It's midnight on Saturday and I just left this bar. Or rather, I was thrown out because of a mess that involved machismo and lack of respect of the manager and the DJ, who were aggressive in different ways with me. I'm a journalist, I live in Barcelona and I don't usually go to these touristic places. I went because it was my master's graduation celebration and I wanted to be with my other 30 friends. We took 30 people to this place and the manager just kicked me out after a misunderstanding he didn't fully witness. What happened is that I went to talk to the DJ to know if I could ask him for a song. My group wanted something more danceable, and that kind of interaction with the DJ is very common where I come from or in a lot of places I've been. I talked him very politely if I could ask him for a song. He said no and turned away, leaving me practically talking to myself. The, from nowhere, another man appeared and started yelling at me, telling me to get out of where I was. He had the mask halfway across his face and it was up to me to put it in place so he could talking to me properly. He kept yelling and telling me to get out of there, told me I couldn't talk to the DJ and I intercepted him, told him I wasn't talking to him and he couldn't talk to me like that. That he was being rude and had nothing to do with the previously conversation. He didn't introduce himself, I don't know who he was until now, but he was extremely rude and aggressive. He came at me in a super rude way and I defended myself, even though he said that "he could talk to me any way he wanted". He also corrected my english-this whole discussion took place in english, and he told me to get out of place. I was so outraged that I took two steps and turned around to talk to him again and say that he was very rude and, in the end, the songs weren't good and my people just wanted to enjoy the night.
Well, this man I'll never know who he is called the manager, who without introducing himself, asking me what had happened or anything like that, threw me out of the house. He threatened me that he was going to call the police. I tried to explain what had happened and he informed me that I "assaulted" his bar staff. I told him I was just defending myself from a totally gratuitous assault. The manager of this bar compared my discussion with this person I don't know who he is to the example of two guys fighting and hitting each other. When I said it was totally different things and he was being unfair, he just turned around, called the bar security guy and ordered this third man to get me out of there.
Well, I've been to a lot of football bars, DJ music clubs and reasonably ok drinks like these. I was never treated this way. NEVER. Before they say it, I wasn't drunk: I had two shots of vermut and a coup of cava, and a salad (very poorly made and offered by the house in a combo with drinks). Clearly I was the victim of two events here: first, a huge machismo situation, which started with this man who didn't even bother to identify himself, yelling at me for nothing. Second, for the manager, who cared little about what happened, he didn't try to find out and, of course, he supported his friend. Chauvinism works like that, doesn't it?
Well, if you come to beautiful Barcelona to enjoy the post-Covid life, please DON'T GO THERE. In addition to having my English corrected by this citizen who never introduced himself - even though I am in Spain and have no obligation to speak his language - there are SEVERAL OTHER PLACES BETTER, CHEAPER AND WITH MORE QUALITY for you to enjoy. Bars like this are totally outdated, just as the extreme chauvinism I spent inside this house. For me, it's nothing because I will never come to this place again. But I know it's the address for many tourists. So, if you're in Barcelona - and specially if you are a woman - just DON'T GO TO THIS PLACE. Check Time Out Barcelona and discover a lot of other tradicional, good, healthy and respectful bar to visit. Ahhh, I put the text in Google Translate so it's well written and I won't be corrected, again, by the aggressive man that now could fully understand what I am telling. ;) read more