Walking and Learning
A series of activities organised by Barcelona’s civic centres combine workshops with walks to learn… in the open air.
The 19th-century American thinker Henry David Thoreau once said that the only way to become radically free was to start walking—and not stop except to eat, sleep or rest. At Barcelona’s civic centres we’re not proposing anything quite that extreme, but we are inviting you to make the most of walking… as a way to learn. Registration is now open for a series of courses that take place outdoors and unfold as guided walks. They run until 26 March at civic centres across the city.
There are nine different proposals, designed to help you discover neighbourhoods, corners and landscapes you may not yet know. Some include six or seven sessions, while others run for eleven or more. Registration is required, but once enrolled your place is guaranteed for all sessions in the programme.
Among the options are the Routes around Barcelona organised by CC Joan Oliver – Pere Quart (7 January to 11 March; €80.13). These routes take you through the gardens of Montjuïc Park, the neighbourhood of El Coll, the former Left Eixample, the modernist Right Eixample, and areas such as Fort Pienc, Vilapicina, Torre Llobeta, La Maternitat and Sant Ramon. By the end, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a true expert on the city.
Other proposals, such as those at Centre Cívic Navas (7 January to 18 March; eleven sessions; €87.50), invite you to grab your camera and put your photographic eye to the test in the Photographic Walks programme.
Centre Cívic Urgell also offers route-based workshops—or rather, two of them—running from 21 January to 11 March and from 22 January to 23 March (€93.32). Under the title Walks to Rediscover Barcelona, these itineraries reveal places you may already know, but seen in a new light: through women’s perspectives, the city’s slave-trading past, or mysteries and legends linked to specific locations.
As you’ll see, almost all of the proposals take place outdoors. However, some—such as those organised by Centre Cívic Casa Golferichs (19 February to 26 March; four sessions; €58.32, not including entrance fees)—focus on Barcelona Interiors. These routes take you inside convents, archives, modernist houses and sanctuaries that are part of the city’s heritage but remain relatively unknown.
If you’d like to rediscover Barcelona in the first quarter of the year, sign up for one of these workshops and start walking. You may just become a little freer—and a little wiser. Before you do, be sure to check the full programme and details on the Barcelona Civic Centres Network website.