Maps and Listings
It is ironic that Barcelona, a city on the shores of the Mediterranean with a large industrial port and strong maritime tradition, gained a ‘waterfront’ only in the last decade of the 20th century. As the popular saying went, Barcelona lived with its back to the sea.
Being bordered on one side by the Mediterranean, the city’s residential and commercial areas expanded inland, first with the construction of the 19th-century Eixample and then by moving further up the hill towards Collserola during the 20th century. Investment tended to be linked with this movement, and as a result the Old Town and Barceloneta were neglected.
Alfresco dining at Barceloneta beach.
Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications
Port Vell.
Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications
Regeneration
The rediscovery of the waterfront began in the 1980s as part of the Socialist city council’s vision, but the 1992 Olympics were the vital catalyst. The development, perhaps the most radical transformation of any city in Europe, represented an investment of 400 billion pesetas (2.3 billion euros). Some 5km (3 miles) of beaches were renovated or newly created, landscaped and equipped with facilities. The Vila Olímpica was built, creating what is now a new residential district and its port. The old city wharves, once hidden under tumbledown sheds, emerged, blinking, into the sun. Barceloneta was transformed. Since 1992 the momentum has been sustained with projects like Maremàgnum and, more recently, Diagonal Mar and the Fòrum area (for more information, click here), and, for better or worse, there are more to come. The port area beyond the W hotel is due for major development.
For energetic walkers or cyclists, this route could be one long itinerary right along the front. However, to be able to enjoy the walk and fully appreciate the extensive renovations, to take in the many colourful details and have time to pause in the right places (such as the fish restaurants in Barceloneta), the route should be split into two (or more) days. What’s on offer on Barcelona’s waterfront is something quite extraordinary for a large cosmopolitan European city.
A model of Magellan’s Santa María de la Victoria, the first ship to circumnavigate the world (1519–1522), is on display at the Maritime Museum.
Gregory Wrona/Apa Publications
Museu Marítim 1 [map]
Address: Av de les Drassanes, s/n; www.mmb.cat
Tel: 93-342 9920
Opening Hrs: daily 10am–8pm
Entrance fee: charge
Transport: Drassanes
A good place to begin is the Maritime Museum, which brings to life Catalonia’s seafaring past. Housed in the massive Drassanes Reials (Royal Shipyards), at the foot of La Rambla just before it meets the port, the building alone makes a visit worthwhile – the magnificent Gothic-style shipyards, parts of which date from the 13th century, are a fine and rare example of civic architecture from that period. The art critic Robert Hughes described this stunning building as ‘perhaps the most stirring ancient industrial space of any kind that has survived from the Middle Ages: a masterpiece of civil engineering’.
After major renovation work to the building, during which interesting archaeological ruins were found, a new-format exhibition is being prepared. Until it opens in 2014, temporary exhibitions and the schooner on the quayside, Santa Eulàlia (for more information, click here), can be visited.
Exhibits
The new exhibition space will include the former collection of real fishing boats from the Catalan coast, representing the importance of both fishing and boatbuilding in the country’s history, and prized models of vessels from all ages. Also on display will be a modern Olympic winner, a model-making workshop, maps, instruments and other sea-related artefacts. The highlight will still be the full-scale replica of the 16th-century galley in which Don Juan of Austria led the Christian fleet to defeat the Turks in the battle of Lepanto in 1571. Like so many vessels over the centuries, it was built here in one of the slipways then on the water’s edge.
View over Monument a Colom and Junta d’Obres del Port.
iStockphoto
The Port of Barcelona
Today you have to cross a wide road, full of traffic, leading to the Ronda Litoral, before reaching the water. Leaving the Mirador a Colom (for more information, click here) to your left, go down the side of the rather overbearing former Duana Nova (New Customs House), built between 1895 and 1902 from a project drawn up by Enric Sagnier and Pere García. Crowned by a massive winged sphinx and other mythical flying beasts (Barcelona’s port buildings seem to specialise in fine rooftop silhouettes), the Duana Nova is designed in the form of the letter ‘H’, the most practical design for processing cargoes.
To the left of the Columbus statue as you look out to sea is the Junta d’Obres del Port (Port Authority Building), designed by the engineer Julio Valdés and built in 1907. Its original use was as the reception for passengers arriving in the city from the sea. The interior is somewhat eclectic in style, while the exterior of the building is impressively ornate.
