His daily life takes place on the coveted avenue, among modernist jewels, luxury brands and visitors eager for images to share. There are seven protagonists who, driven by love, profession or admiration for the art and elegance of Barcelona’s boulevard, have chosen it as their vital setting. Privileged people who coexist with pieces of history in a sea of ??offices, prestigious businesses and global tourism. They star in one of the reports in the ‘Magazine’ special on the 200th anniversary of Paseo de Gracia, which hits newsstands this Sunday with ‘La Vanguardia’.
Oriol Elcacho started as a model 23 years ago, “which in fashion is many, because tastes and styles change very quickly.” He is 44 years old, has brown hair, blue-green eyes, and is the father of two children for whom he has changed his residence in Barcelona for Girona. He likes his profession, but he combines it with other activities such as being a winemaker of a wine, Traca i Mocador; creative at Be Corner tailoring, quality handmade clothing; and his latest project, a photography studio that he plans to launch with his wife in Girona. She acknowledges that she came to the world of fashion accidentally, but it has done very well thanks to many people, and especially Eduardo Sayas, her representative and founder of the modeling agency Sight Management Studio, whose headquarters are located on the promenade. de Gràcia, 37 (Mulleres house). Right next to two wonders of Catalan modernism: the Amatller house and the Batlló house, which Elcacho has yet to visit, due to that prejudice of “something that you have within reach and that seems like tourist territory.”
He believes that “Paseo de Gràcia is experiencing a good moment”, but we must be careful about going too far with the tourist model. “It’s not that there is overcrowding now,” he adds, “but that tranquility has been lost at certain times of the day, like on the lonely August afternoons.” Among his favorite places is the Casa Fuster cafeteria, the legendary place where Woody Allen held his famous jam sessions between modernist columns, the Santa Eulalia store and the Mandarín Oriental hotel, as international references with a clear Catalan character. He remembers the day he ran into “Lenny Kravitz leaving the Mandarin. The artist was walking with his dog, which was not a breed.
The Majestic hotel deserves, in the opinion of the model and businessman, a separate mention. “It is one of the few hotels that has withstood the pressure of Passeig de Gràcia, it is fantastic that a Catalan family has been able to maintain its heritage for so long.” And he adds that if the luxury stores have contributed to fueling the brilliance of the promenade, the city has also known how to respect its identity. By Lidia Bernaus
Lluís Sans (Barcelona, ??1965) walks along Paseo de Gràcia two or three times a day to reach the Santa Eulalia boutique, his sanctuary and second home. During this journey he cannot help but admire – and also be moved, he confesses – the majesty of the modernist buildings that make this commercial avenue unique. “Every time I pass in front of Casa Milà, I not only see it, I observe it carefully, and I never get tired of doing so. “To think that someone could design a building without straight lines, with curves as they occur in nature, continues to dazzle me.”
This fascination with aesthetics and sensitivity for art runs in the family. From great-grandfather to grandfather. From grandfather to father. And from the father, with his sudden death, to the son. Sans is the fourth generation at the head of Santa Eulalia, without forgetting the previous three of the Taberner family. He entered the company when it needed a major transformation. Renewed or die. Santa Eulalia, in the section near Diagonal, can boast today of being one of the oldest boutiques on Passeig de Gràcia, one of the few survivors from the historical era, and establishing itself as the fashion Mecca of Barcelona residents. “For us, tourism represents around 30% of turnover; “The remaining 70% comes from local clients.”
A year ago the brand celebrated its 180th anniversary, a milestone that was celebrated with an exhibition in the neighboring Palau Robert, with forty haute couture dresses from the 1920s to the 1990s. On the upper floor of the old boutique, in Pla de la Boqueria, the first haute couture show in all of Spain was presented. They were the great pioneers, says Sans. On the walls inside the current store you can still see the sketches of the designs from that collection dated 1926 and advertising posters that have announced the shows and that each generation of Taberner and Sans has taken care to preserve. By Sandra Arbat
Isabel Coixet’s most distant memory of Passeig de Gràcia is linked to her father. “Every time we crossed La Pedrera he explained to me that Gaudí was killed by a tram. Every time! It’s something that impressed me, as a child she always thought: “But how did she not hear it coming?” At that time, Ella Coixet did not live in the Jardinets de Gràcia, at the gates of the emblematic avenue, as she does now. The director evokes her Sunday lunches at the La Puñalada restaurant, “a mythical place that no longer exists. There I discovered hot strawberries with pepper. I was going with my friend Pepo Sol, who already had his table there. Those waiters as if from another planet, that gallery in the middle of the avenue, the legend surrounding the stab wound… All that world has been erased from Barcelona. And to replace it with what?” Coixet laments the “franchise world”, the uniformity that tends towards in large cities.
