El Raval is the district west of the Rambla, in Ciutat Vella. It is one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods in Europe and the most multicultural in Barcelona: almost half its residents were born abroad, mainly in Pakistan, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Morocco.
History
The name comes from the Arabic rabad, "suburb": in the Middle Ages it was the area outside the walls with market gardens, convents and hospitals. Nineteenth-century industrialisation filled it with textile mills and overcrowded workers' housing, and in the early twentieth century the part nearest the port became the Barrio Chino, the district of cabarets, prostitution and crime described by writers such as Jean Genet and Manuel Vázquez Montalbán. Since the 1980s the city has transformed it with demolitions, new squares and major cultural institutions.
What to see
- Antic Hospital de la Santa Creu: a large fifteenth-century Gothic complex with a tree-lined courtyard, now housing the Library of Catalonia; Gaudí died here in 1926.
- Sant Pau del Camp: Barcelona's oldest church, a small Romanesque monastery with a cloister of multifoil arches.
- MACBA, the Museum of Contemporary Art, in Richard Meier's white building, whose square draws skaters from all over the world, and the CCCB, the Centre of Contemporary Culture (see museums).
- The Rambla del Raval, opened in 2000 by demolishing old blocks, with Fernando Botero's big bronze cat and ethnic restaurants.
- Gaudí's Palau Güell, on the edge of the district, and La Boqueria market, just across the Rambla (see La Boqueria).
- The Filmoteca de Catalunya film archive and Sant Antoni market, on the district's edge.
Bars and shops
El Raval is full of historic bars, such as Bar Marsella, open since 1820 and famous for its absinthe, London Bar and Casa Almirall, vintage shops on carrer de la Riera Baixa, bookshops, galleries and cheap Pakistani, Filipino and Latin American restaurants.
Safety
The district is lively and fascinating, but some streets in the southern part, towards the port, can be unpleasant at night. By day and in the central areas there are no problems: just the usual care with pickpockets. See also life in Barcelona.