Image by Pedro Ghinaglia

Perhaps the best way to describe the Catalonian coque (English – coca. Pronounced cohcah) is this: Crusty thin and long bread as versatile and multipurpose as a pizza. It’s not a pizza at all, I know, but I need to use it as a reference because it’s much more known than coques for sure. Coques can be sweet or salted, you can eat them at any temperature. Wow! Now that I think about it, maybe astronauts should carry coques to outer space.

Indeed. Most human beings don’t know coques and pizzas represent one of the most common flavors of the Mediterranean Sea, but this fact is kept by the locals as a secret and coques mean a sort of regional proud always present in their traditions and holidays.

You should consider La Coqueria as a bank of regional secrets, a place to find a good selection of wines, cheese and sausages; a sophisticated spot to know the other side of these Mediterranean flavours you don’t know yet.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
La Coqueria | Bars, Coffee & tea, Snacks, Restaurants (Spanish) | Meal € 18.00
Saragossa 66 | Above diagonal | +34934161560
Mon – Sat 09:00 – 16:00 & 18:00 – 00:00

Image by Anna Boluda

You would have certainly heard of Passeig the Gràcia, the wide luxurious avenue in the center of Barcelona, with two of the most famous Gaudi buildings and the most exclusive shops in Barcelona. But if you keep walking up until you cross the Diagonal avenue, you’ll get to a much more livable street: Gran de Gràcia.

It is certainly one of my favorite streets in the city, despite of the traffic. At the street level, there are dozens of shops in every block: clothes and shoes, hardware or food, books and suitcases… But the most interesting part is just above. All along this long street there are several outstanding modernist buildings that trap my eyes. They might not be as radical looking as the Pedrera or Casa Batlló, but they give you the feeling of the tastes of the Barcelona bourgeois society from a century ago.

Gran de Gràcia crosses all the Gràcia neighborhood. All the narrow crossing streets have a lot to offer. I love wandering around to discover some new spots every time I can. One great option is going up Gran de Gràcia from Diagonal until you reach the Fontana metro station, then turn right into carrer Astúries.

You’ll find several lovely little squares in the area, all of them with bars and terraces. Go there any sunny Sunday morning to read the newspaper and you’ll wish you could get back every week!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Gran de Gràcia | Art & culture, Bars | Free
Gran de Gràcia | Above diagonal
24 hours daily