Meet the Barcelona local surfer Alex Vilalta
Notable and notorious influencers share their Barcelona stories with The Local Way.
Meet the Barcelona local surfer Alex Vilalta
Notable and notorious influencers share their Barcelona stories with The Local Way.
The Local Way X Alex Vilalta
Meet Alex Vilalta. A professional surfer here in Barcelona. Alex is one of, if not the most dedicated and talented surfers here in Barcelona. He is always chasing his next surf session and runs his life based on where the waves are. In this article, Alex gives us some insight on the best spots to surf, his favorite places to eat and go out, and how to learn to surf.
What is your favorite surf spot in Barcelona?
My favorite surf spot in Barcelona is Killers, formally known as Nova Marbella. It’s very easy get there and it’s easily accessible. When I say that it’s accessible, I mean that the parking is both convenient and free. You can literally park right next to the stairs that lead down to the beach.
One of the really nice things about Killers is that when there are waves, they are always very consistent. They break near the jetty on either the left or the right side in the same spot. It’s where you can usually find me.
Since you are an athlete, what are some of your favorite places to eat in Barcelona?
Well, I like to eat a lot, and I like to eat well. I really like the American chain Five Guys. It’s very good, and, by the way, it is Obamas favorite burger place… lol. It’s a typical American cheeseburger. The burger is really good, the cheese is melted, the bacon is very crispy, and it’s just the best combination.
When I go to the beach, I always go to Surf House restaurant at Barceloneta beach. They have food that is both healthy and pretty tasty.
I also really like to eat pizza. My favorite place to eat pizza in Barcelona is from a place called La Tagliatella. The pizzas there are very thin, crunchy, and overall very yummy.
What are some of the best places to go out in Barcelona? Bars or clubs? What is your favorite party?
I am not really that big into partying because I am a surfer. I like to wake up early in the morning, and when I go out I tend to not wake up early. However, when I do go out, I go to the Nasty Monday’s at Apollo. There’s a lot of different culture and diversity there. There are people from all over the world that go to Nasty Mondays. Also, the atmosphere in the club is very cool. There are cool surfing and snowboarding videos as well as really good music.
If you were to be looking for a second local option, I would definitely recommend Sutton. It’s pretty fancy. You have to dress up to get in, but you are definitely going to see a lot of beautiful girls. Even though Sutton is an amazing club, I prefer to go to Nasty Monday’s because it is much more casual. Also there are a lot of beautiful girls, and it is more of my vibe.
Can you compare the surf culture in Barcelona from 10 years ago to now?
Well, surfing in Barcelona has changed so much in the last ten years. Ten years ago, I used to surf on my own a lot and I really liked that. It was a very special time. I think that it is very important that the number of surfers in Barcelona continues to increase. It’s so important for kids to learn the sport. I believe that surfing should be both more popular and have more recognition than it currently does in Barcelona. There’s not really a huge surf culture here in Barcelona right now, but I think that more surf schools would definitely help solidify the surf culture here.
My dream is for there to be more local surfing competitions in Barcelona and for the upcoming generation of local kids to represent Barcelona on the professional level.
What are some places near Barcelona that you would recommend going to spend the day?
I would definitely recommend Sitges and the Garraf Coast. Both of which are pretty close to Barcelona. They are really nice places to hang out. The food is very good, and the water is very clean. Also, there are also really nice events. Costa Brava is also very beautiful but there isn’t much surfing there, so I don’t go there very often.
I’d also recommend going down south to Tarragona. It’s amazing there.Andorra is a great place to go if you are a skier or a snowboarder. There are so many places to go around Barcelona that you have the ability to surf, skate, snowboard. It’s why I love living here.
Have you stayed in a hostel? What do you think about the concept of staying in a hostel when you are traveling?
I really like the concept of staying in a hostel. It’s why I have stayed in so many. I’ve stayed in hostels in Australia, the United States and many in Indonesia. It doesn’t cost a lot of money. You also can meet a lot of new people and share experiences with all of your new friends. I don’t really spend a lot of time inside because I really like to be outdoors doing things. But I would highly recommend staying in a hostel for someone traveling alone. You always end up doing a lot of activities with other people.
What advice would you give to someone that wants to learn how to surf in Barcelona?
Surfing in Barcelona is very complicated. There are so many more people surfing these days in Barcelona. There are not many places to learn how to surf in Barcelona. But if you do want to learn here is what you need to do.