To his list of memories and absences he adds the historic Vinçon (“all his friends decorated their houses with their designs”) and the Publi cinemas, where the Bulevard Rosa was. “I remember seeing Taxi driver there, for example.”
Find a lack of quality restaurants. “I go to the Alma hotel a lot. And the one run by chef Raül Balam at the Mandarin Oriental hotel is wonderful.” I would also appreciate a good cocktail. “Rentals are unthinkable, but let’s see if anyone is encouraged.” The walk reminds you of some streets in Buenos Aires and the Champs Elysées in Paris, due to its connection with fashion. What he likes most is crossing it at night, with the shops closed. “Imagine that you have dinner in a restaurant in the Raval and return home walking or by taxi. I love its spaciousness. When you come from other countries you see it small, but that human scale that Barcelona still has is very good.” His urban routines take place around his home and his studio, a few meters away “and my dentist, very important, who is on the same walk.” She is an occasional customer of the shops on the boulevard. “Of
Although he was born in Argentina 46 years ago, Maximiliano Forman has lived in Catalonia since he was little, which is why he doesn’t even have an accent. A businessman who is reluctant to interview, he is friendly and communicative, like a good public relations person. At only 24 years old he opened the Parco restaurant with his brother Martín. The idea arose when some friends set up a Japanese restaurant in Milan under the same name, and they partnered to open one in Barcelona. When his partner died, the two establishments went their separate ways. Barcelona’s Parco is the favorite of many celebrities, its clientele often include pilots, footballers, singers… Some order tons of shushi to enjoy on their private planes. The place does not advertise on the networks and barely offers information on its website… What is the key to its success? “Word of mouth,” he answers, “many people come from outside because they recommend us.”
He admits that when they started “the walk did not have the importance it has now, it is not that the area was a desert, but it is very far from what it is today.” He doesn’t walk around the area much, but he has noticed the attics of buildings like the one in front of him, in the Beaux Arts style, the work of Enric Sagnier Villavecchia. And he says he knows some recommended places such as the cafeteria inside Santa Eulalia or the Banker’s Bar at the Mandarin Oriental, a great place to have a drink. Also “Suárez jewelry has a very nice store that they have just renovated. I recommend visiting it, and the one in Rabat is spectacular.” His latest discovery, during the Magazine photo shoot, are the reliefs made by sculptor Eudald Serra i Güell on the walls of the Zara building. L.B.
Ana Viladomiu confesses that when she settled in La Pedrera, where her husband, Fernando Amat, already lived, it took her some time to feel at home. “At first I didn’t like it at all.” Little by little she made that 350 square meter apartment her own, with undulating walls, bright, which she continues to live in with an enviable old and life income.
With his two daughters still small, the family comings and goings, loaded with bags to go to the beach or with groceries, dodging tourists, visiting schoolchildren and guides, caused many hilarious moments. Today she is the only tenant of the house and almost of the building. “There are two other women who live alone like me. The rest of the spaces are offices.” Her husband moved to Maresme and her daughters, María and Nina, architects, became independent in other areas of the city.
In her 36 years as a tenant, she has devised strategies to escape the prying eyes of visitors who, as soon as she lets herself be seen, photograph her from the roof. Without forgetting the security cameras. She “she is like a Big Brother world heritage site.” She explains that she experienced confinement alone in the building, without tourists, as “a real gift, a great luxury. “Tere Yglesias, my neighbor, in the Passeig de Gràcia part and I in the Provença street area. La Pedrera for me alone. She walked around her in her nightgown and took photos that she later shared on Instagram.” Aware of the curiosity that her home arouses, she has turned her account (@ana_viladomiu) into a kind of alternative visit to the official tour. She also likes to share her own visits to other modernist works, such as Casa Batlló and Casa Ametller. Happy to live on the promenade (“I would only consider moving, perhaps, to a small house in Ibiza or Formentera”), she does not highlight a corner that she particularly enjoys.
