The waterfront - The Rough Guide to Barcelona - page 127

There's no finer place for lunch on a sunny day than Barceloneta , an eighteenth-century
neighbourhood of tightly packed streets with the harbour on one side and a beach on the
other. It was laid out in 1755, where previously there had been only mud-flats, and replaced
part of the Ribera district that was destroyed to make way for the Ciutadella fortress to the
north.Thelong,narrowstreetsarebrokenatintervalsbysmallsquaresandlinedwithabund-
antlywindowedhousesdesignedtogivethesailorsandfishingfolkwhooriginallylivedhere
plenty of sun and fresh air.
Some original houses feature a decorative flourish, a sculpted balcony or a carved lintel,
while in Plaça de la Barceloneta survives an eighteenth-century fountain and the Neoclas-
sical church of Sant Miquel del Port . A block over in Plaça de la Font is the stylish local
market, MercatdelaBarceloneta (Mon-Sat7am-3pm,Fritill8pm),beautifullyrefurbished
in 2007 and boasting a couple of excellent bars and restaurants. Barceloneta's famous sea-
food restaurants are found right across the neighbourhood but most characteristically lined
alongtheharbourside PasseigJoandeBorbó ,whereformostoftheyearyoucansitoutside
and enjoy your meal.
BEACH BUSINESS
Ontheboardwalkarcade,infrontoftheHospitaldelMar,thecitycounciloperatesabeach
visitorcentre,the CentredelaPlatja (March-MayFri&Sat11am-2pm&4-7pm,Thurs,
Sun & holidays 11am-2pm; June-Sept daily 10am-7pm; 932 210 348, bcn.cat/plat-
ges ) , as a kind of one-stop shop for information and activities along the seafront. There's
a programme of seafront walks and activities, a small summer lending library for beach
reading and Frisbees, volleyball and beach tennis gear available for pick-up games on the
sand.
La Fàbrica del Sol
Pg. Salvat Papasseit 1 • Tues-Fri 10am-2pm & 4-8pm, Sat 10am-2pm & 4-7pm (Aug Tues-Fri 10am-2pm
only) • Free • 932 564 430, bcn.cat/lafabricadelsol • Barceloneta
Insidetheyellow-painted,red-brickbuildingontheedgeoftheParcdelaBarceloneta-once
the city'sgas works-the local council has established LaFàbricadelSol ,a pioneering sus-
tainable eco-centre that takes a close look at green living in all its guises, from recycling to
transport.There'sanintroductoryfilm(inEnglish)andyoucanborrowsomeEnglishnotesat
theentrance,butthedisplays,gadgetsandexhibitsareallfairlyself-explanatory-you'vegot
tolovetheelevatorthatweighsitspassengerssoastouseonlytheexactamountofenergyre-
quiredtoliftthemuptotheroofterracetoseethebuilding'sgardenandsolarthermalsystem.
From here you also get a view of the park's other notable feature, its whimsical modernista
water tower (1905), rising like a minaret above the palms.