These pre-Christmas days, Portal de l'Àngel street becomes the gateway to the Fira de Santa Llúcia; the river of people on weekends drags you there without you realizing it. In fact, this pack of shops and fair was one of the star visits of childhood for those of us who lived outside Barcelona or in the peripheral neighborhoods; the excursion was made in the opposite direction to the Barcelonians who fled the city. We would arrive at the center, watch the light and music show of Cortylandia at El Corte Inglés in Plaza Catalunya, do our shopping, check the temperature on Cottet's immense thermometer, and end up at the fira, in front of the cathedral. Because this street is practically always downhill, and its slight slope allows you to see the people you will encounter. There is also an amplifying effect of the crowd, which is why it is the preferred place for televisions to illustrate the first day of sales or Christmas shopping days. A mass of people only during the day, because at night, the lack of residents has turned it into a ghostly place.
It is the third most expensive shopping street in Spain (only Serrano in Madrid and Paseo de Gràcia, which tops the ranking, surpass it); it is the paradise of franchises, of middle-class shopping. On Paseo de Gràcia, you go to look, and here you can buy. Now there are 28 shops on the left and 13 on the right, with a significant gap, El Corte Inglés, closed and boarded up. Among the large commercial chains, a small tobacconist survives, a couple of gate-shops selling nougat, and a jewelry store, in addition to a hotel, the Arosa guesthouse, and the Hostal Lausanne, and a kiosk with few newspapers just in front of the municipal offices of the Security Management. Beyond the ground floors, if you look up, there are beautiful buildings, such as the old headquarters of Catalana de Gas, facades that go unnoticed above the shop windows; there are offices of various companies or, for example, the illustrious Col·legi de Químics de Catalunya.
The rhythm of the street is slow, there is a balanced mix of locals and visitors, many people with bags and most accompanied. If the city were to be divided into sad and happy streets, this one would be on the side of happiness, even if momentary and artificial. Consumption experts say that shopping causes a chemical reaction in the brain that generates dopamine, that is, ephemeral happiness. Here, people plan their purchases as they go down and think about when they will wear or give them as gifts when they go up. That is to say, most pedestrians are in full dopamine effect. That's why it's also easy to know who comes to shop and who comes to accompany.
But Portal de l'Àngel not only has the label of being one of the commercial streets par excellence and historically one of the access gates to Barcelona through the old wall, it was also the first pedestrian street. Until 1973, cars passed through, it was the mayor, Enric Masó, who prohibited them, in the face of the angry reaction of the merchants. The controversy ended soon, when sales in the shops of Portal de l'Àngel and its surroundings rose by 30%. And since then, no one has dared to go back. Sometimes, the history of the city also helps to see the future more clearly.