To the right, the Moll de Barcelona 2 [map] and, beyond it, the Moll de Sant Bertran are the centre for ferry services to the Balearic Islands. This quay also has the 119-metre (390ft) -high Torre de Jaume I link for the cross-harbour cable car, which comes from Montjuïc and goes to the tower on the other side of the harbour, the Torre de Sant Sebastià (an alternative route to the beach). The cable car has hardly changed since its introduction in 1931 – unlike the spectacular views it affords of the city and port, which are constantly changing.
Passeig Marítim is hugely popular with afternoon strollers, cyclists and rollerbladers.
Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications
World Trade Center 3 [map]
At the end of the quay stands the World Trade Center, designed by the architect I.M. Pei (who also designed the Louvre glass pyramid in Paris); it makes a loud statement in the middle of the port, looking remarkably like the luxury cruisers moored alongside it. Unlike most waterfront developments, this building is not used for social or leisure activities: it is a commercial centre with offices, a smart restaurant and a very grand hotel.
Las Golondrinas 4 [map]
Address: Moll de Drassanes; www.lasgolondrinas.com
Tel: 93-442 3106
Opening Hrs: summer daily 11.30am–8.30pm, winter hours vary
Entrance fee: charge
Transport: Drassanes/Barceloneta
A popular way of seeing the harbour is to take a ride on one of the Golondrinas, or ferries, which are moored on the Moll de Drassanes. Apart from a pause during the civil war, they have been plying these waters since the 1888 Exhibition. Half-hour trips in the older pleasure boats take you out to the new entrance to the port and back past the fishing boats.
More modern catamarans head out of the harbour and along the coast to the Olympic port and the Fòrum, where you can disembark to explore, then catch a later return boat.
Capital of the Med
The port of Barcelona plays an important commercial role, covering a huge area winding south towards the airport. Recent expansion involved diverting the River Llobregat and current construction work will double its size. The authorities’ much vaunted aim is to establish it as ‘Europe’s southern port’, tying in with the city’s aspiration to be regarded as the ‘capital of the Mediterranean’. While massive container ships line the docks beneath the Castell de Montjuïc, enormous white cruise ships moored against the Moll Adossat are now part of the landscape. As the largest cruiser terminal in Europe, it regularly disgorges hundreds of passengers into La Rambla for sightseeing.
Santa Eulalia is moored in Port Vell.
Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications
‘The Lobster’ sculpture by Mariscal.
Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications
Port Vell 5 [map]
Just beyond the Golondrinas is Port Vell, the old port, now a yacht harbour. A sleek, sinuous walkway and footbridge, the Rambla de Mar, leads across the water to Maremàgnum, on the Moll d’Espanya, Port Vell’s main quay.
Moored alongside the palm-lined Moll de la Fusta (‘Wood Quay’, where wood was stored in the past) is the Santa Eulàlia (Tue–Fri, Sun 10am–5.30pm, Sat 2pm–5.30pm, later in summer; charge, or free with ticket to Museu Marítim). Restored to its original glory, this schooner dates from the beginning of the 20th century, when it took cargo to the Americas. Its moment of glory is on 5th January, when it brings in the three Wise Kings to parade around the city (for more information, click here).
Kids
There’s plenty to keep children distracted around the port. The wavy design of the Rambla de Mar footbridge appeals, especially when it opens up to let yachts through. Once across the bridge, there’s the Aquarium, an IMAX cinema and a replica of the world’s first combustion-powered submarine.
Crowds on Rambla de Mar.
Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications
Maremàgnum 6 [map]
Address: Moll d’Espanya; www.maremagnum.es
Tel: 93-225 8100
Opening Hrs: daily, shops 10am–10pm, restaurants until 1am
Transport: Drassanes/Barceloneta
Crowds head over the Rambla de Mar footbridge to Maremàgnum, the Aquàrium and the IMAX cinema. The complex has a wide range of shops and places to eat and a cinema with eight screens. The bars and restaurants are dominated by fast-food outlets but there are some exceptions, like L’Elx al Moll, with an irresistible terrace overlooking the fishing boats (for more information, click here). Despite the commercial context, enjoying some tapas while watching the yachts or looking across the harbour to Barcelona’s Gothic towers and 19th-century chimneys takes some beating.
Up close and personal with a shark at the Aquàrium.
Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications
Aquàrium 7 [map]
Address: Moll d’Espanya; www.aquariumbcn.com
Tel: 93-221 7474
Opening Hrs: daily 9.30am–9pm, until 11pm in July and Aug
Entrance fee: charge
Transport: Drassanes/Barceloneta
Since opening in 1995, the Aquàrium, the most important for Mediterranean species in the world, has become one of the most successful crowd-pullers in Barcelona, second only to the Sagrada Família. With 11,000 animals and 450 different species, the colourful marine communities of the Mediterranean and the tropical seas are shown off in all their glory. A glass tunnel leads visitors through the sharks and rays, while experienced divers can book to swim among them.
Around Passeig d’Isabel II
Pass the historic submarine, a reproduction of the Ictineo II, invented by Catalan Narcís Monturiol, and follow the path that leads up to the Mirador del Port Vell (a slightly raised lookout point). On Moll de la Fusta is American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein’s El Cap de Barcelona (Barcelona Head), a striking sculpture made in 1992 to commemorate the Olympics; the mosaic-work pays homage to Gaudí’s trencadís technique. On the corner of Via Laietana is the headquarters of Correus (the post office), a very grand building completed in 1927. The enormous vestibule was decorated by the prestigious noucentiste artists (from the 1900s) Canyellas, Obiols, Galí and Labarta. It is easier to buy stamps in an estanc (the tobacconists’ shops found in every district) but not nearly as interesting. It is not hard to see why the facade has been used by film-makers as a stand-in for American law courts.
With your back to Correus, walk towards the sea. On the left is Reina Cristina, a street full of cheap-and-cheerful electro-domestic shops. At No. 7 is Can Paixano, a popular cava bar selling sparkling wine and hefty sandwiches at rock-bottom prices, frequented by locals and tourists alike. Nearby is the first Galician seafood restaurant to open in Barcelona, Carballeira (for more information, click here). If you are passing when the arròs a la banda (a delicious rice dish) is coming out of the kitchen, cancel all other plans: stand at the bar and request a portion with allioli (garlic mayonnaise) and a glass of Galician vino turbio.
Back on the quayside, the promenade sweeps on round to the Moll de la Barceloneta. These once busy working quays now shelter the Marina Port Vell, where some of the most exclusive motor and sailing yachts in the Mediterranean winter or pass through on their way to the Balearics or the Caribbean. The marina is currently being upgraded to accommodate super yachts.
Museu d’Història de Catalunya 8 [map]
Address: Plaça de Pau Vila 3; www.mhcat.cat
Tel: 93-225 4700
Opening hrs: Tue–Sat 10am–7pm, Wed until 8pm, Sun 10am–2.30pm
Entrance fee: charge
Transport: Barceloneta
This fascinating museum is housed in the Palau de Mar, a former warehouse complex (the Magatzem General de Comerç, 1881, the last one in the area), beautifully renovated in 1992. True to its name, the museum elucidates Catalan history, but also looks at it from a wider historical perspective, with various bits of technical wizardry and plenty of interactive spaces – try walking in a suit of armour, or building a Roman arch – which kids of all ages love.
Eat
The Museu d’ Història de Catalunya is a good place for lunch or dinner. The restaurant on the top floor, Restaurant 1881, offers Mediterranean dishes and fine views over the harbour (tel: 902-520 522).
Strolling in Barceloneta.
Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications
Barceloneta 9 [map]
Beyond the museum is Barceloneta. Once home to the city’s fishing community, it retains a strong sense of neighbourhood, especially in its interior. The main focus along the quayside is leisure and eating out. Sunday lunch at one of the restaurants in front of the Palau de Mar has become a regular pastime for those who can afford it. This is an attractive place to sit and watch the world go by, and is sheltered even in winter. The charms of outdoor eating often outweigh the gastronomic shortcomings, so as long as you don’t expect haute cuisine you will be spoilt for choice along the whole length of Passeig Joan de Borbó. Even for Barcelona residents it is a thrill to eat on a pavement in the December sun.
