Barcelona tours - Working class town, medieval monastery, hilltop prehistoric village

See the itinerary.

Working class satellite town of Barcelona with numbers of shanty town dwellers evicted from Montjuïc for the great exhibition of 1929. Sights include: early twentieth century villas, may last longer than later, aluminosis-prone tower blocks; auto-construction and petanque alleys, fruit of 1960s economic boom; modern sweatshops, generally Chinese; our lady of bullfighting; graffiti 1 and 2; the multicolour flats you only ever see from the train and motorway.

At the top of town, spectacular views of the nearest town on the coast, Barcelona's emblematic power station chimneys. We then head down into a valley to check out a ruined farmhouse and the monastery (1/2) where the Catholic Monarchs received Columbus after his first voyage, complete with its tenant gardeners (visits usually possible, interior shots: 1/2/3/4/5/6).

Climbing past the monastery, classic Mediterranean flora: lots of pine (umbrella, stone), chunks of Quercus ilex, standard flowers, cacti.

The ridge has more power station views, several chapels, Andalusian palaces and guard dogs, as well as interesting junk. Getting towards the top, various prehistoric remains, including a natural cave where human and pottery finds were made in the 1950s, Barcelona views. Then, on hilltop, a rehabilitated Iberian fort/village, with foundations, a reconstructed hut, good info displays.

Finally, a superb 360º panorama of Barcelona and the coast, Montjuich, Collserola, Montserrat (on a good day), Montcada, Sant Llorenç del Munt etc:

Back in town, various interesting lunch options, including a market bar with three tables, a Galician…

1. kalebeul » New walking route says:

   November 27 2007 at 17:48

   [...] Over Santa Coloma way, taking in Puig Castellar, which I’ve been doing informally for a while. Here are some photos: [...]
2. kalebeul » People we meet says:

   December 3 2007 at 11:10

   [...] The other day, on this walk, an elderly Englishman from G. Speaking with an Andalusian accent, he claimed to be one of a group of Brits who, following the abortive Algiers putsch (aka putsch des généraux) against De Gaulle in 1961, fled the Marseilles barracks of the French Légion étrangère and crossed the Pyrenees to join mad Millán Astray’s La legión in Barcelona. He served in jeeps in the Sahara in the mid-60s, following instructions from reconnaissance planes to intercept caravans coming from as far away as Saudi Arabia with supplies for opponents of Spanish rule. The Legion was better-paid and more accessible than normal service. I don’t know whether any Spanish regiments became as notoriously British as the French 2ème Para following Thatcher’s military budget cuts in the 1980s. [...]
3. kalebeul » Nativity scene, Santa Coloma de Gramanet says:

   December 15 2007 at 13:43

   [...] All on this walk. [...]
4. kalebeul » Montserrat Virgin actually blonde says:

   December 28 2007 at 13:22

   [...] This falls into the same category as the revelation by Arenys de Mar’s thriving community of dope-fiends historians that the three kings were all black. (On this walk.) [...]