The long bar as seen by the VVV survey - I. Colour–magnitude diagrams C. González-Fernández, M. López-Corredoira, E. B. Amôres, D. Minniti, P. Lucas and I. Toledo A&A, 546 (2012) A107 Published online: 16 October 2012 DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201219756