Barcelona was always the most rebellious city in Spain, resenting the way the central authorities suppressed their language and culture, while siphoning off their riches. This frequently led to unsuccessful rebellions, until in 1714, the Spanish decided to end this nonsense once and for all. They built an enormous fort right in the middle of the city, requiring massive demolition, and they built a huge wall around the city. Unlike other walled cities, the wall was meant to keep the locals trapped inside, not protect them from outside invasions. In the 1850's, Madrid relented and allowed for the wall to be torn down. This opened up all sorts of new real estate opportunities, and the showcase was the Eixample. This new precinct doubled the size of the entire city, and soon became the most popular living area for Barcelona's upper classes, eager to get out of the previously claustrophobic old city.

This massive real estate expansion gave the new architecture a blank canvas on which to work, and the results are on display everywhere. While the Eixample has lots of run of the mill apartment buildings, it also has dozens of buildings not found anywhere else. They all seem to be competing with one another to grab your attention. Somchai wasn't impressed, and thought the buildings looked like Disneyland rather than serious architecture. But they certainly are popular with the tourists. Many of the buildings open up to tourists, but since they are still lived in, they only let a few people in at a time, usually to the roof or to a showcase apartment. The result is huge lines, so we mostly skipped this part and just enjoyed the crazy exteriors.