Month: March 2026

The .barcelona domain protects your data

Posted on by bernat.lleonart

When you register a .barcelona domain, you need to supply the personal details of the domain owner. This information is accessible for the registration company you use, for Barcelona City Council and for the Fundació Accent Obert, which manages the .barcelona domain.

To meet the European NIS2 regulation on digital security, these data must be accurate and up to date. But don’t worry as they are not public, the system is prepared to protect the privacy of owners and limit the information that is displayed publicly.

What data are published?

With the Genera Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), the visibility of domain data changed.

Today, the personal details of owners are not displayed publicly. When registering a .barcelona domain you can indicate whether the owner is a natural or legal person, and in the case of legal persons some additional details can be published if wished.

How to consult the information for a .barcelona domain

The public information of a domain can be found through a service called WHOIS.

WHOIS can be used to obtain details such as:

  • The date of registration, revocation and expiry of a .barcelona domain.
  • Which registration company registered the domain and what its website is.
  • In the case of legal persons, the details of the legal owner of the domain may be found (legal entity).

The WHOIS link for the .barcelona domain is:  https://whois.nic.barcelona/.

Bear in mind that all domains have their own WHOIS service and that the domain registration companies and the ICANN itself can offer these consultation tools.

Knowing which registration company you are with is very important

For the most important actions linked to your domain you will need to use your registration company’s control panel. This means it’s very important to be clear on which registration company you used to register your domain and to keep your access credentials.

From your control panel you will be able to:

  • Renew your domain.
  • Check and update your domain ownership details.
  • Amend the configuration of the domain.
  • Manage the DNS and other technical aspects.

If you can’t remember who you used to register your domain, you can check this easily by consulting WHOIS.

The importance of keeping ownership details up to date

It is very important to keep the ownership details for your .barcelona domain up to date, particularly the email contact address. This will allow you to receive important notifications, such as renewal alerts, technical incidents and non-compliance with the regulations, which may cause your .barcelona domain to be blocked.

Keeping these details up to date ensures that the domain can be managed correctly and that you can react in time if there are any incidents.

2026: Ten years since the .barcelona domain Sunrise

Posted on by bernat.lleonart

This year marks a significant date for the .barcelona domain: ten years since its internet launch. The first step in the process was the Sunrise, the initial period reserved for registering domains before opening publicly.

The Sunrise began on 12 January 2016 and continued until 15 March that year. This period allowed people, institutions, organisation and companies to secure their domain names before opening up to the general public.

Established by the ICANN for new generic domains (gTLD), this mechanism was aimed at guaranteeing an orderly launch and giving priority to registered brands.

First step for Barcelona’s domain

The Sunrise marked the start of the domain promoted by Barcelona City Council to give the city its own digital identity on the internet.

The figures that marked the Sunrise were very positive: 1,356 domains were registered, 42% of them corresponding to companies and 18% to public administrations.

Once this period ended, on 21 March 2016, the first domains to be registered during theses stages were activated and the network became operative. From that point on, the domain opened to the public register and any person or project linked to Barcelona was able to register their .barcelona.

During the first day that the register opened, on 21 March 2016, some 1,782 domains were registered.

Ten years building digital identity

Since its launch, the .barcelona domain has become firmly established as a tool for strengthening the city’s digital identity.

Companies, cultural projects, local initiatives and people linked to Barcelona have used this extension to identify themselves with the city and give their project internet visibility.

Ten years on, the Sunrise period that set .barcelona on its path forms part of the history of the domain and its growth. This initial step allowed Barcelona and its community to build its own digital space.

More than 1,500 activities set to fill Barcelona with architecture in 2026

Posted on by bernat.lleonart

Barcelona will be the global focal point for architecture in 2026, chosen by UNESCO and the International Union of Architects. The city thus becomes the only place in the world to host the UIA congress for a second time, which on this occasion is being held under the title “Becoming. Architectures for a planet in transition”. The programme of activities for the World Capital of Architecture 2026, to be held from Santa Eulàlia until Santa Llúcia, includes over 1,500 activities with the collaboration of 170 organisations around the city’s ten districts.

With the goal of reconnecting people with architecture and promoting the importance of this discipline in everyday life, a programme has been designed to appeal to all audiences: general, professional and educational, with activities devoted specifically to schools.

The inauguration was on 12 February, the day of Santa Eulàlia, and the closing day will be 13 December, Santa Llúcia. This ten-month period will see each of the districts taking monthly turns as the focal point for the World Capital of Architecture, promoting their own architectural and urban aspects and their pace of life.

The programme includes exhibitions, guided tours, lectures and workshops. Details can be found on the World Capital of Architecture website, with notable activities to include the Open Neighbourhood in Nou Barris, Sants-Montjuïc and Sarrià – Sant Gervasi, the workshop “The city we want”, for children aged from 8 to 12, the exhibition “Jujol” at the MNAC and the exhibitions at the former head office of the Gustavo Gil publishing company: “Barcelona: intense, diverse and complex”, and “Barcelona in transformation. 2035”.

A legacy for the city

The World Capital of Architecture will endure in the city through the legacy it leaves, materialised by a large scale model of Barcelona on display at the former head office of the Gustavo Gil publishing company and in the renovation of party walls on ten city buildings, the result of an international competition to enrich the urban landscape and improve the liveability and sustainability of the buildings. In the autumn, as a prelude to this event, the same venue will be inaugurating the exhibition “From party walls to façades”, explaining the process and the winning projects in this international competition that attracted 439 entries from 51 countries around the globe.

You can find full information on the World Capital of Architecture at capitalmundialarquitectura.barcelona.

The Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de Pedralbes celebrates 700 years with a special programme

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On the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de Pedralbes (1326-2026), various activities are being organised including exhibitions, concerts, tours, family activities, storytelling, workshops, lectures and the presentation of the project to study the tombs from the founding period.

The seventh centenary of the monastery, founded by Queen Elisenda de Montcada i de Pinós together with her husband, King Jaume II, centres on the figure of the queen and represents the culmination of the three programme areas that have defined the recent history of the museum: medieval heritage, spirituality and the figure of the woman.

The activities to mark the occasion get under way on Thursday, 26 March, when, seven hundred years ago the first stone of the apse of the monastery church was laid, and will go on until 3 May 2027, celebrating the consecration of the church and the entrance of the first community of Poor Clare nuns.

The Government of Catalonia has declared 2026 as Monestir de Pedralbes Year.

For more information on the programme of activities marking the seventh centenary go to monestirpedralbes.barcelona.