First of all, you must love the idea of surfing. Here in Barcelona, the conditions change very quickly. It could be flat one minute and then five minutes later, there would be waves. And vice versa, there could be waves, and then thirty minutes later all of the waves could be gone. Another really important tip is to be constantly searching for waves because there aren’t many.
The most important tip I could give someone learning how to surf is to not be in the middle of the crowd. The middle of the pack is where the people who already know surf are. There are a few other reasons too. First, you are not going to learn everything you should when you’re starting out. You shouldn’t immediately jump into the biggest waves you can find. Also, there’s the possibility that you could get hurt. You don’t need the biggest waves to learn how to surf. I think the best way to learn is in a quiet place with a few friends.
How do you check for waves in Barcelona before you surf? Any good websites or applications?
I pretty much solely use Magicseaweed and Wisuki to look see how the waves are. The nice thing with these websites is that they tell you how the waves are going to be in five to seven days. The only problem is that magicseaweed always shows a little bit more waves than there actually are. Always keep that in mind.
If I have to check the waves for today or tomorrow, I use the Surf Mediterraneo website. I also check on the buoys (boias), and I am constantly checking surf webcams. You have to constantly be swapping between websites because the Mediterranean always has the potential to give you a surprise.
What do you do in a flat day in Barcelona?
There are so many flat days in Barcelona. On flat days in Barcelona I try to make some money. I am a model, I like to do castings and shoots for companies.
I also like to travel when there are no waves, but most of the time if there is no chance of surf at all, I go to my personal trainer. I spend a lot of tie with him. I also like to spend a lot of time skateboarding. Barcelona is a very good place for skateboarding.
What do you think about an artificial wave pool in Barcelona? Would you think that it will work and help local surfing scene?
The day that we have an artificial wave pool in Barcelona, the whole culture of surf would change radically. There is no doubt in my mind that we would have really good surfers coming from Barcelona. It would give access to so many people to try the sport for the first time.
Economically, a project like that would help the tourism sector of Barcelona a lot. There is no doubt that a lot of people would come out to Barcelona to try it. We already have a little surf scene in Barcelona. I can only imagine how incredible it would be to be at work and know I would be able to practice some surfing regardless of whether there are waves or not. I think a lot of the surfers in Barcelona right now feel the same way. An artificial surfing pool will transform Barcelona into a real surfing city. That would be the dream. Instead of going to the gym I think a lot of people would go to the wave pool.
What do you think are some of the positive things about being a surfer in the Mediterranean?
I like a lot about the Mediterranean. Even if I’m traveling around the world and I hear that there’s good surfing going on back home, I get a little jealous. We have a lot of good places to surf in the Mediterranean. Especially Sardinia in Italy. If we had surfing more often in Barcelona, I’d never trade the Mediterranean for any other place in the world. There is just a magical feeling about it.
What is your favorite beer in Barcelona and your favorite place to enjoy it?
To be honest, I do not drink a lot of beer. But my favorite beer is Cerdos Voladores. It takes really nice and it is a local craft beer from Barcelona. As for where I would like to enjoy it, I really like Mirador Vallvidrera. There are also a couple of places around Montjuïc with some good restaurants where you can have a romantic dinner for a good price.
This interview wouldn’t have been possible without all the support from Alex Vilalta and the efforts of the Sant Jordi Hostels marketing team (Duda Castro, Natalee Riedel, Sasha Romanoff and Bill Rauscher).
*Photos courtesy of @elevatorbeat @frankmoranstudio @_elena_alonso @niki_yew
This interview wouldn’t have been possible without all the support from Alex Vilalta and the efforts of the Sant Jordi Hostels marketing team (Duda Castro, Natalee Riedel, Sasha Romanoff and Bill Rauscher).
*Photos courtesy of @elevatorbeat @frankmoranstudio @_elena_alonso @niki_yew
More Like This
- All
- Alternative
- Barcelona
- Events
- Food
- Hostel Activities
- Lisbon
- Sites
- Travel Tips
La Mercè Festival
Don’t miss the most popular festival of the city! Are you going to spend your stay in Barcelona center? Don’t miss the most popular festival of the city! La Mercè festival Are you a coffee lover? Are you going to spend your stay in Barcelona center? Don’t miss the most popular festival of the city!…
SAFETY FOR SOLO FEMALE TRAVELERS
How do hostels ensure that women are safe? Female only dorms, locks for supplies, key card, safe areas of the city? 24hr reception staff ready to help? Security cameras? There are differents ways to make more secure your trip as a solo traveller. And you have to select correctly your residency and make sure…
