ZOE BODY
Barcelona (EFE).- There are many curious people who come these days to the legendary Bar Marsella in Barcelona and the Churrería J. Argilés in the Catalan capital recreating the video clip “Vampiros”, one of the three songs that Rosalía and Rauw Alejandro have released on their joint EP “RR”.
The video clip for this song, which premiered last Thursday, April 13, was shot in Barcelona. The Bar Marsella, located in the Raval neighborhood, is the oldest in the city, with more than two hundred years. The wooden walls and chandeliers that hang from the broken ceiling transport those who enter the gloomy place back to the 19th century.
It is not the first time that a celebrity has stopped by the establishment to try its absinthe shots, the specialty of Marseille. Before the Catalan singer filmed in it, personalities such as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí or Ernest Hemingway frequented the bar.
Serving spirits since 1820, the Marsella bar is one of the points of interest for tourists visiting Barcelona. Likewise, for those who frequent the place, it is not surprising that Rosalía has chosen this mythical place to be one of the settings for her video clip.
“It seems very logical to me that it was filmed here, a hundred-year-old bar, in the heart of the Raval, with a lot of history, it seems to me a very good option”, commented one of the many regular clients of the Marseille.
The iconic churrería in Barcelona
After celebrating in the historic bar, Rosalía and Rauw go in their video clip to the Marina neighborhood, where the J. Argilés churrería is located.
The churro stand is well known by those who have ever gone out to party in Barcelona, since on weekends it opens all night and gives breakfast to young people who leave the clubs at dawn.
“It is the churrería trusted by everyone, a few churros and a chocolate cure all ills”, affirms a young man from Barcelona who has visited Marina’s churrería on more than one occasion after partying in the neighbourhood.
Jordi Argilés, the owner of the venue, explains to EFE that “in recent years we have spent a lot of time at night serving young people who go out to party and who we could also classify as ‘vampires’, and it is curious that the video of Rosalía has been recorded in our churrería ”.
The churro establishment has been in operation for more than sixty years, since Jordi’s grandfather, José Argilés, opened the churro shop in 1958. “In the old days, when the bullfights were very busy times,” recalls Jordi Argilés.
The business has been passed down from generation to generation and over the years it has gained notoriety in the neighborhood. When the leisure businesses and discos were located in Poblenou, they saw an opportunity to promote the churrería even more.
“My father thought it appropriate to open earlier… until in the end we are practically all night. It was something evolutionary, like the neighborhood”, explains Argilés.
An intense inexperience
As a result of Rosalía’s video clip, both the Bar Marsella and the Argilés churrería have noticed a lot of curiosity on the part of the people, who have come to ask questions and take photos in the places where the singers were.
With two paper bags full of churros in his hands, a tourist explains that it is the first time he has eaten them. A friend told him about the churrería that appears in Rosalía’s video clip and Rauw Alejandro decided to “come and try it.”
The experience was “very intense,” according to Argilés. At the end of January, the producer contacted the owner of the churrería to propose that his position appear in the video for Rosalía’s new song. “We thought it was great to be able to collaborate and have an outlet in the video,” says Argilés.
On February 21, filming took place at the churrería. “We were there all night, we opened, we prepared the product, the decorations ‘tweaked’ the churrería and when Rosalía and Rauw arrived they made the recording. It was very light, fast and professional”, explains the owner.
From the J. Argilés churrería they are very grateful to Rosalía and Rauw Alejandro for choosing them to appear in the video clip. “The fact that churros are talked about and that they are in fashion, either by the Koreans or by Rosalía, is going very well for us,” Argilés confesses.
The Catalan Rosalía, who has just triumphed at the Coachella festival, thus seems not to forget her origins and shares mythical places in Barcelona with her followers from all over the world together with her partner and artist Rauw Alejandro.