All you need to know about La Rambla in Barcelona

The name La Rambla derives from the Arabic word “ramla,” which means a sandy or muddy area. The famous street that we know today was once a seasonal riverbed that snaked its way down to the sea along the perimeter of Barcelona’s old town, and in the middle ages served as an open sewer that sluiced floodwaters from the hills as well as less desirable substances away from the Gothic city centre. In the 15th century the city authorities decided to divert the course of the sewer and pave over its meandering course.

The ensuing street quickly became an important thoroughfare thanks to its strategic location dividing the historic city centre from Barcelona’s suburbs, the ‘city outside the walls’ that is now known as the Raval neighbourhood. Various churches, monasteries and markets sprang up along its route, and as Barcelona rapidly expanded in the 18th and 19th centuries La Rambla developed into the city’s principal artery.

You might hear some people referring to La Rambla alternatively as ‘Las Ramblas,’ and for good reason. The street is actually divided into five separate sections: from its northern boundary at Placa Catalunya, these are respectively Rambla de Canaletes, Rambla dels Ocells, Rambla de Sant Josep, Rambla dels Capuxtins and Rambla de Santa Monica. Las Ramblas is the Catalan plural for La Rambla, a reference to the five stretches that make up the nearly mile-long route.

Located just on the Rambla de Sant Josep, La Boqueria is Barcelona’s most important market. Market traders have been plying their wares on La Rambla as far back as the 13th century, when legend has it that a functionary of King Ferdinand III of Castile granted a local citizen the right to sell goat meat – known as boc in Catalan – here, giving birth to the rudimentary Boqueria market. As it was located just outside the city walls, traders were exempt from taxes on their produce, making the site popular with merchants.

The present market dates to the 19th century, when traders moved their stalls into the grounds of the burned-out convent of St. Josep – hence its official name of Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria. The stunning modernist building was completed in 1914 to designs by Josep Mas i Vila.

Thousands of visitors to Barcelona traipse across an artwork created by one of the greatest Catalan artists of the 20th century without even knowing it. Joan Miro was born on the Passatge del Crèdit just off La Rambla de les Flors, and in 1976 the now elderly artist put his stamp on the area with this colourful circular mosaic picked out in bold primary colours – blue, yellow and red – that perfectly capture the organic, intuitive nature of his artistic practice. In accordance with the will of the artist himself, the mosaic is not protected from the feet of passersby or the wear and tear of the street, becoming in the process an intrinsic and indelible part of daily life in Barcelona.

This stunning modernist building is one of the most memorable sights on La Rambla, and a reminder of the influence that oriental culture and design had on the evolution of Barcelona’s late 19th-century avant-garde movement. The beautifully detailed facade, which features a fabulous Chinese dragon holding a lantern, stained glass windows and decorative motifs representing umbrellas, was the work of architect Josep Vilaseca, who was commissioned to update Bruno Cuadros’ umbrella shop in 1883.