Las Ramblas is the emblematic, mostly-pedestrian street of the city of Barcelona, that runs between Plaça de Catalunya, the heart and centre of the city, and the old port, where the monument to Christopher Columbus is located.
To the left of Las Ramblas is the Gothic Quarter and to the right, El Raval. Two completely different neighbourhoods, especially at the time when Las Ramblas was a stream. We have to go back to the year 1447 to see the beginnings of Las Ramblas as a pedestrian walkway.
Its importance grew and grew, and it was the people of the city themselves who gave it the life and colour it has today. Beyond the costumbrismo that has always characterised this picturesque place, the history of Barcelona flows along the Ramblas, as they have witnessed the barricades during the Tragic Week and the Spanish Civil War, but they have also been the scene of the first LGTB demonstration in Spain in 1977, and of celebrations of all kinds, such as the victories of FC Barcelona by the Font de Canaletes.
Today, Las Ramblas is always lively, full of tourists and street performers who act as human statues. It has many terraces where one can sit and watch the comings and goings of passers-by, although the prices are somewhat higher than in the sorroundings because it is such a touristy area.
