Barcelona
Following from my other reviews of various other major city in the UK (Edinburgh and Manchester), I have the pleasure of giving my first European review from Barcelona (Spain). Like almost all major European cities there is always a seedier side of various strip clubs, massage parlours and sex shops. The only difference is how easy they are to find. and how far you have to look, and I can tell you in Barcelona, you only have to look about 100 meters. That's right: as soon as you step out of Barcelona's major train station 'Barcelona Sants' there is a peep-show and sex shop (you cannot miss it, it has the words 'Peep Show' in bright flashing neon lights), and at 200 meters from the train station there are two massage salons. The one next to the peep-show is called 'Christal Massage' and the other is called 'Numancia massage' (check inlay on map). I visited the peep-show several years ago; then, it was only a sex shop and video club. By "video club", I mean private video booths with various pay-per-view channels available at a rate of about 100 ptas/min (Approx. 35-40 pence per min). It seems that they have introduced a peep-show at some stage, I assume.
A warning: this review is based solely on external observations and 'not' actual observations. I was actually visiting Barcelona as a newly-wed, as a sort of short honeymoon with my newly acquired wife, so actually visiting these places was obviously out of the question [I had no need for a massage salon on this visit
]. But I still kept my eyes open and collected valuable information for Trash City and all Tab'sters. [We can only salute such devotion to the cause... JhM] While I was exploring Barcelona I walked down the 'Avinguda de Parel-lel' (highlighted blue on map); I walked north to south, and noticed in the side streets at various places a number of lap-dancing and table-dancing clubs/bars. I assume some of these will be in the list of clubs near the end of this article - they are quite easy to find, since there is a simple rule to follow: all lap dancing clubs have neon signs (but not all neon signs have lap dancing clubs!). Later on after walking down the 'Parel-lel' we decided to walk up the 'Ramblas' and on this street, with the usual hustle and bustle of a major city street, I found another peep-show. Again, this one I had also visited several years ago and contains a sex shop, a live show and a small cinema. The live shows were quite good: there is an octagon-shaped stage in the middle of a room, with various viewing booths on each side. A coin operated shutter allows you to look though a piece of one way mirrored glass to view a rotating stage in the centre; I saw a couple perform and a single girl with various toys. Again the shows were priced at about 100 ptas/min. The cinema itself was quite good, about 500 ptas/ticket (£2 per ticket), and each ticket is for as many films as you want.
Now, the next place I observed surprised me quite a bit, it was a 'Museum of Erotica', I know this sounds very unusual but totally true, it is a museum exhibition of various fertility idols, original Eastern parchments similar to the Kama Sutra, a Victorian pleasuring machine (?????), Japanese bone statues of different sexual positions, and it probably has a early condom made from a pig's intestine (ribbed or extra lubricated, I think not!!) in there somewhere, and a number of mannequins showing S+M scenes (sort of 'Madam Tussaud' meets 'Miss Whiplash'). They have a web site for you to look at www.eroticamuseum.com. [I visited a similar place in Paris, near Pigalle, the Museum of Erotic Art; some fabulous stuff in there by a guy called Jacques Brissot, like Brueghel done with collages from porn mags. Er, sorry: where were we? JhM]
TaB'ster information aside, a few items paragraph about Barcelona itself: The main tourist attrations have been pretty much covered by Judith Chalmers, with regards to the Ramblas, Architecture by Gaudi, shopping and all the other things. It's reputation is well deserved, but a few bits of info you won't find in a normal travel brochure. First off, watch out for pick-pockets, I know all major cities have the same problem, but be extra-careful anyway - my old chap visited Barcelona a couple of years ago and came back a wallet lighter.
Also, a health and safety notice. I must make one thing clear before I start telling you about the food: I am very pro-Spanish, and have been eating Kebabs, Curries, Calamaris (Squid rings), Octopus, and Garlic Snails for years, so you cannot describe my stomach as sensitive or delicate. But two places I found in Barcelona did turn my stomach. The first was 'Pans and Company' in the Mari-Magnum shopping precinct (south of the Ramblas, located by the marina), I ordered a hot-dog and it was cold and raw: it must have just looked at a light bulb in order to cook it.
The second place was called 'La Poma', located on the Ramblas near 'El Cotes Ingles (the English Cut, Spain's answer to Harrods). At first glance it looks like a very good place to eat: two floors, clean, open plan kitchen, but this place nearly made me hurl. First course was a fish soup, which was basically a fish's spine boiled up for a couple of hours - I know fish stock is usually made this way, but at least take the spine out of the soup before serving (yuck). I thought I might try sometime simple (two weeks of Paella is enough for anyone): Hamburger and chips. I'll tell you now: it was rancid, the burger came without a bun (when I asked for bread, they charged me an extra 200 ptas, 70p), the lettuce was going brown around the edges, there were more chips in a McCain Micro Chips box, and the hamburger was foul. It had white bits in it and it wasn't onion - it must have been made out of either the pigs arsehole or ground up intestines and arteries. I left three quarters of it. So avoid this place at all costs.
Except for these, everywhere else is a good place to eat, I personally recommend 'Viena' and doubly recommend the 'Vedella' (2 oz veal steak on a baguette) with chips and beer (this is even suitable for breakfast, followed by coffee and croissant), top quality food. The Spanish are a great deal more relaxed about sex, so much that you can walk into 'any' news agent, and you can usually find a good selection of hard-core videos and CD-ROMs for sale, they are quite good, just be discrete when bringing them through Airport Customs.
This concludes my review of Barcelona: a great place to visit, just a couple of things to watch out for. I must also remind you that I haven't visited most of these places, so I have no review for them, so some of these places could be rip off's or scam's. Check StripClubList.COM for more details before visiting these places, and send reviews to Jim or myself (LiamSonnel@hotmail.com).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barcelona map
Here is some useful Strip Club information courtesy of www.stripclublist.com and the Iberia inflight magazine(!).
Bagdad
Avenida Paralelo/Esquina Nou de la Rambla 103
00 34 344 20 777
I think this one is on the Parral-lel, highlighted blue on the map, about three quarters down the road
Blau
NIT 221 Calle Mallorca
Antico 2
00 34 332 34 804
El Miral
8-10 agramunt
00 34 321 91 609
New Kirablau
NIT 24 Font Honrada
00 34 342 63 091
President Palance
P. ° Bonanova, 109-11
Edif. "D", 1.a Planta
00 34 (9)320 42 001
Show girls
Carrar de Bailen, 22
08010 (this is their equivalent to a post code)
And not for Barcelona, but useful for other places in Spain
Show girls
Ctra. de la Coruna, Km. 8,700 - Madrid
tel ++34-(9)1 357 29 07 & ++34-(9)1 307 86 97
Web site: www.mls.web/showgirls
VIP'P Club
971 19 24 47, mob 666 467 632
Web site: http://ibiza-online.com/VIP
Email: VIP@ibiza-online.com
Thai Massage
Urbanizacion Mareverde,
Torviscas Bajo,
Costa de Adele,
Tenerife, Canary Islands
Web site: http://www.thai-massage-tf.com
Selene Massage
C/Victor Zurita Soler
Apt. Oro Blanco,
Junto Apt. Piramide,
Tenerife, Canary islands
Tel: 75 13 38 / 75 38 64 (I dont know the area codes)
Web site: http://seleneclub.com
Salon Claudine, Sauna-club
Tel: 928 767 458
Web site: www.salon-claudine.com
Email: salon-claudine@teleline.es
[Liam S, 16 Dec 2000]
