THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

The plaza is to the Spanish what a park is to Australians – an ideal place to go for a walk, meet with friends, and let the kids and the dog off the leash for a bit of a run around. Every Spanish town or suburb has at least one plaza, but we are spoilt in the Gràcia neighbourhood of Barcelona, where we set up home, to have no less than eleven to choose from, each with its own history and appeal.

We were quick to carve out our favourites when we moved in, starting with Plaza de la Virreina. Flanked by modernist buildings, it has ornate frescoed facades on all four sides. We often go there on weekends to sit and ‘tomar algo’ (have a drink) at one of the many outdoor café areas, or just to read or watch the community commune. The dappled sunlight for up to nine months of the year comes courtesy of the well-planned planting of maple trees around the periphery. The square has the added appeal of overlooking the handsome sandstone assembly of the Saint Joan church on the north side and, I’m told, singer and musician Jackson Browne’s Barcelona residence to the south.

Plaza de la Revolución de Septiembre de 1868 is so named after that particular revolution – which I know nothing about; we know it as the place for fabulous authentic Italian gelato.

The curiously named Plaza de John Lennon promises to ‘Give peace a chance’ and in doing so provides a huge, fenced-in play area for children to frolic. I go there for the proper-strength coffee served by a cute little French-style café.

Plaza de Vila de Grácia is nicknamed The Clock Square by local kids, as it plays host to a 33-metre-high (108 feet) clock tower. The tower also acts as a yardstick for the people called Castellars who scramble around its base and build themselves into breathtakingly tall formations of human scaffolding on national celebrations and holidays. The smallest child of around four years old must climb to the top and stand tall for at least a beat. It’s breathtaking, terrifying and impossible not to watch.

Afternoons in the plaza are always energised: toddlers totter about like wind-up toys on long strings with short attention spans, unimpeded by the obstacle course of goings-on in the square. These clumsy little bundles of exuberance tack their way through the crowds in a squawking chorus of delight.

Meanwhile, las señoras gossip on benches, boys kick footballs, mopeds mount kerbs, young couples kiss, meanderers meander and gypsy women prowl around in pairs, intent on selling cigarette lighters to the multitude of friends getting together for a chat and a drink.

During summertime it seems like the whole city of Barcelona is out in one plaza or another, stretching time and ‘tomando algo’ – having a drink.

A Castellars tower in a Barcelona plaza. Photograph by Chris Ruggles.