The Other End Of Barcelona

There's this well known and much quoted saying: "Every black cloud has a silver lining". I would not be so optimistic to believe that this holds true about every disaster, but a few isolated examples have certainly been proven beneficial after suffering horrendous destruction. Cities. They seem to thrive on disasters. Or at least they used to. Take the fire of 1666 that ravaged medieval London. What a Godsend. It was just what the emerging metropolis needed. Good riddance to that putrid maze of lanes and alleys; long live wide, tree-lined avenues and unctuous wealth.

One shudders to imagine what Lisbon must have been like before the earthquake. Or Paris, would it be as it is today without having succumbed to that orgy of destruction unleased by Haussmann's demolition balls? No way. Yet tourists flock to those boulevards originally designed to facilitate the deployment of troops whose mission was - and is - to suppress dissidence.

Barcelona is a different kettle of fish. Cerda's Grid lacks the pedigree only a rip-roaring catastrophe can vouchsafe. Built on a wasteland, there was nothing to destroy. Except, perhaps, for the Sagrada Familia, there's really not much to tell, not much to see. Were this not the case, why is it that tourists tend to converge on the Gothic quarter and, lately, Garcia?

Maybe because these districts are not tainted by Cerda's insipid, bourgeois uniformity. Though, to his credit, it must be admitted that the great town planner did envisage the advent of motor-powered vehicles. On the other hand, he would have done everyone a favour had he designed a city completely devoid of private transport. But there you are.

Disasters or no, you get up at dawn and wander around the narrow streets of Gracia. Most buildings were erected before cars, lifts or electricity not even heard of. You can hear people snoring and coughing in their sleep for sure. Until a deafening motobike shoots past, a car horns or stops, and blaring radio smashing dreams.

Tag:Barcelona,London,Lisbon,Paris

Current Mood: Accomplished