The New Yorkers I've shown around Barcelona always seem to connect easily to the energy of the Catalan capital. They get its contrasts, I think, of seediness and elegance, of old and new, and its palpable creative and mercantile drive.

When they return to the Big Apple, they invariably find themselves jonesing for more. For a while, that big screenfull of lovesick images in Vicki Cristina Barcelona provided a fix. But now what?

I might have suggested heading downtown to eavesdrop on vacationing Catalans as they ransack Century 21. But the Institut Ramon Llull, a Catalan language and culture organization, has come up with something far more tasteful: Catalan Days—an arts mashup spanning music, dance, literature, and food. April 15 through May 20 at venues around New York City.