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San Sebastián, like all cities, offers up surprises at every turn. When you hit the streets of a city in search of its essence, you’ve got to be prepared. That is, the communication between camera and photographer is continuous.
Barcelona, like many other cities around the world, is becoming homogenized, just at a time when Catalan identity and independence are more in the minds of locals than ever.
“We’re strangers in our own town,” complains a local tour guide who cannot be named as they are not supposed to discuss politics. “There are just too many tourists. The government just wants money. What you see here is the most aggressive form of tourism.”
If you want a taste of true San Sebastian identity, dig in on the pintxos.
“Owning” their city is important to the people of Barcelona. But have the locals of this tourist-flooded city really become strangers in their own town?
Today, Barcelona is one of Europe’s most successful cities in terms of tourism: a center for the arts, for sport, for gastronomy. What changed everything this time round, it is widely acknowledged, was the 1992 Olympic Games.
As I take a pedicab to the center of Barcelona after a visit to the city’s Barceloneta area, Dino, the Romanian driver, is all praise about his neighborhood. “It’s close to the beach, the Parc Ciutadella, the bars. Not like La Rambla; it’s crazy there, especially at night.”
The Sagrada Família, the astonishing Gothic cathedral in the L'Eixample area, is Barcelona’s crowning glory.
Ask any local what their favorite Barcelona building is and there is a strong chance they will say the Palau de Musica Catalana, a Catalan music hall in La Ribera, the old city, right next to the city's Gothic Quarter.
When in Barcelona, one has to pay homage to its most famous son, Antoni Gaudí. I make my way to Park Guëll, where there are many Gaudí buildings and breathtaking vistas across the city.
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