Category: News

Your .barcelona domain takes no holidays, but you do!

Posted on by Comunicació

The summer is here, bringing with it the temptation to lower our digital shutters a little. Rhythms change and teams are smaller as people take holidays. Yet SEO does not go on holiday, search engines continue to index sites, users continue to look for content and the competition keeps on working.

Don’t fret! The good news is that with a little planning, your .barcelona site can keep working while you relax.

1. Schedule content before you leave

SEO thrives on regularity. If you stop posting content for a few weeks, search engines don’t know this and when you come back in September, perhaps the competition has got ahead of you.

The key is simple: create more content in the spring months and schedule content ahead. You might not be around, but your content is still there. 

2. Use August as an opportunity

If you’ve got less work that usual, it’s the perfect time for tasks that always get put off:

  • Update obsolete content: check old posts, check that links work and update any information that has changed.
  • Optimise content for AI: implement metadata and check your content is well-structured for AI systems.
  • Plan the autumn: which content do you want to publish when you come back from your holiday? Get ahead with this so that you have an advantage when the time comes.

3. Adapt your website to the summer reality

If your company changes the way it works in the summer, the website needs to reflect this:

  • Update customer service times and keep them visible.
  • Prepare automatic replies that indicate response times. 
  • If you offer summer discounts, give them visibility with a pop-up or a banner.
  • Redirect users to social media if this is where you keep your information up to date more frequently.

4. Think about mobile formats

In the summer, people use their mobile phones to look for information: from the beach, from their balconies, the airport or the train. Make sure your .barcelona is visible and working properly in small-screen format.

5. Create light and different content

The summer is a good excuse to move out of your comfort zone. Try formats that you don’t normally use. Assess the reaction that these new resources get and remember that in the summer you’ve got a bit more leeway to experiment. 

Relax, you’ve earned it. But leave your .barcelona domain ready to work!

Bring your business, organisation or project to life with a .barcelona domain! Register it here. 

Your city, your .barcelona

Posted on by Comunicació

Naturally, everything changes. And recent years have seen Barcelona become transformed to adapt to people that live here or experience the city in some way.

It’s ten years since the city started to have its own domain, .barcelona.

Having its own domain means having its own real space on the internet, a place that belongs to you, that bears your name and that identifies you.

The .barcelona domain is the way that people in Barcelona have of existing on the internet: of having our own place, of being able to show what we do every day and offering everybody a window to see it. From anywhere in the world, from any device and at any time.

And that’s no small thing, internet is a vast space, much of it unknown and full or noise, where it’s increasing more difficult to stand out. Yet there is a way to say who you are and where you come from right from the start: with your own .barcelona domain.

The .barcelona domain says it all:

It indicates a geoterritorial location that everyone recognises, people and search engines alike: Barcelona.

It shows that your business is linked to Barcelona’s values: a cosmopolitan city, welcoming and full of people, with plenty of sunshine, a Mediterranean diet and a great atmosphere.

It indicates a genuine project, with personality. Whether you run a business, form part of the social sector, manage a cultural space or are developing your own personal project, there is room for all this under .barcelona.

The domain has become a brand for our part of the world, a recognisable address, which thousands of people in Barcelona have chosen to exist online.

Barcelona is changing. The internet is changing. But the .barcelona domain continues, growing with the city.

Register your .barcelona domain now.

Follow the Grand Départ of the Tour de France 2026 on its .barcelona website

Posted on by bernat.lleonart

This summer sees Barcelona host one of the most prestigious and outstanding professional cycling events in the world. On the website, letour.barcelona, you can find all the latest relating to the event in four languages: Catalan, Spanish, English and French. The website offers detailed information on the three stages in Catalonia, on 4,5 and 6 July 2026, with maps, altitude meters and technical data, plus a historical look at previous occasions when the Tour has passed through Catalonia.

The site also has specific sections on the three Catalan cities taking a prominent role in this edition: Barcelona, Tarragona and Granollers, with practical content and information on culture, tourism and access for visitors. Finally, in the section on the latest developments, you’ll find news relating to the preparations for the Tour and activities being carried out in the areas involved.

Registration open for volunteers

You’ll also find a registration form on the website to provide support for the organisers and inform people during the event. To take part, you need to be at least 16, speak Catalan, Spanish or French, and attend a training session. Each volunteer can choose the stage, municipality and availability.

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.

A year of connections and learning for the .barcelona domain

Posted on by Lluis Ouro

The new year is a good opportunity to look back, weigh up the work done and recharge our energy for what lies ahead. Last year was full of meetings, collaboration and spaces for sharing knowledge.

