Around The World Without Flying: Barcelona, Spain

I decided to delay talking about some the darker side of the story behind Barcelona until my last post.

We were rather horrified when we were told that a building we were standing in front of had been the headquarters of the notoriously brutal and cruel Spanish Inquisition. Behind the quite innocent-looking facade of what is now a museum, the most dreadful torture had taken place. No-one ever left the place alive. When it was finally ended, the local residents apparently burned all the records found in there, so no-one would have to go through any of that again.

Then we walked through the original Jewish headquarters, and found out that due to the unhygienic practices of people across Europe and Britain in those days - buildings too close together, tipping sewage into streets from their windows, no personal hygiene, and so on - many plagues swept through the region, decimating the populations. But people needed someone to blame, and in Barcelona they blamed the Jewish people, accusing them of ‘poisoning’ the wells. They then attacked the Jewish quarters in town and apparently killed hundreds of Jews and drove the rest out. Of course, that did not end the plagues . .

Nowadays, while most of the population is Roman Catholic, people who practise other religions, including Jewish people, have freedom of worship.

All of this is yet more evidence that a huge proportion of human suffering over the centuries has been caused in the name of religion. When will it end?

Another serious issue in Barcelona, I was told by our guide, is that of illegal immigrants. (This is not talking about genuine refugees.) When we strolled down Las Ramblas, a very colourful, busy pedestrian promenade in the heart of the city, we saw quite a number of men of north African appearance laying out sheets with cheap fake fashion handbags or other touristy things on the pavement. They were holding strings attached to the corners of the sheets. I soon learned why. When the police patrols came near they pulled the strings to make a large bundle, and disappeared only until the threat had passed. Our guide told me that these are all illegal immigrants who take away business from the ordinary stall holders who have to pay taxes and all the rest. And they are quite blatant about it, setting up their display only a couple of metres away from the licensed stalls and shops. The police and and the city's leaders are apparently doing very little to control the problem, and so now these Africans are all over the place plying their trade. Naturally, the genuine traders are fed up.

In addition, there is the problem found in most major cities - beggars, and pickpockets wherever there is a crowd.

Despite all this, I thought Barcelona was a great city to visit, with its wide tree-lined streets, historical sites, unbelievable variety of buildings, parks and gardens, fountains and statues, surrounding hills, chairlifts, thousands of motor scooters, bright black and yellow cabs buzzing around like busy bees, street musicians, and most of all, its spirit of enterprise and pride.