<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Lucida Sans Unicode" LANG="0">Bars in Spain are what we might call "coffee shops". In most European countries these establishment also sell drinks. They are called "bars" because of the wooden partition that in olden times used to separate the meal purchasers from those preparing them.<BR>
In the legal profession we are admitted "to the bar" (when I became a lawyer my then young son asked me it that meant that thenceforth I would be allowed to drink). The expression also refers to the wooden plank that used to separate the judge from the spectators at a trial; lawyers were the only ones permitted to go in front -before- the "bar"; hence the expression.</FONT></HTML>