International meetings: ICANN and CENTR

The .barcelona domain was at the ICANN meeting in Seattle in March, which looked at key questions such as online crime and cybersecurity, matters that directly affect confidence on the internet and are essential for ensuring a safer and more stable digital ecosystem.

In May, the Jamboree at the CENTR in Lyon brought together experts and leaders in the domain sector from all over Europe. The meeting was conceived to exchange knowledge, share good practice and identify new opportunities for collaboration between registers, with a shared view to the future.

Language and community

September was a particularly active month. On one hand, we celebrated the European Day of Languages together with the .cat, .eus and .gal domains, with a special offer to register a .barcelona domain for €5, a move to favour linguistic diversity and digital identity on the internet.

That same month, the .barcelona domain also took part in the meeting by the GeoTLD Group in Holland, an occasion to share online linguistic and cultural diversity.

Last year was also a year of presence at home. At BizBarcelona we had the chance to discover holders of .barcelona domains and explain its advantages for emerging projects with city value.

Looking to 2026

Last year saw the start of the project “Assessing GeoTLD’s performance for enhanced Internet accessibility: An open source methodological approach”, headed by the .cat domain. This research project involves ten geoterritorial domains, including .barcelona, with the goal of developing open source methodology to analyse how traditional and AI-based search engines treat geographical and cultural domains.

The project was one of the 23 chosen from more than 200 presented to the ICANN, putting the .barcelona domain within research about the impact of artificial intelligence on the visibility of territorial domains. This will be a key project in 2026 and we will be explaining the main advances.

In October, the ICANN meeting in Dublin looked at the future of the internet. Registers, registration companies and institutional representatives met to discuss the main challenges for this sector, with an edition centring particularly on the new round of domains planned for 2026.

The .barcelona domain rounded off the year broadening its commercial network with thee new international registration companies: Namecheap, Spaceship and DomainName, a step allowing the domain to reach more people and giving the Barcelona brand an ever-increasing presence at an international level.All this has prepared us for a 2026 full of challenges. The domain will continue to work to strengthen the city’s digital identity and drive projects for the community.

A record half marathon!

Posted on by Lluis Ouro

The streets of Barcelona are set to fill with a festive atmosphere, entertainment and music on Sunday, 15 February 2026, with a new edition of the Half Marathon. The event sets a new record again with 36,000 people registered to take part, consolidating it as one of the world’s half marathons with the biggest turnout and an authentic festival of sport, shared by the whole city.

Jacob Kiplimo set a new men’s world record for this distance in the last edition, with a time of 56 minutes, 42 seconds, taking 48 seconds off the previous record. The time put Barcelona at the centre of the world athletics scene. The event also maintains its inclusive spirit, with women’s participation accounting for 40% and 95 nationalities represented.

With all places taken, the run will not be ending once runners cross the finish line: the period afterwards turns the occasion into a grand festival with concerts, making it an event for the whole city.

With the highest ever number of runners taking part and the world record for this distance still standing, the mitjamarato.barcelona becomes further established as a leading international event, essential for running fans.

Guided tours of La Model now daily

Posted on by Lluis Ouro

If you haven’t been yet, you now have a new chance to visit La Model and discover all the secrets of the former prison in the Esquerra de l’Eixample neighbourhood. There are tours every day of the week until 31 July, with an increase in the number of free places to look around the inside of the prison.

You do need to book on the website lamodel.barcelona for any of the following slots:

  • Mondays to Fridays: 5 pm (Catalan) and 5.30 pm (Spanish).
  • Saturdays: 11 am (Catalan), 11.30 am (Spanish), 5 pm (Catalan) and 5.30 pm (Spanish).
  • Sundays: 10.30 am (Catalan) and 12 noon (Spanish).

Bear in mind that the site is closed on public holidays! Besides these guided tours, you can also visit La Model without a guide on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, making your way freely around the corridors, cells and panoptic tower.

You can check the times on the website for La Model. The City Council also offers guided tours for schools, with routes and activities especially designed for students in their last two years of primary school, or in secondary school or sixth form.

Leading sports innovation with sportshub.barcelona

Posted on by Lluis Ouro

The city reaffirms its role at the forefront of sports innovation with the second Barcelona Sports Hub meeting, a space connecting businesses, start-ups and institutions to drive projects that transform the sector through the city.

One of the most important announcements at the event was the launch of the new website, a digital platform offering greater visibility and more business opportunities to participating organisations.

The new functions include a job pool specialising in sportstech profiles, a space where members can publish news and projects and a matchmaking tool to facilitate strategic collaboration with investors, corporations and other organisations and institutions.

