Do's and Dont's of Barcelona Nightlife

[Danny D]

Do dress properly for the clubs: guys no soccer jerseys, open toed shoes, or tennis shoes.

Don’t get rejected at club OSHUM and try to find other ways in.  This includes one or more actions we did: climbing over a big fence around back, climbing a ladder to the roof and then into the attic, and eventually running into the club through the kitchen… despite what made a great story, we still didn’t last more than 10 minutes in the club

Do plan accordingly for your bills.  Barcelona can be expensive and drinking excessively at a restaurant or bar WILL add up.  So, before over-indulging, make sure you A know your way home and B have enough money to pay.

Don’t go to the Tap Bar- where each table has its own beer tap- and have a drinking contest between two tables without preparing to fork over some serious Euros… also make sure to keep tabs on the friendly girls who keep coming back to fill their drinks up on your bill.  Finally don’t pay for what you knew you had drank and walk out because SOMEONE will end up with that bill- my roommate ended up with an extra 60 euro tab because of a few people who didn’t plan accordingly.

Do mingle with the locals and strike up conversation with a local of the opposite sex as I found that is how I best worked on my Spanish (on a side note… I have heard from multiple locals that having a girlfriend/boyfriend who speaks the language is the best and fastest way to become fluent). 

Don’t assume just because the local women are rolling cigarettes that they 1 will be obliged to help you roll the certain substance you just bought off the first guy you saw in the street and 2 that the conversation will go anywhere after that because you just filled another stereotype of a “dumb American tourist”

Do indulge in the PDA in Europe.  My communications teacher in Barcelona told me that they do not have a word for PDA (public display of affection) because they don’t believe kissing in public is any different than kissing in private- I’m just going off of what my teacher said.

Don’t make out next to a bunch of people on the late metro because you will quickly out-done.  After a long night celebrating Carnival in Sitges, I found myself with a girl and basically alone on the metro.  As we started making out- I guess the group of guys around us thought they needed to out do us as I glanced over and one guy was half naked and getting his picture taken by the other few… needless to say we were out done as I won’t mention the details of their actions.  

Do pregame at bars before going to the night clubs- especially if you are looking to drink and haven’t yet seen the prices at the clubs.

Don’t show up to the club and spend 150 Euros on your first weekend night of your 4 month stay in Barcelona.

Do enjoy Las Ramblas and check out all the different acts/shops that are all along the street.

Don’t look at the prostitutes on Las Ramblas as if they are one of the sideshows… They might happen to see you leaving the bar and try to pickpocket you just in spite of you.  I was almost pick pocketed by a prostitute (whom I had jokingly spoken to hours earlier).  If it wasn’t for one of my friends catching on to what she was doing just before robbing me blind.

Do buy a mug or some sort of souvenir from Ovella Negra on Las Ramblas.

Don’t think you can get away with walking out with a mug for free, especially if soberly, two hours earlier you wanted no part in stealing anything.

[David Paul Appell]

Fun piece, Danny!  I lived in Barcelona years ago and go back regularly; though I'm mostly over the clubbing at this point, I do go occasionally and certainly recognize a lot of what you're talking about here.  Yeah, drinks are powerful pricey, so that's why lots of people not only drink up at bars first but often at home, before they even go out.  One thing worth mentioning, BTW, is that dress codes for clubs do vary, and I've gotten into some in sneakers without a problem.

 

Good read, and good info, muchas gracias!