El Raval
Encyclopedia
Ciutat Vella
Ciutat Vella is a district of Barcelona, numbered District 1. The name means "old city" in Catalan and refers to the oldest neighborhoods in the city of Barcelona, Spain. Ciutat Vella is nestled between the Mediterranean Sea and the neighborhood called l'Eixample...
district of Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. The neighborhood, especially the part closest to the port
Port Vell
Port Vell is a waterfront harbour in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, and part of the Port of Barcelona. It was built as part of an urban renewal program prior to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Before this, it was a run-down area of empty warehouses, railroad yards, and factories...
, was also informally known as Barri xinès, meaning "Chinatown
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
" El Raval is one of the two historical neighborhoods that border the la Rambla (the other being the Barri Gòtic
Barri Gòtic
The Gothic Quarter is the centre of the old city of Barcelona. It stretches from La Rambla to Via Laietana, and from the Mediterranean seafront to Ronda de Sant Pere....
). The neighborhood is home to 200,000 people.
An area historically infamous for its nightlife and cabarets, as well as prostitution and crime, El Raval has changed significantly in recent years and, due to its central location, has become a minor attraction of Barcelona. It is currently the home to a very diverse immigrant community (47.4% of its population was born abroad), ranging from Pakistanis and Indonesians
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, to a more recent Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an community, especially from Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. It is home to many bars, restaurants, and night spots.
Delimitations
The northern border of the neighborhood is marked by Plaça Catalunya and Plaça Universitat, and the street which connects them, Carrer de Pelai. It ends in the east with La RamblaLa Rambla
La Rambla is a street in central Barcelona, popular with both tourists and locals alike. A 1.2 kilometer-long tree-lined pedestrian mall between Barri Gòtic and El Raval, it connects Plaça de Catalunya in the centre with the Christopher Columbus monument at Port Vell.- Overview :La Rambla can be...
, and in the west and south, the neighborhood is delimited by Ronda Sant Antoni, Ronda Sant Pau and Avinguda del Paral·lel
Avinguda del Paral·lel
Avinguda del Paral·lel is one of the main streets of the city of Barcelona, dividing Ciutat Vella, Eixample and Sants-Montjuïc districts. It receives this name because it is parallel to the Equator...
.
Landmarks
There are a few historical monuments such as the Monastery of Sant Pau del Camp, as well as newer additions such as the Rambla del Raval, and the MACBA (the Modern Art Museum of Barcelona) or the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de BarcelonaCentre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona
The Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona is one of the most visited exhibition and arts centres in the city of Barcelona.Situated in the Raval district, the Centre’s core theme is the city and urban culture...
. In the southern part of the neighborhood, an old wall and gate of the medieval city called Portal de Santa Madrona still exists as part of the Maritime Museum. The Raval is also known for its large cat statue by Fernando Botero
Fernando Botero
Fernando Botero Angulo is a Colombian figurative artist. His works feature a figurative style, called by some "Boterismo", which gives them an unmistakable identity...
, located on the Rambla del Raval. The city's most famous market, La Boqueria
La Boqueria
The Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, often simply referred to as La Boqueria , is a large public market in the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain and one of the city's foremost tourist landmarks, with an entrance from La Rambla, not far from the Liceu, Barcelona's opera house...
, is also situated in the Raval.
Barcelona Metro
- DrassanesDrassanes (Barcelona Metro)Drassanes is a station in the Barcelona Metro network. It's located underneath Portal de Santa Madrona in El Raval, which is nowadays included in the district of Ciutat Vella of Barcelona, by the old port and the old docks from which it takes its name . It's the closest station to the Port of...
(L3Barcelona Metro line 3— Line 3, currently known as Zona Universitària - Trinitat Nova, coloured green and often simply referred to as Línia verda , is a metro line in Barcelona operated by TMB, and therefore part of the fare-integrated ATM transport network of the urban region...
) - LiceuLiceu (Barcelona Metro)thumb|Entrance to Liceu stationthumb|Mural in Liceu station, southern vestibuleLiceu is a metro station on L3 of the Barcelona Metro. It is situated under La Rambla in the Barri Gòtic. The station was opened in 1925....
