| La Rambla | |
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View over the Rambla |
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| Length: | 1.2 km (0.7 mi) |
| From: | Barri Gòtic |
| To: | El Raval |
La Rambla (Catalan pronunciation: [ɫə ˈrambɫə]) is a street in central Barcelona, popular with both 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.
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La Rambla can be considered a series of shorter streets, each differently named, hence the plural form Las Ramblas. From the Plaça de Catalunya toward the harbour, the street is successively called the Rambla de Canaletes, the Rambla dels Estudis, the Rambla de Sant Josep, the Rambla dels Caputxins, and the Rambla de Santa Monica. Construction of the Maremàgnum in the early 1990s resulted in a continuation of La Rambla on a wooden walkway into the harbour, the Rambla de Mar.
Nearby is the Maritime Museum (Museu Maritim), specifically devoted to naval history in the Mediterranean, which displays a full-scale replica of an ancient galley battle. The museum is housed in the Royal Dockyards (in Catalan, Drassanes) of the medieval era where the ships that connected the extensive dominions of the Crown of Aragon with other ports of the Mediterranean were built. The old port offers other attractions such as leisure venues, restaurants, an IMAX theater, and an aquarium.
In the historical center, close to La Rambla, you can find La Catedral de Barcelona (Cathedral of Santa Eulalia), a well-known cathedral amongst the locals, Plaza Sant Jaume that houses the buildings of the Generalitat of Catalonia and Barcelona’s City Council, as well as the narrow streets of the Gothic quarter, the Raval and the Born area.
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 you can see several historic buildings like the Palace of the Virreina and La Boqueria market and the famous Liceo Theatre (in Catalan, Liceu), in which operas and ballets are staged. One of the side streets, which is only a few meters 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.
La Rambla can be crowded, especially during the height of the tourist season. Most of the time there are many more tourists than locals occupying the Rambla, which fact has changed the shopping selection, as well as the character of the street in general.[1] For this reason also it has become a prime target of pick pockets.[2]
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 water course in both Catalan and Spanish. This is reflected in the undulating design on the pavement which is also decorated with a mosaic by Miro. This work was the second of three sculptures that were commissioned to welcome tourists. [3] The first was at the airport and had been commissioned in 1968. The other was Dona i Ocell in the centre of the city.
Although the City Council implemented the Animal Protection Law of Catalunya in 2003 prohibiting the public exhibition of live animals for sale to prevent their abuse or neglect, it is not uniformly enforced and there are still many stalls in La Rambla that sell them openly. Other shops that sell animals have had to adapt to the regulations which forbid the exhibition of animals in store windows to prevent impulsive purchases. Organizations for animal rights like the Plataforma Rambles Étiques, the FADDA, Libera!, and AnimaNaturalis3 have launched campaigns to require vendors to comply with the law and cease illegal activity for ethical and health reasons.
From 2006 until today, the City Council has given extensions to sellers, offering them alternatives such as the refurbishment of their stalls to improve conditions for the animals or a change in business activity, but the abuses continue.
There are street performers the whole way along the streets of Las Ramblas. Most of them are human statues, but you can also find dancers, musicians, magicians and marionettes. There are a total of 14 human statues, which were selected by the Department of Comerce and Tourism of Barcelona.
There are plenty of kiosks along Las Ramblas. Until late 2010, there were a total of 11 kiosks affiliated to Amics de la Rambla (in all a total of 20 approximately) that sold mainly newspapers, tobacco, lighters, chewing gum and a few more products. A few years ago they started selling souvenirs such as post cards, key chains and mugs, competing against the souvenir shops. There were also several flower and animal stands, but since 2010 the character of the kiosks has changed. If you stroll along the street now you will find a variety of kiosks that sell ice-cream, churros, hand-made candles, pastries and chocolates, as well as the typical newspaper kiosks.
There are a total of sixteen souvenir shops affiliated to Amics de la Rambla, but in Las Ramblas itself, there are about twenty-four shops. In these shops you can find anything from Gaudi reproductions to t-shirts and stationery with a Barcelona letterhead. They sell mostly products representative of Barcelona, but sometimes sell products that represent Spain. They rarely sell products that represent Catalonia exclusively.
During the past month of March 2010, free activities were held in the Ramblas of Barcelona. The objective was to recall what was the cultural center from the late 1960s to the mid 1980s. A tent was installed near the station of Drassanes from the 1st to the 28th of March, and then events were organized in the Palau de la Virreina from March 25th until May 24th, 2010.
There are three Barcelona Metro stations with entrances on La Rambla, all of which are served by L3, the green line:
There are four Barcelona Bus lines that are located on Las Ramblas:
During the night, there are three lines that go through Las Ramblas:
| Profile | |
| Origin |
21% from Barcelona |
| Age |
Average age: 35 years |
| Frequency |
60% percent of visitors have been there more than once |
| How they visit |
33% with friends 29% with their partner 26% alone |
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