Ezy Win

In 1922, when the Olympic Games took place in Barcelona for the first time, the city opened itself up to the sea, which meant that huge changes took place within. The result was a real success. The old industrial factories were transformed into a new district: the Olympic Village. Its port makes you want to be part of the city’s pulsating beat, whether during the day or at night.
There are water sports, discos and bars. There is always a lively and happy atmosphere, which is almost buzzing at times. You’ll find the traditional sailing and fishing district next to these, Barceloneta, which is known as the tiny Barcelona. Barcelona’s old fishing “village” is made up of a triangular strip of land and was initially conceived by the architect and military engineer Martín de Cermeno, who built it in 1753 for provide shelter for the homeless evacuees of the Ciutadella area in Barcelona, which had just been built. The Barceloneta market is well known here, because of its modern and rather futuristic shapes, and which is set right in the tiny, narrow streets with the house with washing hanging out. The Baroque church of San Miquel del Port overlooks the Plaça de Barceloneta, which was also built by Cermeno.
Even though the district is undergoing serious redevelopment, with new restaurants, shops and little bars being built all the time, it still preserves its charm of being a harbour and poor district. Some people in fact call it the ‘Naples of Barcelona’, because of its really characteristic appearance and how similar some of its streets are. The area is very lively at night, especially in the summer time when things get lively with the various bars and restaurants which pump music out on to the spiagge barcellona, the famous chiringuitos (beach bars), which crowd the various beaches Barcelona has to offer us: the Sant Sebastià beach is equipped with showers and several help services, the Barceloneta beach with Rebecca Horn’s work called Homage to Barceloneta in the middle, the Nova Icària beach, which is very well equipped, with three very clean beach-bars, two very popular restaurants along the seafront and an endless list of bars and restaurants, the very open and flanked Bogatell Beach, which is set at a perfect angle to go jogging, roller blading or going for a ride on your bike without running the risk of being run over, the naturist Mar Bella beach, and last, but not least, the Nova Mar Bella beach, which many say is the most beautiful of the spiagge barcellona because it’s not easy to get to. Anyway…Barceloneta is clearly one of the districts which has made Barcelona big, the only thing left is for you to discover it!