located and the Diagonal Mar in the lower part.  Several skyscrapers abound with the Hotel Arts and its twin Torre Mapfre as the being the tallest both towering at 505 ft followed by the latest Torre Agbar at 472 ft.  You can marvel at these edifices while on your car hire that will make it a breeze for you and your family to get to any of the history and cultural landmarks of the city.

• Specialty Museums

One other peculiar but interesting site to visit is the Erotic Museum of Barcelona and the Cosmocaixa which is a science museum that was awarded as the European Museum of the Year in 2006.  Apart from these, the city is dotted with historic and cultural museums like the Archeology Museum of Catalonia and the Museum of the History of Catalonia.  In addition, there are specialty art museums dedicated to specific local artists like the Picasso Museum, the Fundacio Joan Miro and the Fundacio Antoni Tapies which showcase important works from these world-acclaimed artists.

Most of these museums can be visited with free entry on the first weekends of every month. But a good set of car hire is a must if you want to cover some of these museums as they are not clustered in just one part of the city.  Your hotel or airport has free city map guides that can direct you to any of these places.  Alternatively, if you have a SatNav GPS device, a download on the City of Barcelona can get you driving around town with voice-guided navigation at any time of the day. GP

No amount of reading the history of Spain online can give the reader a feel of the storied past of a nation and its people unless you start breathing the air of even one of its landmark cities.  Barcelona is one historic city that can start and end you journey to reliving Spain’s glorious past.

With a comfortable Mediterranean clime all-year round and balmy Westerly Atlantic winds bathing the northeastern cost of the Iberian Peninsula where the City of Barcelona sits, our odyssey to Spain’s history can be breeze just visiting its museums, art galleries and the history city landmarks within the city’s 39.2 square miles of land

While you can visit these place by public transport, affording you a glimpse of everyday commuting of  cosmopolitan Barcelona residents, or via taxi you can hail from anywhere, a good car hire affords the best privacy and instant mobility access for you and your family to anywhere around the city.

• Historic City Landmarks

The Plaza de Catalunya, a large city square in Central Barcelona and its surrounds make up Barcelona’s historic center where its centuries old streets and avenues meet on its 50,000 sq meter area.  It is dotted with fountains and statues frequented by flocks of pigeons and from where you can reach Barcelona’s popular city attractions. Plaza de Catalunya was the site of the 1929 Universal Exposition and houses fine theaters, cafes and restaurants and shopping centers.  Its nightlife is as vibrant as in any European city.

Living the great past becomes more palpable visiting Barcelona’s great museums like the City History Museum, the Museum of the History of Catalonia and the Archeology Museum of Catalonia and the Barcelona Maritime Museum.

• Art and Culture

Getting a glimpse of the culture of a city can help you understand its history and Barcelona has a number of museums that showcase the artistry not only of its past masters but that of the country in general.  You can start with the National Museum of Art of Catalonia which houses a splendid Romanesque art collection and end with a visit to the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art focusing on the post 1945 Catalan art.

• Savoring the Flavor

Spanish delicatessen abounds in the fine restaurants and bars that dot the commercial and suburban Barcelona. The Basques may not agree but the Catalan cuisine showcase the best of Spanish culinary delights that can be hand right in your hotel room or in any of its in-house restaurants.  Or you can go to the more exotic dishes made of while mushrooms and canalons (Catalan Cannelloni) as well as boilets and succulent rovellons.  Seafoods are another treat as the country is bounded by the majestic Atlantic with its ocean bounties commerced by Spanish fishermen. GP

If you are thinking of touring Europe for its historic sights, there are a few cities that can welcome the visitor all year round.  Barcelona is one of them.  Nestled on the northeastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, the Spanish city of Barcelona is a historic European landmark that makes it one of the best places to visit on your next holiday to Europe.

Moreover, it is one of the few major cities that enjoy a mild Mediterranean weather all-year round with Atlantic westerly winds soothing the city and producing little precipitation.  It is generally a sunny city with the warmest months peaking in August to a comfortable 31°C at its hottest while the coldest month of January only gets the thermometer to dip to 15° C during the day with its lowest point at minus 2° to 9°C at night.

• City Parks

But apart from its excellent climate, Barcelona as a city has everything a visitor could look for.  First off, it has 68 municipal parks scattered over its 39.2 square miles of land (101.4 sq.km.) and will definitely cause you some mobility problems unless you rent a car for you and your family.  Taking a cab to go anywhere in the city is also an option but nothing beats your own private rented car to take to place at a moment’s notice.  And among the parks, the Montujuc is the largest, covering 203 hectares and situated on a mountain with the same name.  Then there’s the Ciutadella park converted from an old historic military citadel that is also home to the country’s parliament building, several fine museums and a zoo.  Other notable parks within the city limits include the Guinardo Park, the Oreneta Castle Park, the Poblenou park and the Labyrinth Park so named after its garden maze.

• City Beaches

For a cosmopolitan city, Barcelona has seen beaches and rivals the city of Honolulu as a modern beach city.  It enjoys 2.8 miles of Atlantic coastline and its two major city beaches that are the largest and oldest in the country are the Saint Sebastia and Barceloneta beaches.  There are inner city beaches such as the Nova Icaria, Bogatell, and Nova Mar Bella separated by the Olympic port from the two major beaches mentioned.  They have been revived and their beach sands replenished from quarries and have remained excellent tourist attractions since the city hosted the 1992 Summer Olympics.  While public transport is available to get there, a nice suburban SUV or trailer camp would be a great option to hire when going to the beaches.  GP