Illustrious Visitors

If we have to heed the opinion of some enlightened outsiders in passing, the city of Barcelona, despite its tumultuous history, caused delight. Francesco Guicciardini, Florence's ambassador to the court of Ferdinand of Aragon, was in the Catalan capital in March 1511 and said: << Barcelona is a very beautiful city, large and populated. There are no particularly remarkable buildings, but in general, most houses are beautiful, and in that it can even surpass Florence >>.

Three centuries later, foreign interest in the city had not waned. Stendhal, the French novelist, had been in Barcelona in September 1837 and wrote: << we had appeared at La Rambla, a beautiful promenade located in the middle of the city. There is the Hostel of the Four Nations, where we finally got a meal. The satisfaction was very intense. Barcelona is, as they say, the most beautiful city in Spain after Cadiz. In reality, it is similar to Milan. From Barcelona, the sea is not visible. This sea that magnifies everything is hidden by the fortifications at the end of La Rambla >>.

The walls did not start to be demolished until 1854, and the works took years to complete. Nevertheless, La Rambla remained a stop for all kinds of gossip, a permanent spectacle.

The famous Danish writer of fairy tales, Hans Christian Andersen, was in the city during the autumn and part of the winter of 1862. Lodged in the Oriente Hotel on La Rambla, he took note of everything that he found interesting.

<< One of the last days of my stay in Barcelona, it had rained heavily and hard >>, wrote the Dane. << It was still raining the next morning when I went to the Bank. I returned soaked to the hotel, and then I was informed that the water, which could not find an outlet, was rising in La Rambla. From my balcony, I realized that the catastrophe was increasing and that I was witnessing a chilling spectacle. The terrible power of water! The river was rising and rising. The avenue, roaring like a mill dam, uprooted trees and aloes from the root. Inside the shops, people moved about in water up to their hips. It was all screams and wails. Later, I learned that several people had disappeared through the sewer holes. I would never have imagined the power of a mountain torrent. And I thought of the story that could arise from this small mountain torrent, a normally modest stream >>.