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Rambla de Raval and around
The most obvious manifestation of the changing character of El Raval is the
Rambla de Raval
, an urban boulevard driven right through the centre of the
district (between c/de l’Hospital and c/de Sant Pau). In many ways it’s still
finding its feet – the ongoing Illa Robabdor construction site halfway down
will eventually house a hotel, film institute, offices and social housing, while the
juvenile trees are yet to throw much shade on the
rambla
’s benches. But the local
inhabitants – many of Asian origin – have been quick to appreciate the open
space of the
rambla
, while an increasing number of fashionable bars are inter-
spersed amongst the video stores, kebab shops,
halal
butchers, phone offices and
grocery stores. A Saturday
street market
(selling anything from
samosas
to
hammocks) adds a bit more character, while children find it hard to resist a
clamber on the massive, bulbous cat sculpture.
The two extremes of the
rambla
offer a snapshot of the changing neighbour-
hood. At the bottom end, off
c/de Sant Pau
, the
barri
’s remaining prostitutes
accost passers-by as they head back towards the Liceu and the Ramblas.The top
end, meanwhile, leads you straight into the streets of the upper Raval, flush with
boutiques, bars and galleries. Pause at least in
Plaça del Pedro
(junction of
c/del Carme and c/de l’Hospital), where a cherished statue of Santa Eulàlia
(co-patron of the city) stands on the site of her supposed crucifixion, facing the
surviving apse of a Romanesque chapel. Carrer de Botella, just off the square,
is unremarkable, save for the plaque at no. 11 which records the
birthplace of
Manuel Vasquez Montalban
, probably the city’s most famous writer, whose
likes and prejudices found expression in his favourite character, detective Pepe
Carvalho.
Palau Güell
El Raval’s outstanding building is the
Palau Güell
, at c/Nou de la Rambla 3
(Tues–Sat 10am–2.30pm; free;
T
933 173 974,
o
Drassanes/Liceu), an extraor-
dinary townhouse designed by the young Antoni Gaudí for wealthy shipowner
Cat sculpture on Rambla de Raval
EL RAVAL
|
Rambla de Raval
and around • Palau Güell