Fishermen’s Wharf
At the end of the promenade is an expensive but excellent fish restaurant called Barceloneta (for more information, click here); it features in Woody Allen’s film Vicky Cristina Barcelona (for more information, click here). Just beyond are glimpses of the hard-working fishing boats moored up against the Moll dels Pescadors (Fishermen’s Wharf). The distinctive clock tower, Torre del Rellotge (closed to the public), started life as a lighthouse. Close by is the fish market (mercat de peix, first opened in 1924), where the boats come in twice a day (from 6.30am and 4.30pm) to supply the fishmongers.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
When Woody Allen came to town in 2007, supposedly in love with its Mediterranean charms, the feeling was mutual. Red carpets were rolled out and local politicians rushed to shake his hand and, controversially, open their coffers. It became commonplace to run into the inimitable director, in his trademark cap, putting his stars through their paces on the Waterfront and other emblematic locations around the city, like La Rambla or Park Güell. Starring Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall, Vicky Cristina Barcelona garnered one Oscar, for best supporting actress (Penélope Cruz), and the postcard scenes of Barcelona spread the city’s fame further than ever around the globe.
Towering above the scene is the Torre de Sant Sebastià, whose 78-metre (257ft) height marks the end, or the beginning, of the route of the cable car, which completes its 1,300-metre (4,200ft) journey on Montjuïc.
At the foot of the tower, Club Nataciò Atlètic Barceloneta (also known as Banys Sant Sebastià) has an excellent heated outdoor pool (tel: 93-221 0010; Mon–Sat 6.30am–10.30pm, Sun 8am–7.30pm, winter Sun 8am–4.30pm). It also has a large indoor pool and small spa area and overlooks the beach of Sant Sebastià.
The landscape has changed here recently as the promenade has been developed to reach the domineering new landmark of the Hotel W Barcelona, designed by local architect Ricardo Bofill. If your budget does not run to the €10,000 Extreme Wow suite, you may at least be able to have a copa in the Eclipse bar on its 26th floor, or a drink at its beach bar. The sea wall beyond the hotel is free, giving a great new perspective on both port and city. Some feel, though, that the intelligent town planning of the 1980s is now being compromised.
Origins of Barceloneta
Town planning in the 18th century was also of questionable merit. The streets behind the quayside are in a grid formation, the pattern of which was born of a military decision. It was to Barceloneta that the inhabitants of La Ribera were relocated when their homes were demolished to make way for the building of the fortress La Ciutadella, after the siege and conquest of Barcelona by Felipe V. The streets were built in a series of narrow, rectangular blocks all facing in the same direction (towards La Ciutadella), facilitating easy military control (volleys from the citadel could be directed down the streets).
This residential area is now an appealing mix of traditional and modern; washing hangs along the narrow balconies, while the bars and restaurants have become popular nightspots, and apartments are being restored and let to tourists.
‘Homenatage a la Natació’ by Alfredo Lanz, on Sant Sebastiá beach.
Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications
Mercat Barceloneta
In the square in the middle of Barceloneta is the Mercat Barceloneta (Plaça Font; tel: 93-221 6471), built in modernista style in 1884 but recently renovated and given the designer treatment. Inside, along with the fish, meat, fruit and vegetable stalls, are various bars with terraces on the square.
Hotel W on Barceloneta beach.
Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications
Platja Barceloneta ) [map]
By cutting through the streets of Barceloneta to the Passeig Marítim, or wandering along from Platja Sant Sebastià (platja means beach), you arrive at a series of beaches with wooden walkways, palms and designer showers that run along the post-Olympic seafront. They are all easily accessible by public transport, and both the sand and the water’s surface are cleaned daily, with weekly sanitary checks on top of that.
It’s clear that the people of Barcelona, as well as tourists, derive enormous pleasure from these wide-open beaches. Every morning, locals come down in their towelling dressing gowns to swim in all weathers, play cards, gossip and get fit. In summer the beaches get very crowded and noisy by midday, but then comes the lunchtime exodus. If you can’t make it in the early morning, wait until the early evening sun brings a new tranquillity – an eight o’clock swim here in mid-summer is sheer bliss.
The beaches are now an essential part of Barcelona’s famed nightlife. New xiringuitos or beach restaurants serve drinks and snacks by day, but at sunset the DJs start spinning, young people come out to play and a cool scene emerges.
Part of Barceloneta beach has been renamed Somorrostro in homage to the shanty town and its inhabitants who were there until the mid-1960s. The famous and much-loved gypsy flamenco dancer Carmen Amaya was born there.
A busy day at the beach.
Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications
Buskers on Barceloneta beach.
Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications
Parc de la Barceloneta and onwards
On the eastern edge of Barceloneta is the Parc de la Barceloneta, a fine setting for the modernista water tower, Torre de les Aigües, by Josep Domènech i Estapà (1905), virtually the only original industrial building left in this area.
It stands in dramatic contrast to the avant-garde Gas building, Torre del Gas, on one side of the park and the gleaming Hospital del Mar on the other. The formerly gloomy hospital underwent a metamorphosis for the Olympics and is now more reminiscent of an international airport than a major public hospital.
Along the promenade at beach level are several hip bars and one of the best restaurants on the beach, Agua (for more information, click here).
Volleyball on Platja Nova Icària.
Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications
Port Olímpic ! [map]
You can’t miss the Port Olímpic: two skyscrapers tower above a huge woven copper fish sculpture (Pez y Esfera, meaning ‘fish and sphere’) by Frank Gehry, who is best known as the architect of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
The first skyscraper is the luxurious Hotel Arts (for more information, click here), designed by Bruce Graham (architect of Chicago’s Sears Tower and the Hancock Centre). You can wander beneath Frank Gehry’s awesome fish sculpture and imagine the heady view from the exclusive suites high up in the Arts, favoured by rock stars, actors and jet-setters. At ground level is the Barcelona Casino. The other building is the MAPFRE tower, housing offices.
Here, bars and restaurants proliferate, with entrances on the promenade overlooking the strikingly modern marina. If you don’t mind paying extra for the location, this is a colourful place to stop and eat, watching the yachts and dinghies coming and going. If you want a quiet drink, though, think again. At night the clubs and cocktail bars seem to attract the whole of Barcelona.
At the end of the Moll de Gregal, jutting out to sea, is the Centre Municipal de Vela (municipal sailing school), offering courses for the public and short trips along the seafront with a skipper (book on www.barcelonaturisme.com).
Vila Olímpica @ [map]
It is worth taking time to go inland a block or two, to see the feats of architecture that comprise the Olympic Village. On the way you’ll come to the Parc del Port Olímpic, behind the towers. In the Plaça dels Campions (Champions’ Square) are listed the names of the 257 gold medallists of the 1992 Olympics, as well as the handprints of Pele and cyclist Eddie Merx, along with numerous other sporting heroes. The Vila Olímpica was built according to a master plan developed by architects Mackay, Martorell, Bohigas and Puigdomènech, on land formerly occupied by 19th-century ramshackle warehouses and tumbledown factories.
The flats accommodated athletes in 1992 and since then have been gradually sold. The development was a major undertaking, and a vital part of Barcelona’s wider plan of achieving long-overdue improvements to the city’s infrastructure. It involved major changes, like moving the railway lines into Estació de França underground.
The 200 buildings cover 74 hectares (183 acres), and are in 200 different designs. The area did not become a new neighbourhood of Barcelona overnight, but it is now looking more established, has become a desirable place to live, and is beginning to merge with the remaining buildings of Poble Nou that surround its outer limits. In the midst of a clinical shopping mall is one of the few magnetic points that attract people in the evenings: the 15-screen cinema complex, Icària Yelmo, which specialises in v.o. (original-language) films.
A climbing frame on Platja Nova Icària.
Corrie Wingate/Apa Publications
Return to the front to walk along the series of beaches after the Port Olímpic. Tons of sand were imported to create Platja Nova Icària (named after the original industrial neighbourhood), Bogatell, Mar Bella, Nova Mar Bella and, most recently, Llevant, reclaiming a seafront that had been cut off by railway lines, yards and warehouses. The strategic Ronda Litoral (ring road) runs all along here but at a lower level, and is cleverly hidden beneath parks, playgrounds and bridges that connect with the residential areas behind. The promenade is popular with joggers, skaters, cyclists and walkers.
The waterfront ends with the Fòrum area (for more information, click here). A huge solar panel marks the spot. It also has a swimming area without sand, an enclosed area landscaped into the sea.
This part of the city, along with the former industrial area of Poble Nou (inland from Bogatell and Mar Bella beaches), has been the scene of frenetic construction in recent years. Although these developments were initially subject to criticism, the new residential area Diagonal Mar is slowly becoming established, alongside a new hi-tech business district (for more information, click here).
From here one could wander inland to get a taste of the latest developments, walk back along the ever-exhilarating seaside or catch a tram, metro or bus back into the centre.