Hey Ho! Bar

Barcelona's definitely got its share of scars – growth, tourism and institutional planning have long been favoured over quality of life of the locals, often leaving residents ever so slightly jaded. But the city has a remarkable ability to regenerate; there's always something boiling just below the surface, and as one restaurant closes or a city block is collapsed, there's a queue of budding entrepreneurs chomping at the bit to fill the gap.

One such gap is the former headquarters of the General Elèctrica d'Espectacles, near Drassanes, where there was once a seedy brothel (like so many in the 'Barrio Chino'). The glory of the famous Criolla in C/Cid, also nearby, had vanished decades before and no one has given it a second thought since. Then it was a Dominican bar. In its latest incarnation it's known as the Hey Ho! Bar, a quiet little place where you can relax and listen to punk rock, hardcore and metal. A place where, if it's Tuesday between 7pm and 10pm and you show up with your skateboard and do a trick deemed worthy of them, you get five shots. A place where you can eat meaty or veggie sandwiches till midnight, and they welcome acoustic concerts and show Barça matches.

Glasses of beer on tap are a euro till 11pm, and you'll get a nibble to go with that (olives, peanuts, etc.). Maxi and Sun, who also own the skate shop of the same name on C/Ferlandina, and Twin Wolf singer Ramon who used to host the Moog guitar nights (gone all too soon), do their best to keep locals happy, and might even welcome tourists and city planners, as long as they like their music loud and their tattoos a-plenty.