I came across this movie as there was nothing else on TV. I missed the beginning, but I kept on watching as I found it really interesting. I'm from Barcelona myself and live, at the moment, in one of the suburbs here. The characters in this film couldn't be more Spanish, or should I say "Barcelonians"? The movie follows the lives of normal people, with normal jobs, as common as they could be: a bar owner (there's at least one bar in every street here), as stall owner (there are lots of markets as well) and an old couple struggling to survive (as it happens, pensioners don't have a lot of money also) Their lives intertwine magnificently and you really feel sorrow and happiness for them. The lives they live could be the ones from my neighbours next door, if you know what I mean. The two young guys that work in the shop just remind me to some of my friends; their language, expressions and their whole life styles. The bar man is exactly the way some bar men are here: sexist, ignorant, fat,... I mean, if you come to Barcelona all you'll see is Sagrada Familia, Ramblas, the beach...and will eat a lot of overpriced tapas. If you really want to know our life style, get the Metro to a place like the one in the film (which actually is Mercat Nou) such as Hospitalet or, where I live, Nou Barris. You'd actually meet some real people like the ones in the movie, plus eat well for a reasonable price as we do. I know, maybe I got a bit carried away, I'm supposed to talk about the movie, but I just loved it and thought it was better than all that Almodovar stuff as they're always about sex, transvestites or whores. Don't mean to offend anyone, but real Spanish people are pictured in "Tapas", not in an Almodovar film!