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THE RAMBLAS
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The Ramblas
I
t is a telling comment on Barcelona’s character that one can recommend a
single street – the
Ramblas
– as a highlight. No day in the city seems
complete without a stroll down at least part of what, for Spanish poet Federico
García Lorca, was “the only street in the world which I wish would never end”.
Lined with cafés, shops, restaurants and newspaper kiosks, and thronged by
tourists, locals, buskers and performance artists, it’s at the heart of Barcelona’s life
and self-image.There are important buildings and sights along the way, not least
the Liceu Opera House and the famous
Boqueria
food market, but undoubtedly
it’s the street life which is the greatest attraction – and that you’re a part of it every
time you set foot on Spain’s most famous thoroughfare.
The name, derived from the Arabic
ramla
(sand), refers to the bed of the
seasonal stream that once flowed here. In the dry season, the channel was used
as a road, and by the fourteenth century this had been paved over in recognition
of its use as a link between the harbour and the old town. In the nineteenth
century, benches and decorative trees were added, overlooked by stately
balconied buildings, and today – in a city choked with traffic – this wide tree-
lined swath is still given over to pedestrians, with cars forced up the narrow
strips of road on either side. There are
metro stops
at Catalunya (top of the
Ramblas), Liceu (middle) and Drassanes (bottom), or you can walk the entire
length in about twenty minutes.
The Ramblas splits the old town areas of Barcelona in half, with the Barri
Gòtic on the east flank of the avenue and El Raval on the west. It also actually
comprises
five separate sections
strung head to tail – from north to south,
Rambla Canaletes, Estudis, Sant Josep, Caputxins and Santa Mònica – though
it’s rare to hear them referred to as such. However, you will notice changes as
you walk down the Ramblas, primarily that the streets on either side become a
little less polished – even seedy – as you get closer to the harbour.The shops,
meanwhile, reflect the mixed clientele, from patisseries to pizza takeaways, and
stores selling handcrafted jewellery to shops full of sombreros, bullfight posters
(“your name here”), football shirts and imitation Gaudí ashtrays. On the central
avenue under the plane trees you’ll find pet canaries, rabbits, tropical fish,
flowers, plants, postcards and books. You can buy sunglasses from a blanket
stretched out on the ground, cigarettes from itinerant salespeople, have your
palm read and your portrait painted, or just listen to the buskers and watch the
pavement artists. Human statues are much in evidence and will take any coins
you can spare; card and dice sharps, operating from foldaway tables and
cardboard boxes, will skin you for much more if you let them. Drag yourself
home with the dawn, and you’ll rub shoulders with the street cleaners, watchful
policemen and bleary-eyed stallholders. It’s a never-ending show, of which
visitors and locals alike rarely tire.