Fountains of Barcelona: the water of our history (I)
The architectural wealth of Barcelona extends beyond its buildings and is manifested through squares, sculptures, and fountains, both ornamental and drinking. Today we want to focus precisely on the fountains that water our city. Did you know that Barcelona has more than 1,600 fountains providing water to pedestrians? It also has about 300 ornamental fountains, which decorate our avenues, streets, and parks. In other words, Barcelona has almost as many fountains as years. That's why we want to start a new series of articles reviewing some of the most famous fountains in the city. In some, you can drink water and in others, you can only contemplate their beauty. Some will take you to the fairy tale world of Snow White or Little Red Riding Hood, and others will make you hum the tune of 'baixant de la Font del Gat'. We're going on an excursion through Barcelona. Are you coming?The most famous: The Magic Fountain of Montjuïc Of all the ornamental fountains that water our city, the most famous and internationally recognized is undoubtedly the Magic Fountain of Montjuïc, on Avenida María Cristina. More than two million people visit this Barcelona icon annually to enjoy live choreographies of music, water, and light that the complex hydraulic system can perform among more than 7 billion possible combinations. Its origin dates back to 1929, when the Montjuïc mountain became the venue for the International Exhibition of 1929. The creator was the engineer Carles Buïgas, who was inspired by the principle of total reflection for the design of the fountains. From its pipes flow 2,600 liters of water per second that are distributed in three concentric ponds, with a water recirculation system that reuses the flow. Since the 1980s, music has been incorporated into the show. And since 1992, the Piromusical festival marks the end of the Mercè Festivities. In recent times, technological advances and concern for sustainability have led to the adoption of low-consumption LED lighting and the supply of the fountain with groundwater.
The most sporty: CanaletesDo people really bathe here when Barça wins the league? Tourists from the rest of Spain ask incredulously when they see a lamppost fountain with four spouts at the beginning of La Rambla. Accustomed to seeing pond-like fountains such as Cibeles or Neptuno in Madrid on television, they are surprised to see such a small fountain as a place of celebration. The reason is very simple. The Canaletes fountain ended up becoming, by chance, the Mecca of Barcelona fandom because football fans used to gather a couple of meters from the said fountain. Specifically, next to the editorial office of the now-defunct newspaper 'La Rambla'. To understand this, we must go back to the 1920s and 1930s when the only mass medium, the radio, had not yet reached all homes. The only way to follow the league matches live was to approach the newspaper and wait for the results to be updated on the board outside. Hundreds of people would gather there, taking advantage of the crowd to collectively celebrate their team's victories. Even with the newspaper gone, the Rambla de Canaletes, but not its fountain, has since remained a place of celebration. Apart from football, the fountain is also often a great landscape for tourists strolling down La Rambla. Everyone takes the opportunity to have a drink, because it is said that whoever drinks water from Canaletes will return to Barcelona sooner or later. And if one day you are walking through Gràcia, Portal del Àngel, or Barceloneta and you see an identical fountain, it is because this model of lamppost fountain has 17 clones scattered throughout the city.The oldest: Santa AnnaAt the intersection of Portal del Ángel and Cucurulla streets, you will find the Santa Anna fountain, which dates back to 1356. This five-tiered fountain located next to the Reial Cercle Artístic de Barcelona started as a watering hole for horses because it was a thoroughfare for carriages in medieval Barcelona. Due to its strategic location, the facility was expanded in 1375 with spouts also for human consumption. It is important to highlight the significance of this fact, as in a time when the city lacked running water in homes, fountains like this one or the one at Portaferrissa served as the main supply for the citizens within the city walls. Over the course of nearly seven centuries, the fountain has been a silent witness to the main events in the city's history. In all these years, there has been only one notable renovation, with a more ornamental than survival function: the ceramic panels placed on each of the sides and the vases that crown the construction. And so it has survived to the present day, where tourists use the fountain as a backdrop for their selfies, oblivious to the fact that they have behind them the oldest fountain in Barcelona.
How are you, other sources full of history and anecdotes go unnoticed in our daily coming and going through the city. From here we want to continue discovering them for you and make your way to the office or your stroll through the city an even more pleasant experience. If your thirst for knowledge about charming places in Barcelona is not yet quenched, you just have to keep an eye on our blog.
