The Literary Barcelona

Barcelona is a captivating city. Perhaps that is why for centuries hundreds of writers have let themselves be taken in by its beauty. Therefore it has become a literary city: its magic, its charm, its different cultures... Who has not ever read a text inspired by Barcelona? Already in the nineteenth century the city was a worship center for many writers. The French writers Carce, Bourget, Pieyre de Mandiargues and Genet, and the Catalans writers Narcis Oller and Antoni Altadill gave us the first Barcelona's ideologies.

There are so many books based on Barcelona, thtat people don't distinguish the where begins the real city and where ends the imaginary one. It has been invented so many times between pages and ink! It is a network of past and present, glories and miseries, rich people and poor people, hapless and artists, suburban prostitutes and exquisite high class escort girls...

The greatest writers have chosen Barcelona as the basis for his novels: starting with the unique Miguel de Cervantes, who presented Barcelona as the unique urban setting in Don Quixote; it was exalted to the highest level in the verses Joan Maragall and Jacint Verdaguer; even Orwell wrote about it as a revolutionary frame; Josep Pla related the details of its daily live; Jean Genet looked after its dark side and Eduardo Mendoza, Vázquez Montalbán, Carlos Ruiz Zafón or Juan Marsé gave it a international prestige.

The city has stolen the heart and the pen of the greatest writers. Therefore, most novelists do not have enough to live in the city, but they have had to reinvent it with their pens.

What would have been of the Raval neibourhood without the famous detective Pepe Cravalho (by Manuel Vázquez Montalbán)? And what about the Gracia quarter without the books of Mercè Rodorera? Who has not shared the exploits of the characters of Eduardo Mendoza? Thanks to all these writers Barcelona has a strong literary web woven with threads of ink. For the literature lovers it will be a real pleasure to walk the main streets of the city through the "literary tours" that some agencies offer...

Would you like to go on with the story of The Shadow of the Wind (by Carlos Ruiz Zafón) or La Catedral del Mar (by Ildefonso Falcones)? Come to this beautiful city and rent Barcelona Apartmetns.