Nike SB Europe in Barcelona could be easily described as an edit which does what it says on the tin; it’s a short video, featuring the European riders of the Swoosh, enjoying the myriad skateable charms offered by the Catalan capital as so many have before them.
Barcelona is a city indelibly ingrained into skateboarding’s collective consciousness, to the point where seeing an opening line filmed at MACBA can have an almost soporific effect – I can almost smell the peculiar Barcelona aroma of badly constructed drains and cold stubbies of Estrella, a combination of odours which can often be found emanating from the cans themselves due to the itinerant beer sellers’ habits of stashing six packs in nearby drains to keep them cool. However, leaving things at that and letting you get on with pressing play would hardly be doing my job and upholding my sense of integrity as a scribbler of skateboarding goings on, would it? After all, it’s not like you’re here to watch skateboarding when you could be reading my semi-coherent literary staggerings towards that elusive 300 word count minimum…
Luckily, a stacked team from across the continent makes this one a breeze to write about – from OG straddlers of the tech/steeze fence such as Javier Sarmiento, Fran Molina and Luy Pa Sin to more recent focuses of the worldwide skateboarding media like Didrik Galasso, Max Geronzi and Marek Zaprazny. It also means that there’s no chance of being stuck watching the ABD triangle of MACBA, Para-lel and Universitat, despite the opening line, and offers a glimpse into a few of the gems hidden amongst the city’s outer suburbs. Press play, enjoy, and next time you find yourself in the midst of Barca’s whirlwind skating/partying dichotomy, maybe get inspired to venture beyond the obvious!
Featuring Adrian Del Campo, Andrew Verde, Daniel Lebron, Didrik Galasso, Erik J Pettersson, Fran Molina, Javier Sarmiento, Jose Vivero, Kilian Zehnder, Luy Pa Sin, Marek Zaprazny, Max Geronzi, Michael Sommer, Pedro Attenbrorough, Pierre Leze, Roman Lisivka, Shajen Willems, Wieger Van Wageningen, Youness Amrani, Yuri Facchini and Raul Valencia.
