Les Arenes #2, Plaça d’Espanya. Barcelona, 2014
Formerly a bull ring and now a shopping, dining, sports and entertainment center at the Plaça d’Espanya, the structure was built between 1889 and 1900. However, with the recent renovation (2011 inauguration), only the outer, Moorish-style façade has been retained. There has been no bull fighting there since 1977 as bull fighting isn’t particularly popular in this region–nor has it ever been a Catalan tradition. In fact, since 2012 the “sport” (“art”?) has been prohibited in Catalunya. (Myself, I have always preferred what the Portuguese forcados do with the bulls. You can see a 2-minute video of what I mean HERE.)
Curious factoid #1: The Les Arenes venue was NOT used for a Beatles concert in 1966 as some sources suggest. My digging finds that the Beatles performed in Barcelona on July 3, 1965 at the Plaza de Toros Monumental–a very different bull ring located elsewhere in the city.
Curious factoid #2: Les Arenes was NOT physically jacked up to build the bottom floors and underground parking areas as some tourist pamphlets might attest. It was originally built on a slight rise, so excavation underneath was all that was needed. My source: lifetime Barcelona resident Joan Xuriach and confirmed HERE.
Curious factoid #3: A cycling track–a 150-meter, wooden, banked, portable oval–was set up inside the arena in 1949 and for some unknown time after that.
Photography tip: Take the elevator (pictured) or the inside escalators to the top for some great views of the city and Montjuic.
Les Arenes #1, Plaça d’Espanya. Barcelona, 2014
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