Barcelona – Slow Lane Musings

Five World Heritage Sites in Barcelona

“Modernista” is Catalonia’s own version of the Art Nouveau architectural movement that swept through Europe between 1880 and 1910. In the city of Barcelona, the movement was energized by the Catalan cultural revival of that period and it reached its peak between 1888 and 1906.

Modernism inspired the design of hundreds of remarkable buildings and sites, interior decorations, sculptures, and streetlights throughout the city and beyond.

The designs integrate metal, concrete, coloured glass, tiles, and mosaics and make generous use of sinuous and arching lines, colours, symbols, and more than a touch of the architects’ playfulness and fantasy. Most importantly, both the interior and exterior forms and decorations take their inspiration from what the architects had observed in the natural world.

This architectural heritage is one of the tourist draws to Barcelona. The brochure describing the Barcelona Modernisme Route lists 115 examples of Modernista architecture in the city. Nine of those places, designed by either Antoni Gaudí or Lluís Domènech i Montaner, have been designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites.

We recently visited five of these designated sites. They are all magnets for tourists and, at times, it was difficult to capture images without having a crowd of people taking selfies all around us. Despite this, we are pleased to share some of our moments of wonder with you.

Lively Barcelona

Barcelona, the capital of the autonomous region of Catalonia in Spain, really came to the world’s attention when it hosted the 1992 Summer Olympic Games. Since then, the city has attracted an ever-increasing number of visitors, especially during the summer months. With a population of just over 1.6 million, Barcelona had a total of 9.7 million visitors in 2022.

With the availability of cheap flights from many other European cities, it has become a favourite destination for a short break. In addition, numerous cruise ships make a stop there. While tourism has brought tangible economic benefits, overtourism has led to some locals feeling crowded-out in their own city.

We had bought a guidebook on Barcelona in 2003, had watched many documentaries and knew that we would like to visit, but never did. We had some unease about the city being thronged with visitors and were reticent to add to the overtourism problem. That is what has kept us from going back to Venice, a city we love, but that also suffers from being too popular.

Our mindset changed this past year. We came to the realization that there is no sense in delaying the good things until it is too late. Knowing that there were fewer visitors in Barcelona during the winter, we bought a new guidebook and booked flights and a hotel.

We soon realized we should not have procrastinated for so long. We had a wonderful time. The sun shone every day and, like so many before us, we fell in love with this wonderful city.