El Raval, Barcelona

The Raval is the neighborhood to the right of the Ramblas, if you face the ocean. In the past, this area was beside the river, and constituted the city limits. Traditionally this was a relatively poor area with much of the city's immigrant population living here. There is plenty of cultural variety, the street-life gives it color and character. Once considered unsafe, the Raval is now undergoing sustained urban regeneration. The local government, in an attempt to clean up the neighborhood, has demolished many old buildings, widened streets and opened new squares for people to congregate in. The result is an area in which old and new are mixed.

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