By: Jake Dabkowski
The Origins of Skating
Twenty-eight years before it would become an Olympic sport, the Olympics changed skateboarding forever.
In 1992, the Summer Olympics were held in the city of Barcelona. It was the first time that the Olympics and the Paralympics were held in the same city, and the city of Barcelona spent millions of dollars to renovate their city to modernize the city and for the city to be wheelchair accessible.
“The story of skateboarding in Barcelona is very much tied in with the Olympics of 1992 because all of the sudden there was a massive injection of millions and millions of pesetas, which was the Spanish currency at the time, to redo Barcelona,” Johan Wald, a skater and producer at Radio Primavera Sound, said. “People in Barcelona always talk about before the ‘92 Olympics and after. Before the Olympics they make it sound like Barcelona was a slum village, which isn’t true, but a lot of Barcelona… was a little bit unkempt.”
As a side effect of this, Barcelona was transformed into what many skaters now call mecca – a natural skatepark.
“All this money starts coming in to dress the city up, to fix roads, to fix parks, to smooth out all the sidewalks,” Wald said. “All of the sudden you have a city that looks super modern and has all these super sleek surfaces and all these open spaces, and everyone is like wow this is actually a natural skatepark.”
Over time, Barcelona would become a key hub for the skateboarding community. Professional skaters would travel to the city to film videos, which began developing its reputation as a skate city.
“I was here for like almost one year and I met two of my favorite skaters,” Matias Castro, a skateboarder originally from Argentina who moved to Barcelona to skate, said. “It’s so beautiful, you meet a lot of people, people from USA, and Greece, or Germany. It’s so cool.”
Skaters in Barcelona tend to identify with each other, even if they are foreigners.
“Absolutely everyone is so cool with you,” Castro said. “They will teach you things, like some tricks, and everyone is so cool… if you want to live for skate, then this is your country.”
One of the key spots in originating skating in Barcelona is Estacion Sants – the outside of Sants train station. The ground was incredibly flat, and there was a wide open plaza. Over time, skaters began traveling into the city to skate at Sants, and they began building a do it yourself park in the plaza.
Do it yourself parks are incredibly common in Barcelona. Some notable ones include the aforementioned Sants, and the large, well known Picnic DIY near the beach. However, there are plenty of additional spots littered throughout the city, such as Parc Joan Miro.
The Best Places to Skate
While skating around the city, I visited many, many places. Below is a list of the best spots, and an explanation for what is suited for what types of skaters.
Sants – Sants is an iconic spot, and it is definitely worth visiting while in Barcelona. The main area of Sants is very wide, so even if you aren’t as trick oriented as a skater it is still absolutely worth checking out. If you are a trick skater, even better – this park is a fun one to skate around in and try to get a few lines in.
If you’re looking somewhere near Sants to cruise around, Av. de Roma has long bank style sidewalks that you can cruise on for quite a while. One way is slightly uphill, but you’ll be able to gain speed, and the way back down towards Sants is slanted, but low enough of a slant that you can leisurely cruise.
MACBA – One of the, if not the, most iconic skateboarding spots in the world, MACBA is a must hit while you’re in Barcelona. But that doesn’t mean that you should stick around for long. The spot gets incredibly crowded, and personally I didn’t find it to be that fun to skate. It is still a must check out, but you don’t need to be going back there every day.
Directly behind MACBA is a very wide open space with some original Keith Haring graffiti. Rather than pay the MOCO Museum to see a Keith Haring print, go check out his graffiti and skate around for a bit.
Placa Universitat – If you’re staying in University housing, you’re likely nearby Placa Universitat. This is another one of the more iconic spots to skate at, and in my opinion has some of the friendliest skaters I encountered. The plaza is wide and tends to be relatively open, so you can skate around to your heart’s desire.
If you’re more interested in cruising, the road directly next to Placa Universitat, has wide, skateable dividers. If you head to the left you can cruise all the way to the outskirts of the city. This spot especially is a great place to get some practice on your board if you’re a beginner.
Barceloneta – Right next to the Barceloneta metro station is a wide open plaza that is a great place to skate. Whether you are interested in doing some tricks or just cruising, this area will give you plenty of space for whatever you want to do.
The Beach – Hands down the best place to cruise around is the beach. Start at the lower end of the beach, near Barceloneta, and make your way up as far as you want to go. If you skate all the way to the Olympic village, you’ll find another Metro stop, but otherwise you’ll have to turn around. The beach is immaculate, and you must skate there if you’re visiting the city.
Baro de Viver – One last park, Baro de Viver is a bit of a ways away from the rest of the spots but is easily accessible by Metro and is a very cool park to check out. Just be warned – later in the day kids on electric scooters tend to show up, so head there earlier in the day.