The Zurich Barcelona Marathon 2026 The race will take place on Sunday, March 15th, starting at 8:30 a.m. on Passeig de Gràcia, and will pass through several iconic locations in the city center. Now in its 47th edition, the event is expected to attract more than 30,000 runners and will cause significant disruptions to traffic and public transport, especially on Sunday morning.

Roger Bastida, with that nineteenth-century mustache he sports He himself has an air of another era, with the novel Passeig de Gràcia (Comanegra and Àfora Focus), winner of the 2026 Santa Eulàlia Prize, transports us to the most brilliant and turbulent period of contemporary Catalonia, the turn of the 20th century. While the book begins much earlier and ends with the mediocrity of the Franco regime, its depth and focus lie in the splendor of Modernism during the Noucentisme period, with the upper bourgeoisie, enriched in the Americas—yes, through slavery—as the protagonists of the industrial leap. The explosion of workers' demands and the rise of Catalan nationalism serve as a backdrop. The dominant perspective is that of those in power, and those who served them.

The history of Catalan literature is full of novels featuring Passeig de Gràcia, from Private life, by José María de Sagarra, until Broken mirror, of Mercedes Rodoreda, and The manufacturerby Dolors Monserdà. Until now, however, no fiction had taken place almost exclusively in one location. Roger Bastida (Hospitalet de Llobregat, 1990) has set himself the challenge in Passeig de Gràcia. Story of a familyFocusing on the destinies of three Catalan families—one noble, one bourgeois, and one working-class—over the last two centuries, the jury of the Santa Eulàlia Novel Prize has decided to award it. Organized by Comanegra and Àfora Focus Edicions for the past four years and endowed with 25,000 euros, the Santa Eulàlia Prize recognizes the best novel about Barcelona. In this case, the award will help to discover the young voice of Roger Bastida, who has already published three historical novels. The lizard's gaze (2017), The long festival (2020) and Under the shadow of the Washingtonia (2023), all three published by Columna. A graduate in art history, Bastida lives in Madrid, where he works as a historical consultant on series such as Temperance, Jan, Queen Victoria Eugenie and Sira He is also a professor of the history of clothing applied to costume design for film and television at ECAM (Madrid Film and Audiovisual School). "Even though he's such a young author, good literature is ageless," says Alba Cayón of Comanegra.

As soon as the traffic light turns red and the vehicles stop, pedestrians leap onto Passeig de Gràcia. But not everyone just wants to cross the street: occasionally, some want a souvenir photo with the Christmas lights and ask for pictures at one of Barcelona's most iconic spots for holiday illumination. The snapshot often lasts only a few seconds, but sometimes the photographer tries a little harder, or the model asks for more shots, making the most of the time the light is red or amber. Of course, some get distracted and don't realize they're dangerously occupying the roadway when the light turns green for cars. It's when their calculations fail that you hear the honking of horns or the exclamations of drivers eager to move on.

Barcelona's Passeig de Gràcia has once again topped the list of Spain's most expensive shopping streets for the fourth consecutive year, with rents averaging €3,420 per square meter annually, an 8% increase over last year. It has also moved up one place, from 17th to 16th, in the global ranking of the world's most expensive shopping streets, according to real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield.

After the Barcelona City Council made it clear that it wants the city become the European Capital of Christmas 2026The new features for this year's festivities keep coming. Aside from the earlier switch-on of the Christmas lights on Passeig de Gràcia – which will be on the 22nd – In November, the Passeig de Gràcia Association announced it will install a 12-meter-tall Christmas tree topped with a replica of the Sagrada Família star. The city thus joins the trend of having large Christmas trees, a trend with Badalona and Vigo leading the way. Furthermore, the Port of Barcelona also seeks to establish itself as a festive venue and will welcome the holidays with a lighting ceremony by the Raluy Historical Circus, which will present a unique show for the occasion.

Passeig de Gràcia has seen it all. What began as a cart path to link unwalled Barcelona and Vila de Gràcia at the beginning of the 19th century, has ended up being, according to the latest figures from ASCANA for 2023, the most expensive commercial axis in Catalonia with a rental price per square metre of €3,460, a figure only surpassed by 0,000 euros. But beyond the ranking of prices paid by companies that see Passeig de Gràcia as a business centre, this transformation has also had a full impact on the modification of the urban landscape of Barcelona.