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Travel: Barcelona’s unusual character

Crowded, historic, working-class neighbourhoods reflect Catalonians’ love of food and life in the city

"Food is very, very important to us," says Josep Romero, our guide on a gourmet tour of Barcelona's historic quarter.

A middle-aged man with a pronounced limp, Romero grew up in the narrow passageways of this centuries-old Barri Gothic. And he approaches his neighbourhood as though it were a rural village.

Crossing over the Rambla, the popular pedestrian stroll that bisects the inner city, and entering the Raval, an infamous enclave of poverty and crime that is now acquiring a kind of gritty chic, Romero points out that many of the businesses remain unchanged.

There's a dry goods store, circa 1950s. And an unpretentious grocery stocking all the basics, from olive oil through pasta to polenta. The nougat shop - the Spanish love this nutty confection - opened, says its sign, in 1820. And down every passage, only wide enough for a couple of people to negotiate, and lamp-lit at night, are hole-in-the-wall bars and cafes serving tapas and cava, the sparkling wine consumed here in copious quantities.

"You don't need a car to move around," says Romero. "I don't own a car. You come out of your flat and you find everything here - the bar, the pharmacy, the bakery." And if that isn't enough, a few metres away sprawls one of the largest fresh produce markets in Europe, in a vaulted steel and glass structure known as La Boqueria.

So, here is a (potential) world without cars. In August the heat is almost unbearable says Romero (he prefers winter), and the drug abuse, prostitution and all-round desperation of the Raval is still visible. But some of the urban principles are sound; there's a lot about this crowded, largely working-class inner city that's hugely attractive.

Barcelona owes a great deal to architect-artist Antonio Gaudi (pronounced "Gow-dy"). Born to a poor copper craftsman in rural Tarragona in 1852 and educated in Barcelona, Gaudi showed an early proclivity for design, craft and unbridled creativity that drew on a reverence for nature. Nature, that is, rooted in a religiosity that, in later life, evolved into a conservative Catholicism that put him at odds with many of his professional peers and left-leaning Catalonians. He was an unusual character.

There's nothing like his masterpiece Casa Battlo, looking like an apartment building for well-heeled hobbits. Drawing on Art Nouveau principles then gaining popularity - this was 1904-06 - the façade, facing onto an upscale boulevard, is an entirely successful hodge-podge of features that resemble - maybe - a giant, scaly lizard or lovely carnival masks. Inside it's all shapely woodwork, convoluted wrought iron and hand-shaped and painted tiles. Everything moves or is fluid - and bathed in abundant colour and natural light. Even a soft breeze. Gaudi designed cutting-edge ventilation systems of curvaceous wood that waft cool air through this gorgeous dwelling.

While you can wander the Battlo's rooftop, punctuated with mosaic-faced "chimneys" of indescribable craziness, the more wondrous roof is on La Pedrera (or Casa Mila) a few blocks away. A larger apartment building, also built for a wealthy family, La Pedrera is known for it undulating balconies of reconstructed wrought iron and a rooftop that's a little like taking a drug-fueled walk through an adult (and artistic) Disneyland. And the main floor entrance, with Gaudi's characteristic hand-carved door and etched glass screens, is unspeakably beautiful.

Then hop the city's Bus Turistic - three interconnected routes take you all over the city, day and night - to the Parc Guell, in an affluent residential district on the mountain slope. Named for Gaudi's patron, Eusebi Guell, this is a wild creation - the glory of which is a long, winding "bench" sensually shaped to embrace the human form and embedded with mosaics (no two patterns alike). Sounds weird perhaps, but on any nice day people sit - and sit and sit - in pure wonder. From here you look down on the city and to the Mediterranean beyond.

But by far the most famous Gaudi sight is Sagrada Familia (Sacred Family) cathedral, begun in 1883 and still under construction. This massive structure is both a work of art and a perpetual theme park - with giant industrial cranes always swinging from some of its parabolic towers. To fully appreciate this ultimate labour of love get there before it's completed - now slated for 2030.

Another cathedral, said to be the best-preserved medieval quarter in Europe, is the Barri Gothic. It will take you back 500 years to an era when its triple-nave basilica held pride of place, and almost everyone lived in and above its surrounding cobblestone squares.

On my visit to the cathedral I ran into a bevy of Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa's order), gawking at its wondrous interior. Outside, within a labyrinth of thick stone walls that make up the cathedral precinct, a lutenist played. Quite divine.

The more raucous district of Barceloneta ("little Barcelona"), next to the Barri Gothic, has always been home to fishermen. In a small, barebones bar on the waterfront, the waiter suggested we try the mussels that had just arrived from a fish boat.

Another evening, at a fancier promenade restaurant, La Gavina, appetizers included the traditional bread rubbed with garlic and tomato, salted anchovies in balsamic vinegar, and carpaccio of tuna. Then came the platters of seafood and cheese croquettes, razor clams - the catch of the hour, steaming mussels in pots, and bowls of noodle paella. The dishes were accompanied by various wines from the grape-growing Penedes region to the south - our next stop in Catalonia.