At first I couldn’t find the category for this, but I just wasn’t looking properly – I was looking for “Olympic Village”, when really I should have searched for Vila Olimpica – it sounds so much prettier that way don’t you think? Anyway, I feel so daft now for not looking for it under its proper name. I’ll also stop rambling now :)
During my trip to Barcelona, I visited the Olympic village twice – once on a quick coach tour of the city, and then a second time on the last (full) day where we had to sit and “soak up” the sights and sounds of the area, so hopefully I have gained a good insight to what the place is like, and I hope you gain a good idea from what I tell you.
Vila Olimpica makes up a fairly small area of Barcelona (but then the term “village” probably gives that away), it has relatively few streets, and you know instantly that you have arrived there from simply looking up at most of the road names – loads of them on the edge of the village are named after previous Olympic cities – I think one was called Carrer de Los Angeles – not very Spanish is it?
As you continue to walk into the village, you come across a fountain – the fountain was built as a thank you to all of the local people who helped regenerate Barcelona in time for the Olympics – it was a rather spectacular fountain despite the wind that was blowing it in every which direction; I had heard of the fountain earlier in the trip, and I had expected it to be a piddly little thing (the sort of gratitude that you would get in London) so when I saw it, I was actually quite impressed at it for the size alone – it made a sort of roundabout for a main road.
To the left of the fountain (and slightly round the corner) was the main focus of the village – the harbour and the shops/restaurants/cafes. It has to be pointed out that the area seemed pretty exclusive and expensive. The area was almost totally aimed at tourists - any housing was out of the price range of locals, and basic amenities were lacking for those that could afford to live there. To all intents and purposes though, I was a tourist and so lets talk about the things that *were* there.
Once you are around the corner from the fountain, there is one main promenade – to the left there is the shops and restaurants, and to the right is the harbour – behind you is slightly smaller shopping complex – it also seemed to contain a swimming pool. On top of that complex is a giant copper fish that “local” people are proud of due to the way it glints in the sun… admittedly it was quite pretty, but it didn’t really look like a fish – more like a giant tube with a funny curve in it.
The shops on the main promenade were on two levels, but none of them were under cover, although there was an escalator that took you to the second level. There were two main shops on the second level, and they were both gift shops. Both shops sold some really nice things, but were a bit of the price bracket of the average student – if I ever go back there with a bit more money I’ll probably buy loads :) Further along the second level was the start of the restaurants… I think that starters started at about 9 Euros, (Ł7?) which is what we had been paying for out main meals the rest of the trip – it wasn’t just the restaurants on the second level that were charging these sorts of prices, but everywhere along the whole promenade. It might not sound like that much, but considering the average salary in Barcelona is about Ł12,000 (compared to the UK’s Ł20,000), it really is.
I didn’t say much about the first level of shops… well it was all restaurants/cafes that would have cost you an arm and a leg to eat at – the outdoor seating looked appealing though! The best bet for us students was a sandwich shop called Pans Company… I’ve not seen it here in England, but it was sort of the Spanish version of Subways (but cheaper) and they sold chips – it was one of a chain, because we saw a few of these elsewhere in Barcelona, including one round the corner from our hotel. They were packed, so if you go, you might need to take a king-sized pack of patience because people couldn’t afford to eat anywhere else!
Behind the main shops/restaurants were two towers (locals call them the “twin” towers – which is frowned upon since September 11th) – they look identical, but they have completely different uses – one was a hotel, and one was home to an insurance company.
The main promenade was awash with (what felt like) hundreds of people – there were people there of all ages, but the most prominent groups were students and those around/past retiring age (although the main time we went it was a Wednesday afternoon). There were hardly any young children, maybe partly because of the time of day, but also because there isn’t anything for them to do – it really is an “adult” space. (Gosh, listen to the Human Geographer in me).
If you came out of the shops and walked towards the harbour, there was a set of stairs that took you below the level of the harbour and the shops, and took you to some more restaurants/cafes/bars – they were all of the expensive variety, but would have been good had you liked fish, and I heard reports that the food along there was lovely.
The harbour looked lovely, loads of palm trees have been added to the harbour front and I think it they really have improved the look of the area. The water itself was full of expensive looking Yachts – you’d have to be rich just to moor a boat there because (according to our tour guide from day the first visit) it costs from 6000 Euros a month to hire a space for your boat. Ouch. The yachts aren’t usually owned by the local residents – it’s either foreigners or people from other parts of Spain that have second homes in Barcelona.
Vila Olimpica had so much money floating around that you could practically smell it! I’d be so disappointed if I had been a local person, because they were promised more Social housing, but they didn’t get a single house. It makes the fountain seem pretty lousy all of a sudden. However, the tone is lowered slightly by the street sellers – for some reason they were *all* selling sunglasses. It wasn’t even sunny.
The area is also fairly noisy – you could hear the main road behind you, air traffic above you, people chatting all around you, and see we were leaving, a brass band started up in the middle of the street. Don’t go if you have a headache!
Compared to other parts of Barcelona, the streets were really clean, and I don’t think I saw one piece of anti-war graffiti (a pleasant change, trust me). The Olympic Village looks really smart, and you can see that a lot of effort has been put into transforming the area, it’s just a shame that local people have been so excluded. The surrounding neighbours look so run-down in comparison.
Vila Olimpica was an amazing little corner of Barcelona (despite it's social drawbacks), I just wish I had been richer so that I could have had a “fuller” experience of it. I suggest that anyone who goes to Barcelona take a trip down to the Olympic village, if only to have a peep.
Thanks for reading…. See I didn’t go on one huge drinking session for a week; I did some work too :)
More details
Is it worth visiting?
Family Friendly
Evaluate this review
How helpful would this review be to someone making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
This product has not yet been reviewed. 
