Manchester Raval Bar

El Raval, Barcelona –

One of two Manchester bars to enjoy brisk business in Barcelona, Manchester Raval is a hidden cove where cheap booze dominates the drinks list and 90s British indie dominates the music menu.

The place doesn’t skimp on Mancunian-themed décor, with deep red and orange walls dotted with blown-up photos of the Happy Mondays and reproductions of The Smiths lyrics mixed in with retro photos of the famous Salford Lads Club.

Same can be said for the jukebox, where Manchester bands line the playlist, cushioned between the sounds of other British indie groups like the Arctic Monkeys and early Radiohead.

Conversation is king inside this tiny bar most nights, when young UK expats and gangs of college kids stretch across mismatched cushions and at low wooden tables to sling €1 beers, or traipse off to the bathroom where someone has invariable scribbled the old hometown proverb, “If you’re not a Manc, you’re a wank!”

The venue’s size prevents any big club nights – those are easily found in the larger sister bar over in Barri Gòtic – but weekends are routinely busy when burgeoning photography students and art history majors cozy up to posters of Manchester legends like Johnny Marr and rest their Estrella Damm on tables encased in old British newspaper clippings.

Folks don’t have to be from the UK to enjoy the casual and cool Manchester Raval, though it would be wise to appreciate the theme, ya wank!