The Two Halves

“There are two Barcelonas,” said Alberto, a friend, as we cycled on the streets of Barcelona, “one on this east side of the Diagonal, and one on its west.” We were biking on the Avinguda Diagonal, which is Barcelona's broadest and arguably the most important street. Avinguda Diagonal cuts the city into two halves, diagonally, and hence the name. The construction of the street started in 1859 till it came into its current form in the 1970s.

I was intrigued by Alberto’s comment on two Barcelonas, so I asked him to elaborate. “The areas with least poverty and where the wealthier people live are concentrated in the northwest of Barcelona, the upper half of the Diagonal. A person living in the northwest has an average of eight more years of life expectancy than a person living on the other side of the Diagonal”.

Surprised, I looked around. To my untrained eye, I saw signs of only one big metropolitan – crowds of people moving in tandem and with a sense of urgency, red tourist busses ferrying first-timers to the city, and high-end stores that peppered the Diagonal. Poverty was nowhere to be seen, but then I was cruising on the finest streets of the city.

“Stop!” a voice from a random stranger, a city inhabitant, forced me to brake. Lost in thoughts, I had mistakenly cycled onto the pedestrian path missing the traffic light that had turned amber a few seconds back. Daniele, our biking tour guide, came to my rescue. “They are still defining biking routes in the city and there is always confusion,” she said.

I had come to Barcelona a few days back. A walker by choice, I had originally planned to explore the city on foot. It’s a big city, I was told, and cycling around would be a better idea. So, I hopped on a bike tour with Danielle who I guided Alberto, me, and a bunch of friends around the city. Barcelona, the Catalan capital, is rich with historic sites and classic tourist activities, and there’s no better place to start than studying the architecture of Gaudi, captured in buildings, parks and cathedrals that punctuate the city.

Daniele first took us to Passeig de Gràcia, where we stopped at Casa Milà. “Gaudi was always inspired by nature,” Daniele said, “and here you can see the curves on the building inspired by the sea.” The balconies carried an unconventional rough-hewn appearance marked in wrought iron, and apparently inspired by the rough waves in the sea. It was Gaudí’s most controversial designs, for this building was not as colourful and charming as some of Gaudi’s previous work.

We biked along to perhaps the most famous of Gaudi’s masterpieces – the awe-inspiring cathedral Sagrada Família. Sagrada Familia is always under construction or so it seemed to me. Though I had been to this cathedral before, it was worth a visit again to see the latest progress and marvel at its stained-glass windows, soaring arches and stonework. “It will finally finish in another dozen or so years,” said Danielle, her voice sounding more a wish.

We biked across the Arc de Triomf, constructed in 1888 when Barcelona hosted the Universal Exhibition and built it as a gateway to the fair. The monument was inspired by its counterpart in Paris and has now become one of the city's iconic landmarks. We cycled past the Olympic Village, built inside what was once an old and dilapidated industrial zone of the city for the athletes who participated in the 1992 Olympic Games. Tall chimneys remain as an echo of the district’s industrial past. To build this village, a major stretch of seafront was recovered and converted into an artificial beach and a 5-kilometre-long promenade.

As we continued cycling along the promenade, I noticed how active the city dwellers were. We biked along the joggers, skateboarders, and everyone else parading along the beachfront promenade. There were outdoor gyms, where groups of CrossFit enthusiasts sweated in the late evening. In front of them, my easy-going cycling seemed less of a sport, and I chastised myself for taking it so easy. However, we were reaching the end of the tour, and searched for a beachside restaurant to eat.

As we parked our bikes, and walked in the cool evening breeze, I was reminded again of what Alberto had told me in the beginning of the tour. Barcelona is not one city but two, artificially dissected by the Diagonal and each burdened by its own realities. I had remained stuck to the richer part of the city, carefully avoiding its less gifted, poorer half. Could I then claim that I have truly visited Barcelona, I wondered? Perhaps, as a tourist out on a fun trip, this sufficed, but not a serious student aiming to understand the world better.

And so, I resolved to come back again, this time to study the other half of city.