Carrer Joaquin Costa: Barcelona Street Profile

El Raval is famous for being kind of an infamous neighborhood and we feel like that is total bullsh*t! This is an amazing, eccentric and eclectic neighborhood with many awesome things to do and today we take a look at one of its emblematic streets, Carrer Joaquin Costa.

History

The street name came from the Catalán politician, lawyer, historian and economist who was known to be the major representative of the "Regenerationism", which was an intellectual movement that searched for the causes of Spain's (as a State) decadence. The street is located in the Raval neighborhood, part of the old town. It starts from the metro station "Universitat" and goes down until reaching the center of Raval at equal distance from "San Antoni" and "Liceu" metro stations. As many other streets of this neighborhood, Joaquin Costa is a narrow, charming street full of shops, bars or restaurants, but also public buildings such as the Goya Theatre and the Centre Aragonés.

Shops on Joaquin Costa

- Fusta'm
Looking for a unique workshop? Then you'll love Fusta'm! It all started almost 4 years ago with an idea of a couple, which was to restore old pieces of furniture from the 50's, 60's or even 70's styles. You'll find only authentic furniture, lighting and different decorative trinkets. Not only is it possible to buy these awesome pieces but you can also rent them for special occasions, events. P.S : Entering the shop, if you're curious enough, you'll see behind the seller an old tapissery which is of origin. Fore more info, check out Fusta Website - A la Premsa d'Aquell Dia: The one-of-a-kind shop in Barcelona
The story begins 20 years ago when, after a few trips around Europe (more precisely to Belgium, France and England) seeing a few shops selling unique old newspapers and magazines, a couple and their daughter decided to create their own shop back in Barcelona. They first settled in Carrer del Tigre in the Raval Neighborhood before moving to the next and current street Joaquin Costa 4 years ago because the shop was getting too small to stock all the newspapers and magazines they wanted. Even if one can think they also sell French magazines (because of the few "Paris Match" in the window display), they actually only sell Spanish newspapers. But if you're interested in old newspapers in other languages they might help you find it by contacting some colleagues around Europe. The best example the couple told me was this time where a client wanted an english newspaper talking about the  titanic as it was not famous enough to talk about it in the Spanish newspapers. They finally found one that they bought for 12500 Pesetas (75€)!
According to the couple, the two kinds of articles most wanted are the newspapers first step on the moon and the World Wars. When going out of the shop, you can stop by the "Lletraferit" Library Café just accross the street and grab a café con leche while reading a book! This place was actually funded by Diego Gary, son of famous French writer Romain Gary and American Actress of the 60's Jean Seberg. Fore more info check out A la Premsa D'aquell Dia Website - Bubub Bubub also caught our attention because of its old sign representing a cartoon dog, bringing back its past of Toy shop. Nowadays it is a small Greengrocer with great fresh products for a decent price! Vegetarians are gonna love it.

Bars

Betty Fords Bar is a pretty famous bar located in this street, known for hosting hipsters but also for their good cocktails and burgers! Excellent place to start your parties!
If you're interested in a completely different kind of bar, we recommend you to go to Granja de Gava, a unique centenary bar which, as its name suggests, was a farm originally (Granja means Farm). It also saw the birth of a famous Catalán writer Terenci Moix in 1942. When you enter the bar, you can hear a soft jazz music and see an astonishing statue in papier-mâché of a giant fat lady decorated by a huge slice of pizza on her head. There are also art exhibitions, for example there is currently oil paintings of the local Marta Cino which are actually for sale.
Olimpic bar will be for people who don't want to spend much money or beat about the bush: 1€20 a beer, 3€50 a Mojito, Caipirinha or Spritz, that's right. And if you don't believe me, check this out:
No wonder it is always packed... Finally for the story, this awesome street once hosted one of the most famous Serial killer of the city, Enriqueta Marti who was called "La Vampira del carrer de Ponent" (Ponent street being the former name of Joaquin Costa street). So that you understand why she earned this name, she used to kidnapp dozens of children, make them prostitute and/or kill them. And with the rests (skin, blood, fat, hair, bones...), she'd make potions, balsams, etc. What a lovely person she was! :)
Cheers, Florian