MOON METRO BARCELONA

Moon Metro Barcelona
1st Edition
ISBN 1-56691-657-7
$16.95
Purchase here through Amazon.com or visit Indiebound.org to find your local independent bookseller.

Even the most jaded jet-setters find themselves surrendering to the enchantments of Barcelona. Where else can a day spent gallery hopping, followed by a raucous night in Europe’s most cutting-edge bars, end with a sunrise dip in the Mediterranean? Yet the identity of this city by the sea seems to shift in the heat of the sun. At once international and provincial, trend-setting and conservative, hedonistic and industrious, ancient and ultra-modern, Barcelona embraces paradox—the source of the city’s allure and the basis for its art.

Art is Barcelona’s lifeblood. It’s evident not only in the museums and galleries devoted to Joan Miró or Pablo Picasso, but also in the most mundane details: Even the designer park benches are award-winning. The birthplace of Modernisme (Spanish art nouveau), the city itself has become a work of art, where natural and artificial beauty coexist and commingle until they become almost indistinguishable. The most sublime expression of this can be found in the wild architecture of Antoni Gaudí’s still unfinished La Sagrada Família, with towers that stretch like tree trunks upward to the heavens.

Like Gaudí’s cathedral, Barcelona’s cityscape—a mélange of 2,500-year-old Roman ruins, Gothic churches, and bold art nouveau fantasies—remains a work-in-progress. A buoyant economy following the 1992 Olympics fueled a building boom, reminiscent of the 1890s, when trade was brisk and development of the L’Eixample (literally, the expansion) neighborhood paced ahead. The next big international event on the city’s calendar, the 2004 Universal Forum of Cultures, also promises to further the city’s evolution. Already, a complete re-creation of the northern coastal district is underway, with new high-rise apartments, hotels, conference centers, marinas, and parks planned. And there is still another international event on the horizon—the city has been shortlisted to host the 2007 America’s Cup.

The people of Barcelona live through paradox as well, combining what they call seny (a cool common sense) with a strong hedonistic streak (rauxa), which encourages the city’s “sun, siesta, and sangria” image. The capital of the Catalunya region, Barcelona has long been a model of industry, and one of Spain’s economic engines. Yet whole districts stay awake long into the night due to the rhythm of its funky clubs and hip restaurants, from the grunge scene of El Raval to the upscale establishments of L’Eixample.

Barcelonans remain fiercely proud of their Catalan heritage and language, which is more commonly used than Spanish. Barcelona is also one of Europe’s most diverse cities, with immigrants and expatriates from as far afield as Africa and the Americas. Catalan cuisine and wines have always been among Spain’s best, and in the past decade there has been an explosion of new restaurants proposing everything from classical Catalan to the latest in world fusion. While some bemoan the dilution of the city’s identity, others welcome the newcomers to its ever-changing cosmopolitan panorama.

Home to 1.5 million, Barcelona is densely populated and noisy, but also compact. You can easily traverse the Old City (Ciutat Vella), wander into L’Eixample, or scout the nearest beaches on foot. If fatigue sets in, the metro system will whisk you away to your destination. With such a progression of shifting colors, sounds, and tastes, sensory overload is always a risk. But don’t hold back—let seny slip away as rauxa takes hold. Surrender to the enchantment.