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It's nearly 10 p.m. in Barcelona. But after climbing a narrow tower in La Sagrada Familia — and climbing it in still roasting heat — I'm in need of some air. So I set out on a leisurely evening stroll.
I decide to take the Passeig de Gracia. This city's Champs-Élysées, it takes me past more Gaudi landmarks, palatial homes set back from the boulevard. And eventually I come upon Catalunya Plaza — a famous meeting place for locals, as well as the eight million visitors who come here every year.
On this night, though, the crowd, growing by the second, is not here to snap tourist photos or meet drinking partners. They are clustered around something oddly shaped, tall — and unmistakably pink.
It's a large, inflatable penis being wielded by a group of twentysomething women cavorting on the street. And no one is the least bit offended. Not the elderly couples, who walk this city arm in arm. Not the young families, who push strollers late into the night.
In the edgy area of Raval, some tourists still keep a close watch on their purses. Others are distracted by open displays of affection, like this one at the El Jardi cafe. (iqui Sanchez/Getty Images for Globe Mail)iqui Sanchez/Getty Images for The Globe Mail)
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This is, after all, Barcelona. Heady and hedonistic, it's a city that exudes a naughty joie de vivre and flips a finger at conventional rules: Sunbathers go bottomless (and, of course, topless); couples think nothing of putting the whole Kama Sutra on display in open plaças; even church architecture can seem erotic.
All of which makes it the perfect horny backdrop for Woody Allen's new film. Opening this Friday, Vicky Christina Barcelona revolves around a painter (Javier Bardem) who beds not one but three women — his tempestuous ex-wife (Penelope Cruz), a soon-to-be-married American (Rebecca Hall) and her free-spirited best friend (Scarlett Johansson). And, yes, the love polygon also extends to two starlets necking.
But perhaps calling Barcelona a mere backdrop to this sultry action isn't quite right. Like Fellini's Rome, the Catalan capital is a central character in Allen's film. As he told the crowds at Cannes, Vicky Christina Barcelona is his "love letter to Barcelona, and from Barcelona to the world."
Smitten with the Catalonian capital since a visit nearly two decades ago, the 71-year-old director jumped at the opportunity to film there after being wooed by Spain's giant production company Mediapro and being handed a sizable cheque from local taxpayers.
And while some local filmmakers decried public funds going to a foreign production, supporters contend that Allen's movie is the biggest plug for Barcelona since the 1992 Olympics. "It's a huge advertisement for the city that will be seen all over the world," said the city's mayor.
The film certainly mines a number of tourist clichés. There are close-ups of the Gaudi church I climbed up, shots of Las Ramblas and enough scenes of the teeming Mercat de la Boqueria to make world-weary viewers choke on their cava.
But then Allen takes those postcard images further. He gets that Barcelona is joyously heterodox. It's a place where relationships can't be contained by mere etiquette. Dinner and evening strolls are rarely before 10 p.m. And guidebook stops aren't just a safe flirtation with foreignness — they can be opening lines for deeper seductions.
At least for those travellers willing to flirt back. "Ah, Barcelona," Javier Bardem sighs. "It's one of my favourite places. But perhaps more than any other town in the world, it pays to know people who can show you the little squares, which are not very big and set in narrow, old alleyways, where you can go in a quiet mood and simply soak up the surroundings."
Coming from the 39-year-old Spaniard — set to become the poster boy for this city, though he was born in the Canary Islands — this is advice I take seriously. But it is my first trip to Barcelona, so I have only friendly strangers to rely on for tips on sun-drenched plazas and sexy bars.
And my own feet. As National Geographic Traveler has noted, the city is best absorbed by "dancing slowly with her, like an elusive mistress. You have to seduce her to find her secrets." So I walk; non-stop, from dawn well past dark.
