The Mar de Musicas festival brings musicians from all over the world to the port town, providing a chance for the citizens to experience something from beyond the boundaries of Spain, something different from the plaintive sounds of the flamenco and the cliched beats of Euro-pop. For 2003, the country being showcased at the festival has been India.

The Euro take on Bollywood! Sunny Singh writes from Barcelona, Spain:
On the other hand, Indian cinema provides an alternative to the western way of seeing the world, offers a different language and medium to express our thoughts and experience. And guess what, more people watch Bollywood products than Hollywood can reach. Which is why Kate Winslet can walk down Janpath and not be mobbed, even when her face stares out of a million Titanic t-shirts hung in the shops. Which is also why Shahrukh Khan cannot walk into Harrods, London, without causing a riot.

Sunny Singh writes from Barcelona, Spain:
And then I remember. This is Spain, the source-place of Columbus´ historic voyage to find a shorter route to India. And in that voyage lies – I am beginning to believe – the key to the way Spaniards and much of Europe looks at the east. After all, Columbus never arrived in India, mistakenly believed he had landed on Indian shores even when he was all the way across the globe.