The other main new aspect of the event was the presentation of the Barcelona City Sports Lab, which will enable projects to be tested in municipal facilities and public spaces as part of the urban transformation.The .barcelona domain backs this move to make sport a social and economic driver for the city, plus the digital transformation project for the sector. For more information, go to sportshub.barcelona.

Logo del Barcelona Sports Hub

.barcelona, trajectory and future within the GeoTLD Group

Posted on by Lluis Ouro

The .barcelona domain reaffirms its commitment to the GeoTLD Group on 16 and 17 September by taking part in the meeting in Holland.

The GeoTLD Group is an international non-profit association representing top-level geographical domains linked to cities, regions, languages and culture. Its members include .barcelona, .cat, .eus, .gal, .paris, .london and many more.

The goal of the group is to promote the digital identity of these geographical areas and cultural communities, giving visibility to cultural and linguistic diversity on the internet and driving joint projects in key fields such as security, innovation and digital promotion.

 Why is it important to belong to it?

Being a member of the GeoTLD Group puts the .barcelona domain on par with other cities and communities in the world that are working for a closer, more diverse and inclusive internet. This collaboration helps to:

  • defend the interests of the Barcelona community within international bodies, boosting the visibility of the city and its digital community on a global scale;
  • access shared knowledge and detect trends in the sector, learning from the experience of other domains;
  • work together for a safer and more inclusive digital future.

Agenda full of challenges

The meeting in Holland is a chance to share experiences and design common strategies. The main subjects to discuss include:

  • New European regulations: particularly the NIS2 directive, which aims to strengthen digital security and possible changes in agreements with registration companies.
  • The new round of gTLDs from the ICANN, planned for 2026, opening the path for new domain extensions.
  • La Liga and other situations that have entailed blocking abusive IP addresses to find a suitable solution.
  • Innovative projects by registration companies: exchange of ideas and experiences on promoting cultural and territorial domains.

Experience a Merce.barcelona!

Posted on by Lluis Ouro

Barcelona’s local festival is here from 23 to 28 September, filling streets, squares and parks with music, family activities, shows, traditional culture and artistic projects from this year’s guest city, Manchester. Here’s a summary, you’ll find full details on the website merce.barcelona.

The image for the poster for La Mercè 2025 is the work of Lluís Danés, director, producer and set designer, and the actress Emma Vilarasau will be giving the opening speech. La Mercè also has its own song this year, created by the author and composer Gemma Humet.

The music programme consists of 106 free concerts around 14 venues in the city. Música Mercè and BAM – Barcelona Acció Musical will be offering over a hundred performances from local and international artists, from more than twenty countries, around 14 venues in the city with 16 free-access stages, including the Teatre Grec, Rambla del Raval, Plaça de Sant Jaume, Moll de la Fusta, Bogatell beach and Av. Reina Maria Cristina. From Maria Arnal to The Tyets and Pussy Riot, the music programme also features the likes of Tarta Relena, Mushkaa, Rigoberta Bandini, Niño de Elche, Ladilla Rusa, Mama Dousha and many others.

In-house productions also stand out, such as Al corazón, by Marta Valdés, with names such as Sílvia Pérez Cruz, Mayte Martín, Martirio and Raúl Rodríguez at the Teatre Grec; a tribute to El Pescadilla and Catalan rumba at the cathedral; an evening of contemporary havanera sea shanties in Pl. Sant Jaume, and Hirameki, by Juan Andrés Ospina, with the Orquesta Efímera in Passeig dels Til·lers.

Manchester will be present in the Música Mercè programme with a performance from  Queralt Lahoz and Tom Werkha; the jazz pop of Ríoghnach Connolly & Honeyfeet; the dance music of Porji and the committed songs of Chloe Slater. At the BAM we can also listen to Children of Zeus and Space Afrika, two artists specialising in ambient electronic sounds.

At the Mercè Arts de Carrer we’ll find multiple options such as the Stopgap – Dance Company and the Cambodian artist Nadenh Poan; the installation Warning Notes, and the spectacular Jardí de foc, by the company Walk the Plank. Different bee rusks prepared by Artizani (Bees! The Colony) and the competitive Family Catwalk Extravaganza, by Ghetto Fabulous, are among the other notable activities.

We should not overlook the annual event in the Parc de la Ciutadella from 26 to 28 September either, which is the hosting Terra i Gust, the Sustainable Food Festival.Chosen something yet? You’ll find the full programme all set out at merce.barcelona.

Cartell de la Mercè 2025