Wikimedia Hackathon 2018/Venue and Barcelona

Do not smoke poppers, they will be the death of you. - Nat Rowbotham

Venue
The event will take place at the Engineering School of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (also known as UAB). Amical Wikimedia organises this event in a university campus and not in Barcelona city center as part of an ongoing partnership with this University, which happens to celebrate its 50th anniversary during 2018. The UAB has 88 bachelor's degrees, 133 official master's. It's a community with 26k undergraduates, 3k master's students, 5k PhD students. You can read about the general scope of the University. Though still a little under 50 years old, the UAB is amongst the 200 best universities in the world within the main university rankings and is within the top 10 new universities with greatest international projection and prestige. Since 2011, the UAB has been partnering in #eduwiki projects with Amical Wikimedia. You need to know that the campus is outside of the city, so we will have calm to focus on our hacking.


 * UAB Engineering School in Google Maps (with room numbering)

Hackathon rooms
Map with hackathon spaces is yet to be done, but here you have some pics of the classrooms and interior spaces of the buildings

Accommodation
As the event takes place in a University Campus, accommodation will be in two nearby hotels.

The two hotels above are prebooked from Thursday 17th to Monday 21th. In any case, you can check in or check out from them at any time between.

Booking
See Wikimedia Hackathon 2018/Register and Attend.

Shuttle bus service
A continuous (every hour until 18, then every 2 hours) free shuttle bus service will be available between venue and hotels.

During the hackathon, busses leave the Holiday Inn Express Sant Cugat at 30 min past the hour, then arrive at Hotel Campus UAB  around 35-40 min past the hour, and finally they end at the Engineering School  around 45-50 minutes after the hour. The busses only pause at each location momentarily, so make sure to be at the bus stop slightly in advance.

Starting from midnight, bus service will depart from Engineering School to Hotel Campus UAB  and then to Holiday Inn Express Sant Cugat  every two hours.

The times (leaving the venue) are 2 am, 4 am and 6 am. Regular shuttle service starts again at 8am.

Food and drinks at the venue
This is an educational area, so by law highly alcoholics drinks are forbidden. Softer drinks like wine and beer are allowed. Smoking is forbidden inside the buildings and eating areas. There will be no tobacco vending machines or points around the hackathon area. If you are a smoker, we highly recommend you to bring your cigarettes with you (or to stop smoking).

Parking
Free Parking available just in front of the main building.

Mobile internet (SIM cards)
The venue has an extensive Wifi network. Mobile coverage is OK, but may be spotty in some areas. But if you want to visit Barcelona and need to be online all the time, you have several options.


 * If you are from the European Union, your data plan should work just fine. There are no roaming charges in the EU.
 * Airport shops usually carry temporary SIM cards for tourists.
 * There are three major mobile operators: Movistar, Vodafone, Orange and Yoigo (in this order). In urban areas, coverage is good for the four of them. Yoigo may borrow some of the other's networks, but this is transparent for you, don't worry.
 * There is a myriad other operators, who rent the network from the three majors and may make tailored offers: Pepephone, Simyo, MasMovil, ...

Some offers found on the net (not an endorsement)

 * Vodafone
 * Orange

Wifi at the venue
See Wikimedia_Hackathon_2018/Program

Within a 500 meters radius
We are on a campus, not many shops or facilities in near radius. Make sure you bring your plugs, tobacco, or other necessities with you.

From the recommended hotels (but far enough from the hackathon venues), the closest residential area where you can find a few shops, bars or a pharmacy is Bellaterra, just outside the train station with the same name. Keep in mind that some businesses (e.g., pharmacy) may be closed all Saturday afternoon and Sunday.

There are also a few bars and services (such as an ATM and laundry dry cleaner's) very close to Hotel Campus. More details: https://vilauniversitaria.uab.cat/en/live-the-vila/services-and-shops/

Only open on Friday there also a few shops (e.g., a book shop, a hairdresser's and digital printing service) at Plaça Cívica, on campus. More details: http://www.uab.cat/web/life-on-campus/services/shops-in-placa-civica-1345695442486.html

General tourist information
Barcelona has a population of nearly two million people. It has a wide variety of attractions that bring in tourists from across the globe. The many faces of Barcelona include the medieval Old Town, and the unique street grid resulting from 19th-century urban planning. The city has long sandy beaches and green parks on the hills, pretty much side-by-side. It is also famous for a number of prominent buildings, of which the most-known are by the architect Antoni Gaudí, including his Sagrada Família, which became Barcelona's symbol to many.

Founded more than 2,000 years ago as the ancient Roman town Barcino, Barcelona is thus as historic as it is modern, with a constant flow of projects changing the face of the city and long-standing penchant for design and innovation. Thanks to the wealth of attractions, a very well-developed accommodation base, a lively nightlife and a robust transportation system, Barcelona has become one of Europe's, and pretty much the world's, most popular tourist destinations.


 * Barcelona Tourism Website
 * Barcelona at Wikivoyage

UAB Bellaterra campus is located in Vallès Occidental comarca (county). So you can be interested in visiting some close towns such as Sant Cugat del Vallès, Sabadell or even hiking in Collserola.


 * Visit Sant Cugat
 * Visit Vallès

Contact: hackathon@wikimedia.cat This e-mail address can be used for all inquiries or questions regarding the event.