Custom Tour of Barcelona

Aya Eliav is a native of Israel who received a Bachelor of Arts from the Bezalel Art Academy in Jerusalem and studied at the Art Academy of Rome. She led Context tours in Rome for several years before relocating to the modernist city of Barcelona. Passionate about architecture, art and design, she constantly searches for the connections and influences between various art forms. In addition to serving as a Context guide, Aya is an international multimedia artist, with works ranging from painting to performance-art, and she also teaches applied art and painting.

British born and educated, Alan has now lived permanently in Barcelona for several years. His expertise and knowledge on the International Brigades and the Spanish Civil War is sought after by historians and visitors curious to understand this confusing yet fascinating period of Spanish hidden history. As a publisher specializing in books on the International Brigades, he studies the literature, archives, and photographic collections of this period of history, and his research has helped to extensively expand the current corpus of knowledge of the conflict. Television and filmwork also now take an ever-increasing proportion of this enjoyable work.

A Barcelona native, Esther grew up cooking with her mother and grandmother. Their love of Catalan traditions and use of local ingredients laid the basis for her very sophisticated knowledge of Catalan cuisine. Having studied business administration and marketing on the university level, Esther has traveled extensively, giving her a very good sense of the comparisons between cuisines and traditions. When not leading walks for Context, she can be found in Barcelona’s restaurants and markets.