It is not just the city of DalĂ, Barcelona. The capital of Catalonia is also rich in literary suggestions, those of Cervantes and Gabriel GarcĂa Márquez.
It is the backdrop, Barcelona, ​​of chapters 61 and 65 of the "Don Quixote of La Mancha”by Miguel de Cervantes. The protagonist is the Portal de Mar, the most monumental section of the ancient walls that surrounded the city. It opens onto the beach, the door, on the opposite side to the Maians area. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza cross it one summer night, finding themselves facing the sea for the first time in their lives. Because, in “Don Quixote della Mancha”, Barcelona is above all sea. And It is the place where the protagonist is defeated by the Knight of the White Moon, wounded and treated before returning home and dying there.
But Barcelona is also the birthplace of many exiles and has welcomed many writers forced to take refuge over the years. Two of the greatest writers in the Spanish language, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Mario Vargas Llosa, they lived and composed their works here, they emigrated from a country where they did not have the freedom to write. And it is precisely during their stay in Barcelona that they became famous.
If you really want to explore the essence of the city, it is "The shadow of the wind" by Carlos Ruiz ZafĂłn what you need to read. The journey in the footsteps of the novel allows you to discover emblematic places in Barcelona such as Santa Anna Street, the Arc del Teatre, Plaza del Rei, La Rambla, Plaza Sant Felip Neri and Montcada Street.
Another literary tour presents the church of santa maria del mar e ildefonso falcones, whose masterpiece – “The cathedral of the sea”- is dedicated precisely to this incredible Gothic architecture.
On the outskirts of Barcelona, ​​then, there is another place that literature lovers should not miss: the Cau Ferrat Museum, House of Santiago Rusiñol and home of modernism. Site in Silos, It is a recommended stop for art lovers: Rusiñol was a writer, journalist, painter, playwright, collector, and retracing his steps is truly evocative.
Because there is an alternative Barcelona, ​​to DalĂ's Barcelona. And everything is to be discovered.
