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Left Plaça de Catalunya Right Plaça Reial, Barri Gòtic
Perfect Squares
! Plaça Reial
bands play to booming sound
systems and hordes of travellers
- from backpackers to tour
groups - meander about. To add
to the melting pot, the square is
allegedly home to 25 people
(mostly homeless immigrants).
d Map M1
£ Plaça del Rei
The arcaded Plaça Reial,
in the heart of the Barri Gòtic,
is unique among Barcelona's
squares, with its old-world
charm, gritty urbanization and
Neo-Classical flair. It is home to
majestic, mid-19th-century build-
ings, Gaudí lampposts, a slew of
happening bars and clubs, and an
entertaining and colourful crowd
of inner-city denizens. See p72 .
@ Plaça de Catalunya
One of the city's best pre-
served medieval squares, the
Barri Gòtic's Plaça del Rei is
ringed by grand buildings. Among
them is the 14th-century Palau
Reial (see p71) , which houses
the Saló del Tinell, a spacious
Catalan Gothic throne room and
banqueting hall. d Map N4
$ Plaça de Sant Jaume
Barcelona's nerve centre is
the huge Plaça de Catalunya, a
lively hub from which all the
city's activity seems to radiate.
This square is most visitors first
real glimpse of Barcelona. The
airport bus stops here, as do
RENFE trains and countless
metro and bus lines. The
square's commercial swagger is
evident all around, headed by
Spain's omnipresent department
store, El Corte Inglés (see p139) .
Pigeons flutter chaotically in the
square's centre, lively Peruvian
Weighty with power and
history, this is the administrative
heart of modern-day Barcelona.
The plaça is flanked by the
city's two key government
buildings, the stately Palau de
la Generalitat and the 15th-
century Ajuntament. See p71 .
Café, Plaça Sant Josep Oriol, Barri Gòtic
36
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