Local perception by Víctor Raduà

Local perception on Joaquim Costa Street (analysis by Víctor Raduà, Barcelona citizen)

Before explaining my personal analysis on the street and its surroundings I want to point out that I’ve lived my whole live in Barcelona but I have barely gone a few times to walk around El Raval. As a Barcelona citizen, I consider that El Raval provides an important cultural value to the city.

Whereas it is situated in the heart of the city, there is no need to emphasize the high number of tourists that walk through these streets every day. The neighbourhood is full of different types of shops, restaurants and other businesses. I would dare to say it has one of the most varieties of places in Barcelona.

In spite of the features that define El Raval, my perception about this spot is clearly different to the one a tourist could have. For me, it is part of the backbone of Barcelona’s center which includes as well Plaça Catalunya, Passeig de Gràcia and las Ramblas. However, I have been told since I was young that it is a dangerous place, especially at night. Also for me, all the streets in el Raval look very alike and it’s really difficult to get oriented. I find really interesting that my groupmate Meyi wanted to do the project about Joaquin Costa Street because for me it has nothing special or different from the other streets in el Raval.

I have to admit I might be biased by the other opinions, but so are other Barcelona citizens. As a fact, I have done a small survey asking twenty-one young people between 18 and 27 years old about what they thing about the area in question. These were the results:

 I've interviwed 15 people that either were born or have lived a major part of their lives in Barcelona and 6 foreigners. All of them are living in Barcelona right now.

As I expected, only the 28% percent of the sample knew exactly where Joaquin Costa Street is located. That is due to this street is not one of the most imporant ones

The following graph shows what people think about el Raval, with multiple answers available. The option "It is a special place, different from others in Barcelona is the most chosen with the 71,4%. The foreign people tend to say it is a beautiful and culturally rich while the locals think it's dirty, noisy and/or dangerous.

Finally, we wanted to know which are the common activities done in el Raval. The most common one among the locals is "Go for a walk", while the foreigners tend to visit museums and to stare works of street art.

If you want the excel chart of the whole survey click here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yHlZrl_3kgx-KXJwAmbAcAOdRTXp8bX_lC8_HbUkwCw/edit#gid=2055854920

As a conclusion, the citizens of Barcelona don't give to El Raval the value that it has. Foreigners have a more positive view of the neighbourood, while locals tend to be sceptics with a more suspicious look.

In my personal opinion, El Raval might not be the cleanest area in the city, and neither the most secure one but it's particular and special beauty along with it's very rich cultural diversity makes it one of the most interesting neighbourhoods in Barcelona.