Placa Ruis i Taulet

Living for the last month in Gracia, I've come to appreciate the charm of this neighborhood and character of its central feature, Placa Ruis i Taulet. Originally a town in its own right until accession by the City of Barcelona in 1897, Gracia is a town of narrow, shop-lined streets, apartments with wet laundry hanging out the windows, and bustling squares.

Just a half a block above our apartment is Gracia's most important square, Placa Ruis i Taulet, home to both the Gracia Ajuntament (Town Hall) and a 30-meter clock tower dead in the center. More importantly, it seems as though the entire town of Gracia, a microcosm in and of itself with people from all walks of life, converges on this town for summer evenings and weekends.

Cafes line two of the sides of the square, and rarely can I find a seat at one of their outdoor tables. Benches form the border of the rectangle where the cafe tables do not, and they are also generally full. Often I'll spend an hour or two on one of these benches (which I am doubtless sharing), half reading and half people-watching.

The best people-watching is of the kids. Soccer is the pastime of choice, and the most popular game involves a shootout with one side of the clock-tower as a goal. The 13-year old boys like to act tough and often show off their skills, and the 13-year old girls pretend not to notice. Just next to them will be a 5-year old with his own soccer ball, somewhat aloof to the older kids and often bumbling through their game by accident. Then I'll see a young father traversing the square with his daughter on her new two-wheeler, juxtaposed with a posse of 20-something dredlocked hippies on a bench smoking hand-rolled cigarettes likely laced with hashish. The next bench will have an elderly couple, no longer really saying anything to one another but still enjoying one another's company.

The square has also been home to various notable events. I've seen a far-left wing rally for the release from prison of a (violent) protester, a political rally for one of the Catalan independence parties before last Sunday's elections, a spontaneous circular dance in which all the town's old people came out and instinctively knew what to do, and a festival of Castellers, where teams of this crazy activity were present from three neighboring towns. Castellers are human pyramids, with about 20 burly guys on the bottom and one very brave 7-year old girl climbing her way up six or seven layers of standing humans. It was fantastic to watch, and I would post the video except I held my digital camera sideways and apparently it's impossible to rotate an .mpg video. Oh well.