12-09-15 Dispatch de Barcelona: Life on a different planet - Friday night, out and about; safe, good time on the cheap!

This lifestyle should not be permitted by the banksters: the financial/legal fraud pandemic hasn't taken its full toll yet, no narco war, no prohibition on public consumption of alcohol, no overcapacity in for profit gulag, free public assembly in safe public spaces with minimal police presence, the best  food and drinks in Europe in a beautiful party town, where prices are better than reasonable, the weather is great, and the People are happy…  
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In Barcelona and elsewhere, appearance in a public space, particularly on a weekend night, is an act that is adequately noticed by the public, in a manner that is non-discriminatory on the basis of sex, age, ethnic, or religious basis, and is often given also to the pet dogs, who are adequately groomed .  The same notice would often be considered in the United States declaration of sexual intents. 

On a not particularly well-lit block of Gran Via, a major boulevard, at 1:30am, some twenty elegantly dressed middle-aged women are hanging out in smaller groups and chatting.  They finished a group dinner in a nice restaurant, in a city that today offers the best food in Europe.  Including drinks, they probably spent fifty Euros each.  It looks like they still have a lot to talk about, and some of them may continue to one of the many local bars, where a beer will go for one to ten Euoros, depending. There is no safety issue, and that women can hang out at night in the main streets is a given.  But none of them agreed to be photographed.

In Placa de la Universitat, a gay couple, originally from Mexico is just beginning the night.  They will probably spend about 50 Euros each, but we did not go into further details. They were very happy to be photographed, and even took the time to finally teach me how to use the camera, so that I got a decent shot of them.  In general, Placa de la Universitat is occupied by skaters in their teens or twenties, who practice particular skateboard manoeuvres by groups of twos or threes.  They drink beer and there is a waft of marijuana around.  They buy the beer in the supermercat, at half a Euro each.  They will spend on drinks 2-3 Euros for the evenings.  The Marijuana is more expensive, at about 20 Euros for a baggy, and the quality would be considered mediocre by standards of the states of Washington, Montana, or Oregon, and neighbouring British Columbia.  They were happy to be photographed.

In Placa de Catalunya I met two beautiful girls in their late 20s.  They were exotically, skimpily dressed, in a rush to get to one of the clubs.  They were happy to be photographed, and even posed for me.  I was on my knees, stressed out, and messed up my first try.  There was no second chance.
Also in Placa de Catalunya four elderly guys sit and play chess.  It turns out two of them are Catalan, one is Argentinean, and one of Spanish-English decent.  The latter proclaimed himself the Maestro, and refused to be photographed.  The Argentinean, whom the Maestro proclaimed the Champion of Placa de Catalunya, was playing against No 2, one of the Catalans, and both did not pay attention, except for asking one Euro each for being photographed. They spend on a night in one of the nicest squares about 0-1 Euros, but would not like to admit it.
Many other groups of youth, and sometimes adults, sit in the square,  drinking, smoking, or just enjoying the great weather and the social scene.

 

On La Rambla the scene is very different; it is a major tourist trap.  Lots of kiosks, pricey but mediocre baguetterias and good helado parlors.  The gigantes, one of the traditional wildlife forms in Barcelona, advertise the Boulevard, a show girl club.  Nearby a silent demonstration is passing by at 2:00am, by People for lower noise levels at night in the center of Barcelona.   Three girls, originally from Mallorca, who study at university in Barcelona, are on their way somewhere.  Each spends 1-2 Euros on the night, and they are already in elevated mood. They complain that La Rambla lost its charm and has become sleazy; implicit is the fault of the tourists.  Going to the clubs is expensive at 15 Euros and up per person.  But if you look good, and are not stupid (here she shows me the lower of her eyeball with the finger), you can get by for much less.  We both smile.  For people like me, she recommends one of the pricey, elegant liqueur bars around La Catedral, where you can find a great selection of the finest drinks.  I ask her what she means by people like me, and tell her that I am not into drinking.  She laughs and says that I could be her father…  We run a check on the hard numbers, and it turns out that I am older than her grandfather…
In the middle of all of this, some municipal workers are fixing the underground pipes and enjoying the scenary.  Minimum wages are some 7-8 Euros per hour; they are unionized, and work night shift on the weekend, so they are making much more than that.

At the end, everybody gets to Jessica. Originally from Colombia, she is the Rock of Gibraltar of the night life around Placa de La Universidad. She works nigh shift at the coffee section of a 24 hours upscale supermercat.  Her buddy is la maquina miraculosa-milagrosa – an automated, buyer–operated, cash and credit card cashier.  Since she does not have to deal with the money business, she serves the bocadillos, empanadas, croissants, cheesecakes, muffins and coffees, while chatting with the customers.  One reason for her popularity, is that the business is located just in front of the nightline bus station.  The night lines run all night, are safe and cheap – a revolutionary idea, which of course removes most of the drunk driving out of the equation.   The reason that Jessica is extra nice to me is that she expects me to help her in getting the phone number of the handsome Sasha, which she pronounces Sasa, regardless of his protests.  He is of Catalan-English decent, and is fluent in both English and Catalan with good accents in both and good European manners. He dropped out of college and works long hours as a waiter in an upscale restaurant (1-3pm then 8pm-2am) and looks very happy with the money.  He is also a pothead, I guess it keeps him calm and extra nice to the diners. So after his shift is over, he comes to Jessica’s for munchies.

• Parts of the night that were not documented, were rejected by the editor.
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