Description
La Barceloneta is the old fishermen's neighborhood of Barcelona, a triangle between the sea, the port and El Born, with narrow lanes that all lead to the city's liveliest beach. It is where locals go for a seafood lunch and a day on the sand.
In the 1600s most of it was still sea. The land grew behind a breakwater built for the port, which tied a small island to the city, and stayed almost empty until 1754, when the first houses went up.
They were built for the displaced. The new Ciutadella fortress had swallowed part of the Ribera quarter, and its residents needed homes. The engineer Juan Martín Cermeño designed the new neighborhood, soon filled with fishermen and port workers.
The narrow lanes, with laundry drying on the balconies, still have the flavor of salt and the sea. The Casa de la Barceloneta, a small museum in a preserved building from 1761, explains how the neighborhood grew.
The seafront had a rougher side too. Gypsy families lived in shacks on the beach until the 1970s, and the great flamenco dancer Carmen Amaya was born in one of them in 1913. A fountain from 1959 near the beach honors her, with two guitarists and three dancers.
The old clock tower in the Fishermen's Wharf was built in 1772 as a lighthouse. It stopped serving the port in the mid-19th century, and its base was kept as a clock. The Port Vell aerial tramway ends at the Torre Sant Sebastià here.
The beach is the neighborhood's draw, and it appears even in the second book of Don Quixote. Along the promenade toward the Olympic port stand sculptures such as Frank Gehry's Peix d'Or, a giant golden fish, and Rebecca Horn's monument to the neighborhood.
For lunch, this is a good place to try fresh fish or paella. Order a bomba, the neighborhood's own tapa: a potato ball stuffed with meat, with spicy sauce or aioli, served with a small beer.
The Aquarium is also here, with 20 large tanks and a transparent tunnel through which visitors walk among sharks. Don't miss the History Museum of Catalonia at Palau de Mar, whose café terrace has a great view of the port.
In the 1600s most of it was still sea. The land grew behind a breakwater built for the port, which tied a small island to the city, and stayed almost empty until 1754, when the first houses went up.
They were built for the displaced. The new Ciutadella fortress had swallowed part of the Ribera quarter, and its residents needed homes. The engineer Juan Martín Cermeño designed the new neighborhood, soon filled with fishermen and port workers.
The narrow lanes, with laundry drying on the balconies, still have the flavor of salt and the sea. The Casa de la Barceloneta, a small museum in a preserved building from 1761, explains how the neighborhood grew.
The seafront had a rougher side too. Gypsy families lived in shacks on the beach until the 1970s, and the great flamenco dancer Carmen Amaya was born in one of them in 1913. A fountain from 1959 near the beach honors her, with two guitarists and three dancers.
The old clock tower in the Fishermen's Wharf was built in 1772 as a lighthouse. It stopped serving the port in the mid-19th century, and its base was kept as a clock. The Port Vell aerial tramway ends at the Torre Sant Sebastià here.
The beach is the neighborhood's draw, and it appears even in the second book of Don Quixote. Along the promenade toward the Olympic port stand sculptures such as Frank Gehry's Peix d'Or, a giant golden fish, and Rebecca Horn's monument to the neighborhood.
For lunch, this is a good place to try fresh fish or paella. Order a bomba, the neighborhood's own tapa: a potato ball stuffed with meat, with spicy sauce or aioli, served with a small beer.
The Aquarium is also here, with 20 large tanks and a transparent tunnel through which visitors walk among sharks. Don't miss the History Museum of Catalonia at Palau de Mar, whose café terrace has a great view of the port.