(L3Barcelona Metro line 3— Line 3, currently known as Zona Universitària - Trinitat Nova, coloured green and often simply referred to as Línia verda , is a metro line in Barcelona operated by TMB, and therefore part of the fare-integrated ATM transport network of the urban region...
) - Paral·lelParal·lel (Barcelona Metro)right|thumb|300px|View of platforms for both lines 2 and 3, Paral·lel metro stationParal·lel is the name of a Barcelona metro station, currently the southern terminus of L2 and also served by L3...
(L2Barcelona Metro line 2Line 2 is a metro line in Barcelona operated by TMB, coloured purple and sometimes simply called línia lila. It's part of the city's ATM fare-integrated transport network...
, L3Barcelona Metro line 3— Line 3, currently known as Zona Universitària - Trinitat Nova, coloured green and often simply referred to as Línia verda , is a metro line in Barcelona operated by TMB, and therefore part of the fare-integrated ATM transport network of the urban region...
) - Sant AntoniSant Antoni (Barcelona Metro)300px|right|thumbSant Antoni is a station on line 2 of the Barcelona Metro, opened in 1995. It is located in the Sants-Montjuïc district, under the Ronda de Sant Antoni....
(L2Barcelona Metro line 2Line 2 is a metro line in Barcelona operated by TMB, coloured purple and sometimes simply called línia lila. It's part of the city's ATM fare-integrated transport network...
)
Cultural depictions
- Josep Maria de Sagarra's 1932 book Vida Privada
- Jean GenetJean GenetJean Genet was a prominent and controversial French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. Early in his life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but later took to writing...
's 1949 book, The Thief's JournalThe Thief's JournalThe Thief's Journal is perhaps Jean Genet's most famous work. It is a part- fact, part-fiction autobiography that charts the author's progress through Europe in a curiously depoliticized 1930s, wearing nothing but rags and enduring hunger, contempt, fatigue and vice. Spain, Italy, Austria,...
(Journal du Voleur) - Joan ColomJoan ColomJoan Colom i Altemir is a Catalan photographer renowned for his portraits of Barcelona's underworld and working class, especially in the infamous neighbourhood of Raval. Colom was a self-taught photographer, and produced his best-known pictures while working during the week as an accountant...
's photos of the neighbourhood, starting in the 1950s - Eduardo MendozaEduardo MendozaEduardo Mendoza may refer to:*Eduardo Mendoza Ceballos, Spanish novelist, Venezuelan businessman, special commissioner for international narcotic affairs, with the rank of ambassador...
's 1975 book La verdad sobre el caso Savolta - Terenci MoixTerenci MoixTerenci Moix was a Spanish Catalan writer who wrote in Spanish and in Catalan. He is also the brother of poet/novelist Anna Maria Moix....
's 1976 book La caiguda de l'imperi sodomita - José Antonio de la Loma's 1977 film Las alegres chicas de El Molino
- IvàIvaIva can mean:* Iva, the name of a tree which grows on mountains, and means strong .* Iva, South Carolina, a town in the United States* Iva, Samoa, a village* Iva , a 1993 film by Izu Ojukwu...
's comic strip Makinavaja, started in 1986. - Francisco Casavella's 1990 book El Triunfo
- Maruja TorresMaruja TorresMaria Dolors Torres Manzanera known as Maruja Torres is a Spanish writer and journalist.Her parents were from Murcia and she was born in El Raval neighbourhood. She started as a journalist thanks to Carmen Kurtz when she was 21 years old...
's 1997 book Un calor tan cercano - Francisco Casavella's 1997 book Un enano español se suicida en Las Vegas
- Roberto BolañoRoberto BolañoRoberto Bolaño Ávalos was a Chilean novelist and poet. In 1999 he won the Rómulo Gallegos Prize for his novel Los detectives salvajes , and in 2008 he was posthumously awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction for his novel 2666, which was described by board member Marcela Valdes...
's 1998 novel The savage detectivesThe Savage DetectivesThe Savage Detectives is an award-winning novel published by the Chilean author Roberto Bolaño in 1998. Natasha Wimmer's English translation was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2007... - José Luis GuerinJosé Luis GuerínJosé Luis Guerín is a Spanish filmmaker and educator, known for his meditative and intellectually curious work in both documentary and narrative filmmaking....
