Most locals know the Sants area as a place they pass through on their way to Barcelona’s main train station, but to us it represents something much deeper: a neighborhood where we can still experience the city’s original untouristed soul – culinary and otherwise. While other parts of Barcelona, especially its historic center, have had to contend with the effects of the city’s growing popularity, Sants has somehow managed to stay under the radar, allowing it to keep much of its traditional charm and way of life, while also being an inviting area for new ventures to give it a go. On our Sants food tour, we will visit many of the neighborhood’s institutions, both old and new, getting a taste of what life in Barcelona was like before the city became the global hotspot that it is today. Here we’ll encounter a part of the city where you can still find old bodegas with wooden casks filled with bulk wine for sale, homey vermuterias where locals gather to chat over seafood tapas, family-run restaurants where neighbors come on a daily basis for favorite classics and bakeries that keep Catalan traditions alive by offering holiday specialties all year round. To top it off, the neighborhood has a recently restored covered market, countless old-school food shops and a wonderful mix of traditional spots that have been around for generations and new restaurants and tapas bars opened up by innovative young chefs escaping high rents in the center of town. Adding to the neighborhood’s distinct character and charm is its history rooted in Barcelona’s 19th-century industrial development. Sants was once one of the city’s economic engines, something reflected in the area’s street names – there’s one honoring James Watt, inventor of the steam engine – and the old factory chimneys that dot the neighborhood, as well as the still strong working-class identity of its residents. These days, the old textile factories that made the area famous are being put to use in new and innovative ways, housing an eclectic mix of community-run groups, from choirs to co-op radio stations and even urban farms. We will start our day with a hearty breakfast in the newly restored Mercat de Sants – in business since 1913 – and sample what’s on offer from the vendors inside. As we continue through the neighborhood, we’ll drop by some of its numerous food shops and restaurants, both old and new, tasting well-loved dishes from menus that change according to the season. Along the way we’ll stop at old school bodegas and bars to enjoy some vermut with tapas among the wine casks and at small bakeries and chocolate shops for handmade sweets. We won’t leave Sants, though, without a visit to one of the neighborhood’s most unique social and cultural projects, a massive 19th century textile factory that after decades of disuse has been transformed by locals into a bustling cultural center – one that even has its own bar and microbrewery. Over a drink and more bites of Sants food, we’ll learn about the history of community organizing in Sants and what makes this neighborhood so special. After all, it’s not every day that you get a chance to go off the grid while still being in the heart of the city.
Read More
