Barcelona is among the most popular cities in Europe. With 16 million annual visitors, only London, Paris and Rome can claim to welcome more. Given their relatively bigger size, it means the tourist-to-local ratio in the Catalan capital is possibly the highest on the continent: a well-known tale that’s inspired much resentment from Barcelonans, tired of being priced out of the city centre by landlords who buy to let. Though heading to lesser-known neighbourhoods is a way to beat the anti-tourism heat — and I know just the area.
Those craving the real Barcelona go to El Poblenou, which is a bit like Hackney, in the sense that it’s a place that vaunts itself as being somewhere where “those in the know” live, AKA a tight group of media and creative luvvies with chic jobs and disposable income to spend in trendy neighbourhood restaurants. In brief: it’s hip. It’s near the sea. What more could you want?
