The Raval neighbourhood can be found going down on the right hand side of the Ramblas. For many years it was known as Barcelona’s Chinatown and was a major red-light district, with an atmosphere balanced somewhere between the picaresque and the sordid. In recent years, the area has experienced a process of urban renewal that has brought about major changes in its housing patterns and street layout. It has also seen the inflow of emblematic cultural infrastructures such as the CCCB Barcelona Contemporary Culture Centre and the MACBA museum. These institutions complete the architectural patrimony of a neighbourhood formerly made up of fields and ecclesiastical buildings such as the church of Sant Pau del Camp(C/ Sant Pau 101) or the Hospital de la Santa Creu (C/Hospital 56).
RECOMMENDATIONS: A quiet walk around the area’s narrow streets reveals a unique symbiosis between old city aesthetics and rapidly developing modern design. It is also a good idea to find out what is on at the neighbourhood’s cultural institutions.
Occupying the historic Casa de la Caritat, right beside the MACBA museum, the Barcelona Contemporary Culture Centre, designed by Albert Viaplana and Helio Piñón, was opened in February 1994. Its 3,900m2 are given over to the study, reflection and cultural promotion of contemporary urban reality. Its temporary exhibitions are particularly recommendable. C/ Montealegre 13.
Housed in a spectacular building designed by the American architect Richard Meier, the MACBA Contemporary Art Museum was opened in the very heart of the Raval neighbourhood in 1995. It is basically dedicated to avant-garde art in both its permanent and temporary exhibitions. Pza dels Àngels, 1 (not Pza. de l’Àngel).
This market was opened in 1840 and was covered by a metal roof in 1914. It is also known as Sant Josep market and can be found going down on on the left hand side of the Ramblas, just before the Liceu opera house. It is one of the city’s oldest and most traditional markets, whose stalls offer a wide range of high quality products and are the favourite shopping place for the city’s best-known chefs. La Rambla, 89 bis.
This is probably one of the clearest examples of the neighbourhood’s urban renewal in terms of street layout. The modern Rambla was inaugurated in the year 2000 following the demolition of one of the Raval’s most degraded areas.
Offically inaugurated on the 3rd of October 1894, this avenue skirts the working-class Poble Sec neighbourhood, on the hillside of Montjuïc and bordering the Raval. It was home to a number of theatres, music halls and taverns. Vaudeville and variety artists such as Josep Santpere (father of the legendary Mary Santpere, who has her own monument at the bottom of the Ramblas), the Bella Dorita and Alady characterised the period of maximum splendour for the Paral.lel in the 1920’s and 30’s. It is worth stopping to admire the now closed El Molino music hall (1898), which conserves a curious and attractive façade.
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Three young entrepreneurs with a passion for food offer fusion cuisine based on market fresh produce. Cuatro Barcelona is all about flair, taking care of the customer, good taste and an informal atmosphere. It also offers a space for a drink after dinner. Opening times: Tue. to Sat., 1pm to 4pm. Thu. to Sat., 9 to 11.30pm. Closed Sunday and Monday. Closed 15th to 23rd August. More info |