The Barcelona Photographic Archive has just released a hundred or so photos taken between 1907 and 1908. They were taken by Frederic Ballell, one of the pioneers of Catalan photojournalism, who delighted in documenting the daily life of the city. Above a goat herder passes by Palau Moja, below a puppy seller. From La Rambla, hace un siglo
See also History of Les Rambles
The headquarters of IKEA in Spain is in Badalona. Note the huge sign on the roof. From here
Dusk at the Rompeolas, Barcelona’s breakwater, in the 1950s. Sadly, the rough, unfriendly eatery here was demolished in the 1990s as the city embraced modernity, but you can still walk along to the end, talking in the sea air, the men with their rods and cormorants sunning themselves among the rocks.
The Rompeolas is an essential place in the social history of the city, though today it has lost much of its magic. It was a place to drive out with your girl and make love in your tiny SEAT 600. Many people born in the city in the 1950s and 60s are said to have been conceived here. Later, in the 1980s, Barcelona singer Loquillo immortalized it in his best (only good?) song El Rompeolas:
The Turó de la Rovira betwen El Carmel and el Guinardó offers one of the best views to admire Barcelona. The ruined gun emplacements remind us it is also the site of Barcelona’s air defences during the Civil War. More on this another day. It is also a great spot for graffiti. Photos by Mónica. Note hanging shoe art.
La Piadina serves excellent takeaway piadinas. They make a good change from pizzas and bocadiillos. Ugly is my favouirite.
Address: C de Santa Creu 3. Street is off Plz Virreina by the church.
As far as im concerned the best Italian restaurant in Barcelona is Bella Napoli in Carrer Magarit, Poble Sec. The place attracts large numbers of Italian ex-pats served by occassionally infuriating Marx-brother-style waiters who delight in playing tricks on the punters. Superb pizzas and antipasta. Booking at the weekend is advisable.
The metropolitan area of Barcelona has one of the highest population densities in the world, particularly if one takes out Collserola park on its northern fringe. The city of Barcelona itself has a density of 5,764/km², while the Eixample District has a remarkable density of 35.138/km². L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, part of Barcelona metropolitan area, but a town (ciudad) in its own right, has a density of 20,230 /km2. Source
Within Barcelona particularly neighbourhoods are:
1 Sagrada Familia
area 1.04km²
Population 53.000
2 Gracia
area 2.05 km²
population 84.000
3 Raval
area 1.08km²
population 47.000
Within L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, the highest density in Europe is the la Florida district with a density of 77,000/km², which has fallen from a frightening 150,000/km² 30 years ago. Source: http://www.l-h.cat/anuarisEstadistics_2.aspx?id=2 Statistical yearbook of the city, Click on Anuario 2007
The skyscraper forum has some fascinating discussion on what constitutes an urban area or a city. Above pic taken from there by Gabi.
The whole municipality of L’Hospitalet is conurbated with the city, served by tube lines, insanely dense, etc. It’s just another district of Barcelona, really. Of course, this might mean it’d be a better idea to consider L’H as a single neighbourhood, but first of all it isn’t: the different neighbourhoods were built at different times, with different planning criteria (or in most cases absence thereof, but that’s another story), and they have different sociological traits, different areas of influence, etc. You also have to keep in mind that there are TWO railway tracks cutting through the city and pretty much acting as a barrier you can’t get through. So at least you’d have to separate Samontà (Northern Hospitalet) from Marina (Southern Hospitalet). Actually, it’d be more like Old Hospitalet (Centre and Sta. Eulàlia), Northern Hospitalet (La Florida, Can Serra, Pubilla Cases, Collblanc, Torrassa, etc.) and Marina (Bellvitge and Gornal, basically. The area around Plaça Europa has become quite distinct, although future operations on Gran Via Ave. will prolly integrate Gornal into Districte Econòmic somewhat.) And it’d be a wise idea to separate Collblanc and Torrassa as well, as they have a special relationship with Les Corts and Sants in Barcelona. They also have some old town parts, which is kind of weird in L’Hospitalet (most of L’Hospitalet was built after 1960 and populated with inmigrants, so the presence of “old town” parts is sociologically and urbanistically relevant: the fact that in Collblanc and Torrassa they are way smaller than in Centre or Sta. Eulàlia, and the fact that their original population is fleeing to Martorell or Barcelona is also relevant of course.)
