Manel is a four-piece band from Barcelona, Catalonia. Formed in 2007 by school friends Guillem Gisbert, Roger Padilla, Martí Maymó and Arnau Vallvé, they began simply by recording a demo and entering the Sona9 competition, in which they finished in 2nd place. With the prize money, they decided to take the opportunity to record their first full-length album, Els Millors Professors Europeus, which they released in 2008. Little by little, they came to the attention of the Catalan and Spanish public, through their fresh style, word of mouth and a little bit of social networking. What followed was a year of touring, including festivals such as Primavera Sound. By 2009, they had already held the honour of being Enderrock's album of the year. In February 2011, Manel began tentatively promoting their album 10 Milles Per Veure Una Bona Armadura, by releasing two tracks ahead of time. Soon after its release in March 2011, it became the number 1 album in Spain, making them the first Catalan group to ever achieve such a feat. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.