Before visiting or living in Barcelona you probably already know several neighborhoods of Barcelona for its renowned monuments or you have hearing about them because someone mentioned and recommended them. Poblenou is one of those neighborhoods you may have not heard yet, but which everyone talks about because of its resurgence in tourist routes of Barcelona, including also local people options. So in order for you to know a little more this part of Barcelona, its most iconic landmarks and the best beaches close to Poblenou, from ShBarcelona we suggest to take this walk.
This journey begins in Can Ricart, a venue that for decades was devoted to the production of textiles and was abandoned until 2008, when the Generalitat de Catalunya declared it a national cultural interest. This step wasn’t determine in any way the recovery of the space and even today it remains abandoned and an increasingly deplorable state. Beside Can Ricart is the Centre de Poblenou Park, a green space of over 55,000 square meters designed by Jean Nouvel (Agbar Tower architect). Going across the Diagonal Avenue to get into Poblenou we find the Plaza de las Glories, where the new Design Museum of Barcelona is located. If we walk towards the sea, at the end of the Diagonal Avenue we find the Forum, a large enclosure that after the conclusion of the Forum of Cultures in 2004 has become a space for music concerts, festivals and other events. If going over there you take Bilbao Street on your left and Valencia Street on your right we will getto the Civic Center Can Felipa, which was also a textile factory .
Not far from there we will find the Rambla del Poblenou, which concentrates great commercial and social activity in the neighborhood, among which highlights the Casino de l’Aliança and the horchatería Tio Che. Rare will be the weekend of summer you won’t find a long line waiting in front of the doors of Tio Che asking for a glass of horchata or and iced lemonade. If you look on the floor of the “rambla”, you can see metal plates that recall some of the famous people who lived in the neighborhood. Taking Taulat Street to the left and right in Topete Street, we get to the Plaza Prim, who once was the oldest part of the neighborhood, and they say it hosted a group of the socialist Étienne Cabet fans.
If you go to the coast you will find some of the finest sands and waters of Barcelona to enjoy this space in summer. Being some of the most remote beaches of the city they stay cleaner but depends on the month as in August is very crowded and can be overwhelming.
If we get into the streets of Poblenou we will find reputable design studios, such as Javier Mariscal’s, the headquarters of the most important audiovisual production companies in the city, television channel stations, and many other innovative businesses and creative spaces such as schools that have found in this neighborhood an affordable place to be with low rental prices and a cosmopolitan atmosphere.