In Calle de Ramalleres, 17 in the walls of the Casa de la Misericòrdia, in El Raval there is a hole framed in wood. Poor women who were inacapble of feeding their new-born babies would leave them here on a platform which turned. The nuns inside hearing the baby’s cries would spin the turntable round and take the infant. Today the hole is blocked off. Map here
Excellent article from the Guardian on the fall from grace of what was once Barcelona’s best loved street. “Drunken tourists, desperate prostitutes and petty crooks have rendered it charmless, tawdry and dangerous.”
The article also quotes La Vanguardia in a similar tone “A dark boulevard where drunks impose their style, where wallets disappear and there are fights and muggings,” it reported. “The sensation is of chaos, of a lost city. Barcelonans are turning their backs on it.”
Lucy's Barcelona nature blog
One of many people's favourite piece of public art in Barcelona is The Cat by Fernando Botero. The cat has moved several times around the city, but seems finally to have decided to settle down here in the Raval del Raval. It was originally bought by the council in 1987. I love watching people interact with it. Children like to (try to) climb it. Old men like to slap it. There's another sculpture of a horse by Botero at the airport.
La Piadina serves excellent takeaway piadinas. They make a good change from pizzas and bocadiillos. Ugly is my favouirite.
Address: C de Santa Creu 3. Street is off Plz Virreina by the church.
As far as im concerned the best Italian restaurant in Barcelona is Bella Napoli in Carrer Magarit, Poble Sec. The place attracts large numbers of Italian ex-pats served by occassionally infuriating Marx-brother-style waiters who delight in playing tricks on the punters. Superb pizzas and antipasta. Booking at the weekend is advisable.
Koy Shunka in Barcelona is claimed to be one of the best Japanese restaurants outside of Japan.
I must admit expectations were high upon entering as pretty much every Chef in Spain talks about this restaurant, but without a shadow of a doubt it surpassed what I expected! With the kitchen being the center stage from the moment you walked in you could not help feel a part of the theatrics....All of the Chefs were laughing and interacting with all of the guests seated around the bar seating and the edges of the kitchen. More here
Barcelona's urban heat island
March 11, 2010
Barcelona’s urban heat island effect causes markedly higher temperatures in the city than the surrounding rural areas. The difference is most pronounced at night during anticyclonic conditions in the winter with temperatures as much as 6.9ºC lower. There heat is channeled along corridors of flats, and there a mere 200 hectares of green areas in the city, though the city’s 100,000 street trees have a mitigating effect. The heat island is most noted in the Eixample. The Besós River functions as a corridor bringing in cold air to the coast. More details in Catala
Books in English set in Barcelona
March 8, 2010
The Oh Barcelona site has a short but good round-up of the books in English set in Barcelona. Montalbán, Mendoza, Ruiz Zafon, Tóibín, Hughes, etc. More here
Where is Columbus pointing to?
March 4, 2010
![[Colom.jpg]](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mO07g9kbB7Q/S40rAjuBfKI/AAAAAAAAAL4/Vq5FvFMUssc/s1600/Colom.jpg)
Not America that’s for sure. The Barcelonautes blog claims to have the answer: La Platja de Sa Calobra in Mallorca. After that it’s Algiers, the Sahara desert and the length of Africa.
Tàpies foundation reopens
March 4, 2010
The Fundació Antoni Tàpies opened its doors this week after being closed for reforms for several years. More in English
Timeline of Barcelona
March 1, 2010
I’ve put together this timeline of Barcelona in the history section. Still very unfinished.
Spanish flu in Barcelona
February 15, 2010
Spanish flu killed 1554 people in Barcelona in the terrible outbreak between 1918 and 1919. 370 people died in a single day in the city on 21st 1918.
Barcelona photoblog Badrash in Barcelona Oh Barcelona Els Barcelonautes From Barcelona South of Watford (Madrid based. Very good)
