Travel Vip Barcelona

La Rambla is a street in central Barcelona, popular with tourists and locals alike. A tree-lined pedestrian mall, it stretches for 1.2 kilometers between Barri Gòtic and El Raval, connecting Plaça de Catalunya in the centre with the Christopher Columbus Monument at Port Vell. La Rambla can be considered a series of shorter streets, each differently named, hence the plural form Les Rambles (the original Catalan form; in Spanish it is Las Ramblas).

 

The promenade is crowded during the day and until late in the night. It is full of kiosks that sell newspapers and souvenirs, flowers and birds, street performers, cafes, restaurants and shops. Near the port are found smaller local markets and the shop-fronts of painters and draftsmen. Strolling along La Rambla one can see such historic buildings as the Palace of the Virreina and La Boqueria market and the famous Liceu Theatre (Liceo in Spanish), in which operas and ballets are staged. One of the side streets, only a few metres long, leads to the Royal Square (Plaça Reial), a plaza with palm trees and porticoed buildings containing many pubs and restaurants, and in which stamp and coin collectors gather on the weekends.

 

The Spanish poet Federico García Lorca once said that La Rambla was "the only street in the world which I wish would never end." The name rambla refers to an intermittent watercourse in both Catalan and Spanish. This is reflected in the undulating design on the pavement which is also decorated with a mosaic by Joan Miró. This work was the second of three sculptures that were commissioned to welcome tourists.