There are cities which are reputed to never sleep, and then there are those which genuinely never sleep. Barcelona pulses with life like few corners of Europe, drowns in its own pleasures and does not hide is hedonistic, bohemian temperament; the mood of its nights will get you to adopt the phrase Me gusta. The dilapidated lanes of the Barrio Gotico inspired Gaudí, Miro and Vidal, but Hans Christian Andersen also wrote about them. The intimate romance of hidden patios shaded by olive trees alternates with the never-ending bustle of La Rambla and its La Buqueria market; the dynamism of Mediterranean waves washing the city’s banks on its southwest side is a counterweight to the dignified silence of churches ossified in time and space.
The Magician Adria
Architecture, food and night life. These are the three pillars of Barcelona’s identity, and none of them are weaker than the others. Thirty-two Michelin stars shine over the city, which is four more than Madrid, which has a million more residents. Four of them are held through the gourmet empire elBari by the eccentric master of pleasures, Albet Adria, former engine of the El Bulli legend. Two of his five restaurants stand out—Tickets and Enigma. The first can be described as a haute tapas bar a la Alice—the one in wonderland. The comparison, however, is not only directed at the food, or to put it better, at the exceptional food, but primarily at the fantastic interior. Tickets is a circus, but the guests sit in the middle and all the events occur around them. Having dinner here means that you can never be sure what awaits you – but this occurs to you when you look at the spectrum of colours in the interior and the huge strawberries hanging from the ceiling as decorations. Is it kitsch? Obviously, but with an open mind you can make maximum use of it. You can choose individual courses from the menu or simply sit down and ask the waiter to bring you what he deems fit, until you stay stop.
The second option applies at Enigma, but nobody ever expects you to say stop. The tasting comprises forty courses served in several different scenes of a pseudo-ice labyrinth. The course include transparent bread with truffles, oscillating at the boundary between cooking, chemistry and art, lobster cured in salt smoke and poached for forty-one seconds, or, for example, mysterious food which will test your ability to trust since it has no indication of the origin of the ingredients.
Clandestino
Whether you choose Tickets, Enigma or any other restaurant in Barcelona for your evening meal, you have to stop for a final drink or caña at Mariatchi in Carrer dels Còdols. This unobtrusive bar in the maze of the Barrio Gotico is famous for its history as the forbidden club of hippies and anarchists and its closing time in the morning, but primarily for the fact that Manu Chao occasionally comes here—simply because it belongs to him. We won’t calculate the probability that you’ll meet him, but we can guarantee an authentic and in no way beautified view of Barcelona’s nightlife without tourist clichés or prices, yet with frequent spontaneous concerts. Enjoy the house vermouth and throw convention away, even if for only ten minutes. You can go to sleep in the elegant neo-classical Cotton House boutique hotel, full of marble, mahogany and art—it’s only a few minutes’ walk from here. Balance is important in life.
The Only One of Its Kind
Barcelona is the only city in the world which the Royal Institute of British Architects has awarded the prestigious Royal Gold Medal for architecture. The lion’s share of work on the Catalan capital’s face was done by the ascetic genius of modern Art Nouveau Antoni Gaudí, designer of the grand Sagrada Familia and twenty other buildings dotted around Barcelona. By the way, the Sagrada Familia basilica is the most visited architectural monument in the whole of Spain, and Gaudí is buried in the crypt. The still-unfinished holy building literally overflows with symbolism, not only religious but also natural. Its completion and the disappearance of the metal crane frames from Barcelona’s skyline is continually delayed out of respect for Gaudí’s wishes and the fact that the building work may only be financed by gifts and voluntary contributions. The completion of the basilica is currently planned for 2026, i.e., the hundredth anniversary of Gaudí’s death. A coincidence? In fateful Barcelona, such things do not exist.
