"I will give it to you" (BCN, 11th June 2011)

The clue of this post is in the title: "I will give it to you". In Latin this is "tibi dabo"; join the two words together and you get one of Barcelona's most amazing sights: Mount Tibidabo.

View of BCN Forum from top of Tibidabo

Barcelona is surrounded by the Mediterranean to one side, and Mount Tibidabo from land. Tibidabo is a long mountain delineating the edge of Barcelona. It boasts some of Barcelona's most incredible sights, with views of the whole city, outlying villages, the huge Tibidabo park, as well as, on a clear day, a very clear view of the mountain of Montserrat, from where its name can be appreciated very clearly due to its spiky contour.

This should be on any one's must-see list when visiting Barcelona. Two of Barcelona's best viewpoints, Tibidabo and Montjuic Castle, give sweeping views over the whole urban area, punctured here and there by a small hill, such as the one on which the famous Parc Guell lies.

Barcelona's streets are clearly visible from up here, and you can see the urban layout which is mainly formed by large streets criss-crossed in a grid pattern. On the photo above you can see some of the main avenues: Passeig de Gracia, Blanes...

Church on top of Tibidabo

The name of Tibidabo apparently comes from a legend where God gave this land for a church to be built upon... Exactly what the origins of the myth or any more specific details I don't know though. However, the church itself sits at the highest point of the mountain. Architecturally there is not much to see. It is clearly inspired by Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, especially when you look carefully at the crypt archway (but there is no photo of this), and I wasn't really missing out on much after going inside. The best thing about Tibidabo are definitely the views.

Yes, I used to think when seeing this image that this was a rocket station, but in reality this is the torre Corserolla, a huge antenna standing a few hundred feet tall above the mountain and held up by huge cables almost definitely column-like in width. The huge size of this structure suggests that it must have quite an important job, and sure enough, this is the main TV antenna in BCN. You might be able to make out the many round disks all around the central section of the tower.

Another Olympic legacy

The tower was constructed for the Barcelona Olympic Games of 1992, which changed the whole city forever. It brought bucket-loads of money in, with which they were able to commence many new projects. I remember reading a few years ago that house prices in Barcelona went up by over 210% in the years leading up to the Olympics, and finance and commercial activity started pouring into the city, which has made it change from another Spanish city to the second, if not the first, commercial centre of Spain (it is probably ahead of Madrid, due to the enormous port and airport, which have broadened trade massively for the city)

So if you ever happen to go to Barcelona (which by the way you should definitely go), don't miss Mount Tibidabo! You can go up by a funicular train or by road, and although the car trip will be longer you will be able to see the whole mountain. You can also go up the Corserolla tower, which would definitely be an experience to tell. Apparently the park itself should only be visited by day, as there are stray dogs which wander around at night time. But sensible people should know anyway!