Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TOP SIGHT
PLATJAS
A series of pleasant beaches stretches northeast from the Port Olímpic marina. They
are largely artificial, but this doesn't stop an estimated seven million bathers from pil-
ing in every year!
The southernmost beach,Pla
a Icàrriia, is the busiest. Behind it, across
the Avinguda del Litoral highway, is the Plaça dels Campions, site of the rusting three-
tiered platform used to honour medallists in the sailing events of the 1992 games.
Much of the athletes' housing-turned-apartments are in the blocks immediately be-
hind Carrer de Salvador Espriu.
The next beach isPla
Plattjja de la No
a de la Nova Ic
ell. Just in from the beach is
Cementiri del
8am-6pm)
, created in 1773. It was positioned outside the then city limits for health
reasons. Its central monument commemorates the victims of a yellow-fever epidemic
that swept across Barcelona in 1821. The cemetery is full of bombastic family memori-
als, but an altogether disquieting touch is the sculpture
El petó de la mort
(The Kiss
of Death), in which a winged skeleton kisses a young kneeling lifeless body. There's a
good skateboard area with half-pipes at the north end of the beach.
Pla
Plattjja de B
a de Bogattell
Plattjja de la Ma
a de la Mar B
r Bella
ella(with its brief nudist strip and sailing school) andPla
Plattjja de la
a de la
NNova Ma
ellafollow, leading into the new residential and commercial waterfront
strip, the Front Marítim, part of the Diagonal Mar project in the Fòrum district. It is
fronted by the last of these artificial beaches to be created,Pla
a Mar B
r Bella
Plattjja del Lle
a del Llevantt.
DON'T MISS
The vibrant bustle of Platja de la Nova Icària
The poignant
El petó de la mort
sculpture in the Cementiri del Poblenou
PRACTICALITIES
36 or 41,
Ciutadella Vila Olímpic, Bogatell, Llacuna or Selva de Mar
