La Rambla, Barcelona
View over the Rambla from the Christopher Columbus monument, with the quarters of El Raval to the left and Barri Gòtic to the right
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| Length | 1.2 km (0.7 mi) |
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| Location | Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain |
| Coordinates | 41°22′53″N 2°10′23″E / 41.38139°N 2.17306°E |
| From | Plaça de Catalunya |
| To | Christopher Columbus Monument |
La Rambla (Catalan pronunciation: [ɫə ˈrambɫə]) is a street in central Barcelona, popular with tourists and locals alike. A tree-lined pedestrian mall, it stretches for 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) connecting Plaça de Catalunya in the centre with the Christopher Columbus Monument at Port Vell. La Rambla forms the boundary between the quarters of Barri Gòtic, to the east, and El Raval, to the west.
La Rambla can be crowded, especially during the height of the tourist season. Its popularity with tourists has affected the character of the street, with a move to pavement cafes and souvenir kiosks. It has also suffered from the attention of pickpockets and especially towards its southern end, sex workers.
The Spanish poet Federico García Lorca once said that La Rambla was "the only street in the world which I wish would never end."
La Rambla can be considered a series of shorter streets, each differently named, hence the plural form Les Rambles (the original Catalan form; in Spanish it is Las Ramblas). The street is successively called:
To the north of La Rambla lies Plaça de Catalunya, a large square in central Barcelona that is generally considered to be both its city centre and the place where the old city and the 19th century-built Eixample meet.
To the east of La Rambla is the Barri Gòtic or Gothic Quarter, the centre of the old city of Barcelona. The Barri Gòtic retains a labyrinthine street plan, with small squares and streets, many of which connect onto the Rambla. One of the larger of these squares is the Plaça Reial, a lively 19th century square with tall palm trees and street lamps designed by Antoni Gaudí, which opens down a short entrance passage off the Rambla dels Caputxins. Further into the Barri Gòtic can be found the Cathedral of Santa Eulàlia and the Plaça Sant Jaume that houses the buildings of the Generalitat of Catalonia and Barcelona’s City Council.
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