The Open Days took place on Saturday and Sunday, 30 and 31 May, with almost 5,000 guided tours by land and sea, an extensive programme of family activities and new initiatives open to all members of the public.
This third edition of the Open Days consolidates an initiative aimed at bringing the Port closer to the public and strengthening the link between the port infrastructure and the city. This year’s main new features included a brand-new boat dance performance and land-based tours of the Llobregat Lighthouse.
Tours to discover the Port
The event offered three main types of tour: land-based, sea-based and dramatised. All required advance booking and had limited places. Bookings included a charitable contribution of one euro, which will be donated in full to the Stella Maris Barcelona Association or the Foundation for the Conservation and Recovery of Marine Animals (CRAM).
Land tours: a coach tour of the commercial port, including the restricted-access area of the port complex, to see the port’s operations up close. New for this year’s event is a visit to the Llobregat Lighthouse, an iconic site that is usually off-limits to the public.
Maritime tours: a 90-minute guided tour aboard Las Golondrinas, sailing through the port facilities. Dramatised historical walking tours: a tour combining heritage, port activity and local stories to explain the port’s historical development and its relationship with Barcelona.
A brand-new spectacle: the ‘dance of the boats’
One of the main new features of this year’s event was the ‘dance of the boats’, a brand-new maritime spectacle enjoyed on Saturday from the breakwater at Barcelona East Quay, where the World Trade Centre is located. For approximately 30 minutes, the vessels and their crews performed a synchronised choreography on the water to the beat of the music, combined with water salvos, in a spectacular and unprecedented display inspired by the Schlepperballet, or tugboat dance, from Hamburg’s maritime festival. The mooring crews participated in the dance. The event involved mooring points 2 and 5, the pilot boats Antares BCN and Spice BCN, and the tugboats Balau, Cala Mesquida and Cala Gato.
Charity Race
We couldn’t miss the 10th edition of the Deichmann KM Against Cancer Charity Run to the Port of Barcelona, which took place on Sunday 31st with 2- and 5-kilometre races, as well as children’s races. Once again this year, 100 per cent of the proceeds from entry fees were donated to cancer research and to the free services offered by the Barcelona Cancer Association to improve the lives of people with cancer and their families.
Programme of supporting activities
The Port of Barcelona Open Days also featured an extensive programme of supporting activities organised in collaboration with organisations, companies and associations linked to the Port and the city.
The World Trade Centre Barcelona organised the ‘Borde el Mar’ event, featuring musical performances, DJs, children’s activities and family workshops. The Barcelona Capital Náutica Foundation promotes the ‘Navega al Puerto’ (Sail to the Port) initiative, which aims to promote and raise awareness of sailing through boat trips. In the gastronomic and cultural sphere, the ‘Barcelona en Boca – Fogones de Barrio’ event, organised by the Gastronomy and Tourism Association (AGT) and Barcelona Restauración, offered live cooking demonstrations of Catalan cuisine using locally sourced produce, whilst the Barceloneta Neighbourhood Association organised a Catalan rumba concert and related activities.
Meanwhile, the Festival Peludo, organised by the Barceloneta Association of Traders and Industrialists (ACIB), featured exhibitions, hands-on workshops and family activities centred on the world of pets.
The Pueblo-Seco Council for Popular and Traditional Culture also created an artistic carpet at the Astilleros terminal, inspired by the tradition of floral carpets. At midday on Saturday 30th, in the Plaça del Portal de la Pau, Luciano Ferrer’s Vermut took place. Furthermore, the Barcelona Maritime Museum and the Museum of the History of Catalonia offered free admission over the weekend, whilst the Barcelona Aquarium offered special deals for families.
Opening up the Port to the city
“The Open Days are much more than just a series of activities. They are an invitation to gain a better understanding of the Port, to feel closer to it and to strengthen the historic relationship between Barcelona and the sea,” emphasised the president of the Port of Barcelona, José Alberto Carbonell, during the event’s presentation.
The third edition of the Port of Barcelona’s Open Days has been made possible thanks to the collaboration of various companies and organisations within the Port Community. APM Terminales, HutchisonPuertos BEST, Marina Barcelona 92 and ZAL Puerto support the initiative and are helping to make this opening of the port to the public a reality.