's 2001 documentary En construcción - Carlos Ruiz ZafónCarlos Ruiz ZafónCarlos Ruiz Zafón is a Spanish novelist who has lived in Los Angeles since 1993, where he spent a few years writing scripts whilst developing his career as a writer....
's 2001 novel The Shadow of the WindThe Shadow of the WindThe Shadow of the Wind is a 2001 novel by Spanish writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón, and a worldwide bestseller. The book was translated into English in 2004 by Lucia Graves and sold over a million copies in the UK after already achieving success on mainland Europe, topping the Spanish bestseller lists for... - Francisco Casavella's 2002-2003 book trilogy El día del Watusi
- Cesc GayCesc GayCesc Gay is a Catalan Spanish film screenwriter and film director.- Film Director :* Hotel Room co-directed with Daniel Gimelberg* Nico and Dani * En la ciudad * Ficció * V.O.S....
's 2003 film En la ciudad - Pau Miró's 2004 play Llueve en Barcelona
- Joaquim Jordà's 2005 film De nens
- Juan MarséJuan MarséJuan Marsé is a Spanish novelist, journalist and screenwriter, born in Barcelona on January 8, 1933 as Juan Faneca Roca.His mother died in childbirth, and he was soon adopted by the Marsé family. At age 14 he started to publish some of his writings in Insula magazine and in a cinema magazine while...
's 2005 book Canciones de amor en Lolita's ClubCanciones de Amor en Lolita's clubCanciones de amor en Lolita's Club is a 2007 Spanish film written and directed by Vicente Aranda. It stars Eduardo Noriega and Flora Martínez. The plot follows the story of twin brothers, one is a coldhearted violent police officer, the other is a helpless romantic with a mental disability... - Mireia Ros's 2005 film El Triunfo
- Antoni Verdaguer's 2006 film Raval, Raval...
- Fernando GómezFernando GómezFernando Gómez Colomer , simply Fernando, is a retired Spanish footballer who played as an attacking midfielder....
's 2008 book El misterio de la Calle Poniente - Marc Pastor's 2009 book La mala dona
- Francesc Betriu's 2009 documentary Mónica del Raval
- Jo Sol's 2009 film The runner's salary
- Javier CalvoJavier CalvoJavier Calvo Perales is a Spanish writer born in Barcelona in 1973.-Life:Javier Calvo graduated in journalism at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and studied comparative literature at Pompeu Fabra University....
's 2009 novel Corona de Flores - Maruja TorresMaruja TorresMaria Dolors Torres Manzanera known as Maruja Torres is a Spanish writer and journalist.Her parents were from Murcia and she was born in El Raval neighbourhood. She started as a journalist thanks to Carmen Kurtz when she was 21 years old...
's 2009 book Esperadme en el cielo - Javier Zuloaga's 2011 novel Librería Libertad
People from Raval
- Enriqueta Martí, serial killer known as The vampyre of Barcelona.
- Terenci MoixTerenci MoixTerenci Moix was a Spanish Catalan writer who wrote in Spanish and in Catalan. He is also the brother of poet/novelist Anna Maria Moix....
, writer. - PeretPeretPere Pubill Calaf , known as Peret, is a Catalan Spanish Romaní singer, guitar player and composer, and the main representative of Catalan Rumba. Peret is known for the song Borriquito, and he represented Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 and performed at the Olympic Games in Barcelona...
, singer. - Maruja TorresMaruja TorresMaria Dolors Torres Manzanera known as Maruja Torres is a Spanish writer and journalist.Her parents were from Murcia and she was born in El Raval neighbourhood. She started as a journalist thanks to Carmen Kurtz when she was 21 years old...
, writer. - Manuel Vázquez MontalbánManuel Vázquez MontalbánManuel Vázquez Montalbán was a prolific Spanish writer: journalist, novelist, poet, essayist, anthologue, prologist, humourist, critic, as well as a gastronome and a FC Barcelona supporter....
, writer.