Rambla

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Description

 La Rambla forms the boundary between the quarters of the Barri Gòtic to the east and the El Raval to the west. 

Barcelona's most famous street is both a tourist magnet (beware the pickpockets and con artists) and a window into Catalan culture, with cultural centres, theatres and intriguing architecture. Flanked by plane trees, the middle section of La Rambla is a broad pedestrian boulevard, crowded with a wide cross-section of society. Though it won't appeal to everyone, a stroll here is pure sensory overload. Horrific terrorist attacks in 2017 did little to diminish La Rambla's popularity either with visitors or with its hawkers and performers.

La Rambla takes its name from a seasonal stream (raml in Arabic) that once ran here. From the early Middle Ages, it was better known as the Cagalell (Stream of Shit) and lay outside the city walls until the 14th century. Monastic buildings were then built (many of them were later destroyed) and, subsequently, mansions of the well-to-do from the 16th to the early 19th centuries. Unofficially, La Rambla is divided into five sections, which explains why many know it as Las Ramblas (or Les Rambles, in Catalan).