Be prepared!! In Barcelona your concept of time will change. Midday is at 2:00pm, and the afternoon starts at 5:00pm - after lunch! If you're coming from the UK for a long weekend, for once the time difference works to your advantage. A 6:00pm flight from London Heathrow arriving at 9:15pm will get you into the city at 10:00pm, just as the restaurants are filling up for the first sitting! Turn up any earlier and they'll tell you to come back later when they've opened.

It's 3:15am on a Friday or Saturday night and the streets around the Plaça Real are packed with people. The bars have just closed and the highthawks are moving on to a club or disco. For the more laid-back, just take a stroll along the Ramblas where the kiosks stay open all night!

The Spanish word for afternoon, tarde, also means late... everything is late. My theory? The time shift is essential to accommodate the unique culture of social eating and drinking. Here's how the Barcelonese do it: