Audrey Hepburn never ate a croissant in front of Tiffany’s in Barcelona in 1961, because in those days on Passeig de Gràcia no Hollywood actor filmed in the Catalan capital, because the jewelry store on Fifth Avenue would take sixty years to establish itself in the city and because Franco’s croissants were not made of butter but of lard. In fact, she ate a Scarlett Johanson in front of La Pedrera when Woody Allen filmed Vicky Cristina Barcelona, ??even though she was not dressed in Givenchy like Hepburn. But she would have just had to cross the street and enter Santa Eulalia, where they sell this iconic brand.
Passeig de Gràcia is a one kilometer and six hundred meter boulevard, which was inspired by the Champs Elysées. In fact, it was only nine meters less wide than the grand promenade of Paris, when it was conceived as an avenue that would dazzle strangers. The Barcelona of the 19th century looked askance at the French capital, not only in the world of art and culture, but also in architecture and urban planning. And he copied their refined coffees, with large terraces. The first was the Café Hispano-Americano, which in 1877 stayed open until late as it had gas lighting, which represented a revolution in the city. The cafes were the establishments that understood the importance that that garden promenade was going to have.
The first commercial store would still take five years to be installed. At the turn of the century, the first modernist buildings began to rise on Passeig de Gràcia: in the main one lived the owners of the properties who sacrificed part of their ground floor to obtain an unexpected income thanks to the merchants, who understood that a Such a relevant avenue, where Barcelonans loved to walk, was going to be a showcase of modernity, including fashion stores.
Today Passeig de Gràcia brings together almost as many luxury brands as Avenue Montaigne in Paris, the Fashion Quadrilatero in Milan or Bond Street in London. It is a spectacle to see the windows of the big brand stores and discover that in Chanel, Dior, Gucci or Louis Vuitton, buyers from the four cardinal points are queuing on the street as if they were going to buy tickets for a show.
In just three hundred meters, there is a concentration of jewelry stores like in few cities in the world: Cartier, Tiffany’s, Van Cleef and Arpels, Chopart, Bulgari, next to the Catalan Rabat and Bagués or the Madrid-based Suárez. Coco Chanel said that luxury is a need that begins when the need ends. Lucky them.
It is difficult to recommend unknown places for a walk that is widely mentioned in travel guides. But it is worth discovering the Banker’s Bar of the Mandarin hotel, whose ceiling is decorated with authentic safes that elude the old bank that stood on the property. Listen to the pianist at the Majestic, a charming hotel that has hosted Antonio Machado, Josephine Baker and Bob Dylan, performing melodies that never go out of style. Admire the studio of the painter Ramon Casas, with its impressive fireplace and its outdoor patio on the first floor of the Massimo Dutti store.
Or have a glass of champagne at any time in a charming bar with a friendly terrace at the Santa Eulalia store. The place is also a unique multi-brand store, pure glamour, that has dressed Barcelonans for 180 years and was renovated by architect William Sofield, the same one who designed Tom Ford’s store in New York.
Passeig de Gràcia is an elegant boulevard that has almost everything. Perhaps it is missing those great cafeterias from its beginnings, although the price per square meter makes it difficult. In any case, having a tea at the Pedrera café, surrounded by Gaudí moldings, is a pleasure. And it also has, next to Mallorca Street, a restaurant conceived by Óscar Tusquets and directed by Martin Berasategui, Lasarte, with three Michelin stars that shine brighter than the sun, to remind the traveler that Barcelona is a capital with a gastronomic vocation where to eat. It is well possible as long as the appetite and the American Express last.
But, above all, the walk constitutes an open-air museum, where the masterpieces of modernism, classified as World Heritage, are offered to natives and strangers, regardless of their sensitivities.
In the absence of Hepburn we will always have the Milà house, as immortalized as the actress in the black dress, to feel that we are on a unique street in an unrepeatable city.
