Valencia

Spain

Things to do in Valencia:

View the Gallery Promenade

Valencia Restaurants

Affordable (67)

El Rall

One of the best paella restaurants in the city centre. Remember that the famous rice dish is traditionally eaten for lunch, not dinner. read more
Fine dining (49)

Joaquin Schmidt

For 15 years, Mr Schmidt has held true to his philosophy to cook each day for 30 people only. Book early and enjoy the quirky atmosphere and his experimental cuisine. Just north of the Turia River. read more

Valencia Nightlife

Chilled (58)

Caf� de las Horas

This sumptious, baroque-inspired lounge bar is one of the best places to sit and plan the forthcoming evening's entertainment over an Agua de Valencia. And, as delicious as that house speciality... read more
Clubbing (51)

Pinball

Kitsch, vintage-style bar in the heart of Carmen. White plastic seats, pop-art and disco balls set the scene as a young and arty crowd sway to funky soul on the tiny dance floor. Open late. read more

This Month in Valencia:

By Andy McNicoll

Shopping: Gusto Nuovo (35 Avenida Reino de Valencia). This new store packs all the best that Italian food and drink has to offer. The cakes are amazing!

Sightseeing: The City of Arts and Sciences (La Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias) is a modern-day architectural wonder from Santiago Calatrava. Head down on a sunny blue sky day and remember to take your camera!

Valencia News & Gossip

Q&A: Jorge Rodr�guez-Gerada

Jorge Rodr�guez Gerada is no stranger to notoriety. In early 1990s New York, the Cuban-American painter was something of a Banksy-esque rebel, part of the culture-jamming movement that tampered with signposts and advertising billboards in the name of art. His work with guerrilla groups like ArtFlux won the admiration of some - most notably No Logo author Naomi Klein - but it also garned condemnation (UK newspaper the Daily Mail was one notable detractor).

Over the past five years, his Identity Series - elephantine wall murals painted in various European cities, some as large as football pitches - has captured world media attention, particularly 2008's Expectation, a giant sand-and-gravel representation of Barack Obama.

This November, the former bad boy of the art world is set to join the establishment with his first solo show in his adopted city of Barcelona.

You are most famous for your giant murals. What inspired you to work on such a massive scale?

I am critical of the marketing that has crept in to so many facets of our lives.

I decided to do work that would counter it by using the same codes used by advertisers, such as scale, visibility and eye-catching images.

Do you feel that making public art should be a right, rather than being policed?

There should be limits. Public art needs to take into consideration where it is made: for instance, placing pieces on an architectural surface that has historical importance is different from working on degraded surfaces that have been ignored. The end justifies the means.

Have you ever been arrested?

A couple of times. The most memorable one was when a TV news crew came to film us and called the police to sensationalise the story. At the police station, the officer told us that he wasn't against us changing the get-drunk-quick, cheap-alcohol billboards that saturated the minorities' areas of the city, so he ripped up the fine and let us go.

What do you think of street art becoming more mainstream?

I think it's a good sign, because it shows a sign of maturity both in the general population and in the artists.

For your next exhibition, you're taking your work inside. What will you be showing?

My solo show at Ignacio de Lassaletta will have work in various sizes. I'll be showcasing a new series using historical materials. I have removed old interior wall surfaces from 200-year-old abandoned buildings and transferred those textures onto wood panels.

How does the new work, which brings the wall to the painting, inform your old work, which brought the painting to the wall?

They are parallel directions. In both cases, I'm talking about the intrinsic beauty of the wall surface and the passage of time that it portrays.

What is your inspiration?

My empathy towards humanity. I paint ordinary people to create work that questions how we are being affected by the marketing and advertising industries. These industries sell values and concepts of success, worth, love, sexuality, popularity and normality.

I'm inspired by the realities of the world we live in and the changes I consider necessary for the future I want to offer my children.

Jorge Rodr�guez-Gerada's work will be on show at the Ignacio Lassaletta Gallery (47 Rambla de Catalunya; tel: +34 93 488 0221, galeriaignaciodelassaletta. com) from November 24 - January 13. His murals can be seen in Barcelona, Granada, Ljubljana, London, Madrid and Valencia. Find out more at jorgerodriguezgerada.com

Valencia Trivia

May: L'Oceanogr�fic - part of the City of Arts and Sciences - is the largest oceanographic park in Europe, consisting of 110,000 square metres filled with 42 million litres of water.
April: The Port of Valencia processes the largest amount of container traffic in the Mediterranean.
March: Over 500 Fallas structures are burned to the ground on 19 March on La Nit del Foc ("The Night of Fire"). Spectacular.