The roundabout that could be Paris

The famous English series The Crown transformed Francesc Macià square into an extension of Paris. The scenes of Lady Di's last hours of life before her fatal accident were filmed there. The curved, white facade, crowned by rotundas and two advertisements (Danone and Mango) of the building on the mountain side of the square was the perfect setting.

This end, the one between Avenida de Pau Casals and Calvet street, is one of the most known and frequented corners of the square. Everything is concentrated here. Shops, a small tobacconist, basic services such as containers, a yellow post box, bicycle and motorcycle parking, and a bike lane. But what takes up the most space are the terraces. This is a place to meet, to be seen, a place halfway between the Upper most Upper and the Eixample.

And among the terraces, one with history, the Sandor, a place created in 1944, as can be read on the parasols above the tables. A place with many stories, like the visits made by the famous doctor Ignasi Barraquer, father of the ophthalmologist Joaquim Barraquer, with his monkey Jocko dressed in a coat just like his own. Now there are no monkeys, there are dogs and few coats; instead, there are many padded vests and a lot of lycra. Boys and girls who go out with their gym clothes and have a designer latte in the most modern establishments next to the historic terrace. All concentrated in a few meters, because the true protagonist of this square is the car. Whether in the form of double-parked cars, a true tradition in this roundabout, or circulating.

The tram that will force this square to be transformed sooner rather than later

Francesc Macià was one of the first roundabouts the city had. It was built in the 1930s and has had many names: Alcalá Zamora, Hermanos Badia, and Calvo Sotelo, the most well-known. In 1979, this Francoist name was changed to the current one, but it would be interesting to know how many people in Barcelona have not updated their nomenclature and still call it that.Francesc Macià is basically a giant roundabout, a place for vehicle distribution, complicated to navigate and not suitable for novice drivers. There are five exits and there is always someone who hesitates and ends up stopping the circular dynamic that surrounds a very green park.

A park with trees and even a pond shaped like the island of Menorca, a tribute from the architect and landscaper Rubió i Tudurí to his hometown, as explained by journalist Xavi Casinos. A garden that remains hidden, because you have to risk your life among cars to access it, and the pond can only be seen from an elevated point. Few people walk around the entire square. There are those who go along the mountain sidewalks and others along those on the sea side, where the towers with mirror glass rise and also give a financial aspect to this place.

If the mountain side transports you to Paris and the terraces invite rest and leisure, on the sea side, people work. The architecture is more functional. It is the terrain for busy office workers who commute or go to look for a taxi. Taxi, bus or tram. These are the public transports in the area. And one of them, the tram, is what will force this square to be transformed sooner rather than later.