Sidewalks

Barcelona is on the coast of the Mediterranean and extends away from the shore on gently rolling hills that turn into small green mountains further out. The city dates back to the 3rd century BC and was conquered by the Romans in 218 BC and is located in the area known as Catalan. It has quite a rich history but I will skip to the 20th century.

After the Spanish civil war of the 1930’s, the Fascist forces of Franco took over the area and began a campaign of repression, which included banning the Catalan language. Catalan is a cross between Spanish and French but sounds like neither – to my ear it sometimes sounds like Russian.

In 1975, Franco died though not before reinstituting the monarchy and selecting Juan Carlos as king. To everyone’s surprise King Carlos began the process of democratizing the country and gave Catalan autonomy. Since then, there has been a revival in the language and arts of the region’s people.

Today, Catalan is first language when it comes to signs, train announcements, etc. I’ve picked up a few words so far: buenos dias is bon dia in Catalan. Exit/Salida is Sortida – I figured this one out on my own. Those of you familiar with my 45-minute pursuit for an exit in the Paris subway may remember that I learned that Sortie meant exit. Sortida is almost a perfect average of Sortie and Salida.

The first thing that I noticed in Barcelona was the width of the streets and the sidewalks. The old town is just like any medieval city with a rambling set of alleys – here however, unlike Rome, the alleys are wider. The orthogonal grid that came later maintained this “wide” flavor. The new city grid is characterized by chamfered corners that result in octagonal blocks – this creates a sort of meeting point at every corner, which is usually taken up by a sidewalk restaurant.

The major happening street is La Rambla – it’s a boulevard with the middle section, which is normally a green space, turned into about a 50-foot wide pedestrian mall. I have seen this type “boulevard” in other parts of town as well. There is one lane of traffic on either side followed by another set of sidewalks. Basically the focus is walking. It’s interesting to see so much space in the city dedicated to the public. One reason may be Spain’s socialist thinking but however they came up with the idea, it works. It’s something that Houston definitely lacks, even though temperature and humidity wise, Barcelona is not that different.

Along La Rambla you can find every sort of entertainment. From street non-performers – dressed up characters holding a pose for hours – to part-time street performers – who will wiggle a little when someone puts a coin in their cups – to outright performers who juggle, perform magic, do acrobatics and con you with the shell game. There are also restaurants, street vendors and whole hell of a lot of tourists. La Rambla connects Placa Catalunya, the city’s main roundabout, to the beach – one passes three Metro stops from one end to the other. The great Spanish poet, Federico Garcia Lorca (who was killed in during the civil war and was portrayed badly by Andy Garcia in a forgettable movie called “The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca, which I paid regular price to see some years ago) has written that La Rambla is the only street in the world that should not end – and there are times when one thinks that it will never end.