No pictures of prostitutes today, this picture of Barcelona at night will have to do for this article. Later in the night around 9pm, certain parts of the city begin to awaken. Different types of businesses hold different hours depending on their trade and clientele, not to mention that everything shuts down for the afternoon siesta. Its really not joke here. As stores and government offices begin to close other places begin to open. Its almost like only a certain amount of doors can be open at a time.
As soon as the clothing stores, shoe shops and boutiques close their doors, the bars open theirs. This type of transformation is a bit more intense in the Barri Gothic especially centering around La Rambla.
It takes people watching to the next level. As you wind through the busy night crowds, shady looking men mutter their wares hoping to catch any interested party looking to do so.
We passed up the drugs for some street beers instead. Due to local laws, stores cannot sell alcohol later at night. This has created a market for roving beer salesmen. Just make sure you haggle first. The beers start at euros a piece but after a bit of haggling, it drops to euros depending. After making a few deals we found ourselves out of the cosy backstreets of the Gothic Quarter and were spit out onto the seedy Rambla. There were hookers galore. In Amsterdam the red light district is a bit of a spectacle and everyone knows what to expect.
Here, there are no glass windows protecting you from the sometimes aggressive ladies of the night. When you step back and think of it, the individual situations are very sad but I am no activist and we are mere travelers observing and moving on. It was very entertaining watching the myriad of people wander up and down the avenue taking in the sights as we were, some negotiating for services and disappearing down dark alleys.
