The business (basically a CRM database) passed into better hands in 2012. These materials remain here for cannibalisation and amusement.
The baldie meanwhile has found pastures new: as a singing organ-grinder for your event in the UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands or Spain!
The stand in the first ground owned by FC Barcelona was a fairly simply affair, and it gave Barça fans the nickname they've had ever since, culés: row on row of ar$es was all that could be seen from the street.
In 1920, with membership rising rapidly and trophies pouring in, the Swiss German founder and five times president of the club, Hans Gamper, decided to build a new, ar$e-proof stadium on fields on the edge of an old village called Les Corts. It was inaugurated two years later with a friendly against St Mirren (2-1), and was used until 1957, when the massive Camp Nou, which doubled maximum capacity (120,000 in 1982), opened half a mile further out of town.
This walk introduces you to the districts housing the Les Corts and Camp Nou stadia and helps you understand the transition of this part of Barcelona's periphery from farming to textiles to the mass entertainment; how a club that has been used as a surrogate for nation by political Catalanism could have made its home in a district full of immigrants from southern Spain, one of the focuses of an ethnic mini-civil war between Catalanist fascist and Murcian anarchist gunmen that flared sporadically in the 1930s.
The route takes you from the headquarters of the Francoist military police and the most glorious of Barcelona’s three bullrings via
to Camp Nou.
Optional visit to the trannies as seen in the work of Mr Almodóvar (evening walks only). Walk can be shortened if you’re with kids.
We also take people to minor league and non-league matches and to fan bars etc. Teams include the local giant-killers and several of the more controversial and/or ridiculous neighbourhood teams. Our WSG™ applies, but things are usually incredibly peaceful. We don't book tickets for Espanyol or Barça and recommend you try the usual online options or find a bar outside the tourist districts and watch it on telly.
Grade | easy |
Base | Barcelona (Meeting point information here, where relevant - make sure you have the right one!) |
Location tags | Barcelona, Camp Nou, Catalonia, Hostafrancs, Las Corts, Les Corts, Nou Camp, Plaza de España, Plaça d'Espanya, Sans, Sants, |
Theme tags | architecture, gastronomy, history, |
Your guide(s) | Mr Baldie |
Walking distance | 6.25 km / 3.88 miles |
Walking time | 3.25 hr |
Total return travel time from base to walk | 0 hr |
Total time from "hello" to "goodbye" | 3.74 hr |
Fiestas and markets in places we go through - combine a walk and some partying or shopping! |
Note that there are also events in most places on January 6 (Three Kings), Carnival, Easter, April 23 (St George), June 23 (St John), and September 11 (Catalan regional/national day) |
your group | |
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number of people in your group (kids 0-2 don't count, kids 3-16 = 0.5) |
This is the total size of the group. Unlike other (city) tours, you won't have to share your guide with a couple of dozen strangers. |