Welcome to my substack. I’m a travel and fine art photographer who loves to share stories and photographs from over fifty years on the road.
In 1982 I spent a summer living with a family and studying Spanish and Spanish history in Barcelona in an immersion program with Kansas University (go Jayhawks!) The first thing I learned was that, of course, they don’t speak Spanish there. Franco had been dead for seven years and the Catalans were enthusiastically reviving their language which had been banned since Franco came to power in 1939. The second thing I learned is that this was a city like no other. Antoni Gaudi had put an indelible stamp on the city - his magnificent cathedral that had been underway for 100 years has no counterpart in audacious vision, and his completed works throughout the city have no equal.
In 2025 I returned and was able to wander the streets with decades of experience as a photographer behind me. The heart of the city I had come to love was very much the same, except that it had since been discovered and is pretty much the poster child for over tourism. La Rambla which had been known for its flower stalls and songbird kiosks was now overtaken with fast food restaurants.
In 1982 our meals were prepared from fresh ingredients found at La Boqueria - then the city open air market, now a major tourist destination. Not all residents are happy with this, as you can see from the look on the young woman staring me down in today’s Boqueria.
For a over a week in 1982 a major heat wave stalled and we stood shoulder to shoulder with most of the city in the department store El Corte Inglés which was the only public place in the city with air conditioning.
In 2025 I returned to a city that now had (mostly) modern air conditioning and comfortably enjoyed a quiet espresso along with a view of the heart of the city - the Placa de Catalunya - from the new café on the top floor.
The city of Antoni Gaudi had been busy finishing his masterpiece and in 2026 it became the tallest cathedral in the world. Fulfilling the 1982 promise of what was to come, it put on a magnificent golden hour light show.
Two other significant buildings of Gaudi were private in 1982. The apartment building Casa Milà, colloquially known as La Pedrera (the Quarry), had a café on the ground floor which I stopped at most days after class. Now the building is not only open to explore, but the cafe is still there.
Casa Batlló, just a few blocks away, is now also open with its own bar and café on its fascinating roof. It is part of the Manzana de la Discordia (The Block of Discord), so called because of the mix of incompatible architectural styles.
As all things, it came time to grab a final coffee and say goodby to this city that is so wonderful that even passerby will help a poor thumbless iguana dictate a text.
Thanks for sharing this retrospective with me. To see more of this and other journeys, find me on my website: www.stuchandlerphotography.com