My time in Barcelona has been captivating in many ways. Each day I find myself falling in love with a different aspect of the city, whether that be the culture, the food, or the art. With our class we explored the real Barcelona streets, finding out about how locals feel about certain issues, and learning where security in Barcelona started.
Our journey began in the Placa de Catalunya where our campus is. From there we walked and explored for about an hour and a half, taking in every single sight, smell, and noise we could.
Las Ramblas Church
Las Ramblas was an absolute jaw dropper. I walked into this church and felt an immediate sense of peace and I had never seen such beautiful art inside a church. This church represents the beauty, history, and religious ties Barcelona has. The church brings positive attention to the city of Barcelona.
Barcelona is not for Sale
As soon as I saw this I knew I needed to use it. The banner reads “Barcelona is not for sale”. This banner is fighting the high rents and the amount of people buying properties for tourists to rent rather than ensuring the people who are native and already live in Barcelona have homes. This issue can put Barcelona in a more negative light because it brings attention to a problem that tourists, or locals in Barcelona may have not known about. It also shows that there is a problem in Barcelona when it comes to people finding affordable housing.
Catalonia
Prior to my coming to Spain I was unaware of what was going on in Barcelona with Catalonia and the Spanish government. I find what is happening to the Catalan people to be inhumane as they are simply trying to practice their human rights such as voting. I loved this picture I took simply because I think the flag looks beautiful in the wind. Wind makes me think of freedom and this flag, blowing in the wind demonstrated to me the freedom the Catalan people deserve.
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