He highlights, like other residents, the absent spaces. “I miss Vinçon, the cinemas (Savoy and Publi), La Puñalada and the French bookstore.” In particular, enjoy two restaurants in the area: “El Mordisco and El Japones, in the Paseo de la Concepció. I go often, alone or with friends. “They are my second home.” She does not frequent the shops on the promenade and is adamant about brands: “I hate wearing brand logos on clothing and accessories.” In terms of daily purchases, “they have been making things easier for me: the Baluard bakery, two Pakistanis, some take away…”. A.J.
Joan Gràcia is a boy from Poble Sec who lived in Sitges and longed to live on Paseo de Gràcia, not only because it is “one of the most beautiful streets in the world.” His playful spirit could not resist the temptation of having his business cards include: Joan Gràcia Oliver, resident of Paseo de Gràcia. And he achieved it.
He found an apartment above the Bel shirt shop that had been occupied by a computer company, all open plan, “a kind of New York loft” where he lived for five years and which later became the headquarters of Tricicle. There he still maintains his studio and the Setze Fetges gastronomic club, which includes friends such as Carles Sans, Joan Manuel Serrat, Nando Jubany, Carles Gaig, José Corbacho, Carlos Latre, Joan Vehils, Alfonso Rodés, Jordi Bosch, Carlos Piernas or Eduardo Mendonza. For eleven years they have met once a month and invite chefs to cook for them. The space is still open-plan and dominated by a large table for 16 people where the Scalextrix from his childhood is displayed. Gràcia remembers one night of the European Cup that, after leaving the Tickets bar, he was playing racing with Jose Andrés, Albert Adrià, Albert Raurich and Carles Abellan until three in the morning.
The now artistic director of the Pachá Group and creative director of the Lío cabaret still jokes with his friends and tells them that “we are a rundown family, that my ancestors were the owners of Paseo de Gràcia, Travessera de Gràcia, Gran de Funny…”.
The first memory that the actor and businessman has of this Barcelona boulevard is a costume ball when he was 8 years old, at the Salón Rosa, a place that was later occupied by Boulevard Rosa and where he opened the Slastic store. He also remembers the first Drugstore in Barcelona, ??which did not close all night and where he bought Craven A, the unfiltered English tobacco that he smoked.
Gràcia speaks of the “most beautiful promenade in Barcelona, ??for its houses, for its width, more than the Rambla.” But as a good gourmet, the former Tricicle misses more good restaurants: “There are plenty of shops that don’t have the quality, designed for tourists. The gastronomy is not at the level of the big fashion brands.” He also longs for the Jaimes French bookstore and specialty stores. “There are still Santa Eulalia and Bel, which take care of customers, but we have lost something that London still has, for example, like stores selling custom shoes or artisan belts… I also miss Vinçon, with its magnificent shop windows and good design ”.
What he likes to see most from the vantage point of his three balconies is “the promenade illuminated at night or with the Christmas lights.” His daughter Carlota, who loves Christmas, agrees with him. The co-founder of the fashion and accessories brand MaisxFrida , played as a child with her sister Julieta in the gardens of the Palau Robert, where Manuel Outumuro has photographed them for this Magazine with his father. The two left their friends speechless with the birthday parties that their mother, Ana Fernández, organized for them in the father’s study.
Carlota, an unrepentant reader, would spend the day in the Llar del Llibre, she explains. For this summer she has bought six books that will travel with her from Barcelona to Ibiza. She also loves “shopping at Saint Laurent, Loewe, Prada, shopping at Isabel Marant” and eating in hotels. “I studied Tourism and worked in hospitality, there I got the pleasure of enjoying the hotels in your city.” What upsets him most is her insecurity since her cell phone was stolen near Passeig de Gràcia.
At the moment, her Indonesian artisan designs store is only digital and she has a pop up store in Cardona Square. With his partner they plan to open another in Eixample, although if he could choose he is clear: “I would like to set up a store on Passeig de Gràcia, between Rosselló and València. And if it can be close to La Pedrera or Casa Batlló it would be a dream come true.”
Her sister Julieta, the image of Rabat, explains that she has recently returned from Paris, where she has been living for some time. “Since I returned I only feel like walking around, calmly. I spent the first day on Passeig de Gràcia.” She, who is three years younger than Carlota, does not remember that he played with her at the Palau Robert, but she does remember that her father “forced us to go to La Pedrera or the Palau Robert to see exhibitions”, so she is delighted with the session. photos to which Manuel Outumuro has invited you in the place that dedicated a retrospective to Tricicle.
Like her father and sister, this interior designer and now model also misses more good places to “have a drink, a coffee, some tapas”, so she goes to Harry’s, owned by her partner, Harry Serra, in the passage de la Concepció, or Gala (in Provença). For clothes, her favorite place is Vasquiat, “which has Nordic brands that cannot be found in other places in Barcelona.” By Begoña Corzo
Since Montserrat Pinyol, lawyer and partner of Comas
“I wouldn’t move anywhere in Barcelona, ??nor to another city in Spain. It is the best street I can live on,” she explains. He loves “going out on the balcony and seeing the spire of Santa Elena of the cathedral and Tibidabo”, also the centrality, which allows him “to be very close to the office, walk down to the Liceu and walk to the sea. In Colon, I feel where I used to catch swallows when I was little.”
Pinyol, who is a great movie buff – so much so that the ushers at the Comedia greet her and her husband by name – what she likes least is the disappearance of the cinemas and she remembers the loss of the Fémina, the Publi, the Savoy , the Fantasio. She is also sad that Vinçon, the Jaimes bookstore or the Salón Rosa, where she went when she left the Teresianas school on Rambla con Diagonal, disappeared, or that the beautiful modernist cafes were lost. “Whenever a store moves, I am horrified to think what they will put in,” she admits.
This lawyer specialized in real estate and construction law remembers her great friend and client Ricardo Bofill, who died in 2022. “He liked to come to my house. Since it is narrow, because it is all exterior, she said it looked like a boat… and he liked boats. He, who did not build anything on this walk, sometimes regretted it.”
Pinyol is a lover of Barcelona who compiles articles and books about the history of the city. “I like law but I am fascinated by architecture,” she says. She is also a well of anecdotes. She remembers that Ferrater wanted to tear down her entire façade to rehabilitate the property where she now lives, but that they did not allow him to do so. Also, in 1987 Correa and Milà built one of the first new homes in Mallorca on Paseo de Gràcia, where Gabriel García Márquez bought an apartment that he kept throughout his life and his son has inherited. Or that the Jardinets de Gràcia were dedicated to Salvador Espriu in 1991, in memory of the fact that the poet lived in front of them, first at number 132 Passeig de Gràcia, where today the Casa Fuster hotel is, where a plaque reminds him, and the last years of his life, in 118.
When asked if she doesn’t feel a bit like a stranger in her own neighborhood with the coming and going of tourists, she responds that “the crowds don’t bother me, what bothers me is that they use public space without respecting it and that they leave it full of waste, or who sit resting their feet on Gaudí’s benches, which I adore.” She takes advantage of the feeling that the walk is just for her when she travels first thing in the morning on her way to work: “I like to see how the colors of the facades change depending on the time of day. And in the middle of the pandemic, from the balconies she heard the birds, which she had never heard before.”
He is also happy with the Consell de Cent superblock: “I like it, although I know that there are people who are against it and not everything that was wanted has been done, but it is the trend in many cities, like New York or Paris. Cities have to evolve and opt for green. It is a way to make the center also a place for people from other neighborhoods to walk through.”
He loves that Outumuro chose La Pedrera to photograph: “I arrived at 8 tomorrow and there were already tourists queuing for the first pass. I love photography. I asked to dress androgynous, with a tuxedo and high heels (she is 1.77). I felt wonderful”, and she reveals another tasty anecdote: “Pertegaz offered me to be a model when I left the Teresianas school, but at home they refused. Now maybe I would trade justice for playing a mature model for a while,” she says, laughing. B.C.
