If Freud were to psychoanalyze Barcelona, he would no doubt diagnose a multiple personality disorder. There’s the Gothic altar, the Art Nouveau altar, the modern altar. Three faces, each with its own spellbinding character.

If there’s an id that holds it all together, that would be the Ramblas, a string of tree-lined boulevards with a median strip wider than the streets flanking either side. And the middle is where the action is: cafes, restaurants, kiosks, street performers - general gaiety that goes on until the wee hours.