THE EIXAMPLE
Cerda´s 19th century grid system of streets allowed the city´s wealthy elite to commission some of the most innovative buildings of the age, including Gaudi´s fabulous Sagrada Familia

The Eixample is one of the most characteristic districts of Barcelona, and has some of its most distinctive elements, such as the Sagrada Gamilia and much of its famed modernista architecture. It stands as a symbol of the 19th-century boom that initiated the city´s modern era, and today is the most populated district in the city. After the narrow, irregular streets of the Old Town, where history has left layer upon layer of building styles, the Eixample can feel like a new town. Its rigid, regular structure forms a repeated pattern from its southern boundary by Placa dÉspanya to its northern limit leading up from Placa de les Glories. The traffic roars down one street and up another in a well-structured one-way system.

An expanding city
In a sense it was a ´new town´, it grew from the need to expand out of the old city in the middle of the 19th century. Eixample means “enlargement” (ensanche, the Castilian word, is still often used) and was to extend over the areas between the old city centre and the equally historic municipalities of Sants, Sarria, Sant Gervasi de Cassoles and Gracia. Although criticised by some, this exceptional piece of town planning is deeply admired by architects, who still come from far and wide to see it.

Its designer, Ildefons Cerda i Sunyer, was a liberal-minded civil engineer. He planned a garden city in which only two of the four sides of each block would be built on. The other sides, together with the central open space, were to have been attractive, shady squares and the xamfrans (angled street corners) were meant to be open spaces, not packed with double-parked vehicles as they are today. Work began in 1859 but Cerda´s plan was not adopted in its entirety for a number of different reasons. His “utopian socialism” did not appeal to the more conservative elements in the city, causing widespread controversy.

The Eixample is broken into two halves, la dreta (right) and lésquerra (left) on either side of Balmes as you look inland towards the summit of Tibidabo. Within the two halves are well-defined neighbourhoods, such as those of the Sagrada Familia and Fort Pius (on the right) and Sant Antoni and a barri near the old municipal slaughterhouse called LÉscorxador (on the left).

Most of Barcelona´s greatest landmarks can be found in la dreta, while lésquerra is more modern and residential. Since the 1960s la dreta has undergone a profound transformation. With the earlier inhabitants moving to uptown districts, the larger houses have been converted into offices and flats.

The best way to appreciate the Eixample is to wander aimlessly, to be led by the green pedestrian lights at junctions, zig-zagging up, across and down these fascinating streets. Peep into doorways to see modernista lamps and ceramic tiles, look up at balconies and stained-glass tribunes (enclosed balconies), notice the decorative facades, as well as the plants, washing and other elements of real life that go on inside these museum pieces. Take time to visit the art galleries that abound, to notice old shop signs, to shop in ancient colmados where ageless men in overalls attend obsequiously to your every need.

Whenever possible, catch a glimpse of the inner patios of these illas, the name of each four-sided block of buildings: sadly not used for the greater good, as Cerda would have wished, but mostly for car parks, commercial or private use. They still maek fascinating viewing, particularly the backs of the elegant houses and some well-established private gardens.