The hostel that brings you to a Flamenco show!!

From the very first weeks of the hostel, La Flor de Gaudí is bringing everybody to a free flamenco show in the Gracia quarter!  We really love to share the flamenco experience with all of you!

The nights out have been getting more and more popular and everyone wants to repeat the experience! Feeling the energy and  the pasion of flamenco is one of the most incredible sensation of a trip to Barcelona, don't you think so?

But, what is Flamenco? And, most important, is it really a tradition in Barcelona?

The art of flamenco comes from Andalucía, where have been danced for the last five centuries. Flamenco is made up of guitar playing, song and dance, passing on an emotional style of dance. The dancers try to express their deepest emotions by using body movements and facial expressions. They also sometimes clap their hands and and kick their feet. 

In Barcelona, flamenco has been always popular thanks to the Catalan gypsies. Indeed, Carmen Amaya, widely considered the best bailaroa of the history, was born in Barcelona at the beggining of the XXth Century. However, Flamenco became popular in Catalonia due to the inmigration from Andalucía that were established in the region after the Civil War.   

Come to La Flor de Gaudí hostel and dance, enjoy, drink, experience and fall in love with flamenco!

La casa

La flor de Gaudí Hostel es una manera diferente de alojarse en Barcelona. La esencia del hostel es la casa en el número 5 de la calle Molist. No se trata de una casa cualquiera, sino que entre sus paredes han vivido varias familias y seguro que alberga además muchas historias.

La casa se construye en el 1925 aprovechando los muros de los jardines del Cottolengo de Barcelona (histórico sanatorio mental), como la mayoría de las casas de la zona. De hecho, las paredes limitantes de la casa son de roca madre y aún se conservan de aquella época. 

Decimos que tiene historia porque en la época en que se construye por estas calles corría el mismísimo Antoni Gaudí, que durante esos años vivía en el Parc Güell. La casa sobrevive a la Guerra Civil y, posteriormente, sus cuatro plantas fueron habitadas por varias familias. Los vecinos nos hablan de una mujer soltera en el piso del fondo, una familia en el ático, un pintor y su taller en el subterráneo, de los niños de otro piso correteando cuesta arriba, un lavadero en el patio… Toda aquella vida se fue apagando durante los ochenta: los niños crecen y se van, la mujer soltera se vuelve al pueblo y el resto se van haciendo mayores. La casa se vacía.

A principios de los noventa la casa vive una transformación del mismo nivel que el cambio que experimentó Barcelona para las Olimpiadas, cuando es adquirida por una empresa y pasa a ser un lugar de oficinas y reuniones. Pero no es hasta el 2002 que se vuelve a llenar de vida y lo hace de la mano de la música. Esta casa alojó a los triunfitos que participaron en la primera edición del programa televisivo. Se cuenta de esos días que el barrio vivía sumido en el caos, con cantidades de gente curioseando e incluso acampando delante del número 5 de la calle Molist.

Ahora llegamos nosotros a volver a llenar de vida esta increíble casa. Y con esta aventura que empieza, nuestra pregunta ahora es, cuantas historias más vivirá la casa de la mano del hostel La flor de Gaudí?

Welcome to La Flor de Gaudí hostel!

In our very first blogpost, we would like to tell you more about the inspiration behind the hostel and what we have to offer. Founded by three friends, La Flor de Gaudí opened at the beginning of 2013 in the spirit of ‘new year, new start’. Our goal is to become a reference for accommodation in Barcelona, by providing a warm and homely atmosphere with lots of activities on offer and great vibes. 

The spirit of the hostel stems from our passion for travel and the experiences that we have had living abroad, meeting new people, discovering new cultures and tasting exotic food. In recent years, we have also enjoyed guiding and assisting tourists in our own city, to ultimately help them discover the beauty of Barcelona for themselves. La Flor de Gaudí is also our way of allowing our visitors to get to know the real Barcelona, and not just the city shown on postcards.

There are countless things to do and places to see in Barcelona and we aim to help tourists discover what most interests them. Barcelona is a city of many faces and each of them has a special charm. There is its world-class architecture, and in particular, the unmistakable style of Catalan genius Antoni Gaudí. There are the city’s lively beaches and port on the Mediterranean Sea. There are its local crafts and organic food. There are Roman ruins. There is its famous passion for football, and in particular, FC Barcelona, affectionately known as Barça. There is the Gothic quarter with its old cobbled streets, leafy squares and majestic churches. There are buzzing street markets and a wide variety of both local and national shops. The city even boasts mountains enjoyed by ramblers, cyclists and nature lovers. This is not to mention the world-renowned nightlife and series of festivals and concerts held over the year, as well as the vibrant GBLT scene.

Our hostel is also located at a two-minute walk from Antoni Gaudí’s open-air masterpiece, Park Güell. Park Güell is a huge and colourful park in Barcelona’s Gràcia neighbourhood and also includes the house where Gaudí lived until he moved out to work on building the Sagrada Família church. We believe that the Gràcia neighbourhood is one of the most charming in all of Barcelona, with its unique blend of history and modernism that is the cherry on top of a perfect trip. This is a real Catalan neighbourhood, with an arty and bohemian vibe. A stroll around Gràcia’s streets and squares, popping into its treasure trove of little shops with cute designer goods (furniture, jewellery, clothes) and cafés, is an unmissable itinerary on any trip to Barcelona. Evenings see the neighbourhood crowd with young people, meeting for a drink on any of the terraces sprawling across the many squares. Gràcia’s neighbourhood festival in the third week of August also attracts many locals and visitors alike and sees locals decorating the streets with hand-made decorations on a chosen theme.

We are confident of making our visitors’ trip to Barcelona an unforgettable experience and work hard to meet this ambition. 

Welcome to La Flor de Gaudí hostel and welcome to Barcelona!