Are there areas in El Raval that are best avoided? In particular, around the Sant Antoni market (I've booked an apartment 1 block away in September), is it safe to wander the neighborhood at night to enjoy tapas, restaurants, bars? I live in a city and don't get the heebee jeebees just because there are different looking, or homeless, people around, but I don't want to get mugged, either. Would appreciate any knowledgable advice. Thanks in advance!
Posted by
Barcelona (Catalonia)
2942 posts
Safety is normally a perception so I can't give you a straight answer. What I can give you are bits of information so you make your own mind.
Barcelona is, statistically, one of the safest big cities in Europe according, among other, to Eurostat the official EU's body for statistics. Yet, as in any city with a population of over 2 million (nearly 5 if the metro area is included) crime occurs. Most of it is 'crime of opportunity' (namely pickpocketing, car theft....) but other felony assault related crimes (ie muggings) might also occur. What we don't have, or if any it's negligible, is: gun crime, hate/racial crime nor gang related issues.
The area of El Raval is probably one of the most 'multicultural' areas of the city with residents from over 120 nationalities. The biggest communities there are Pakistanis and North African. It's also one of the areas with lower income. Within the area, there's a distinction between 'upper Raval' and 'lower Raval' (south of Rambla del Raval and towards Drassanes, the Royal Shipyard)-, the later being more seedy and it's where the red light district is located: http://bit.ly/BCNhoods
Now, el Raval is a very populous area, especially on week-ends as it's full of small bars and casual restaurants so I wouldn't recommend to skip it. Besides, if you're interested in history and arquitecture it has some very worthwhile sites for visiting (ie. Biblioteca de Catalunya, etc). However, while it's perfectly all right for going say for a stroll or to dinner, I myself would prefer staying in a different area since certain parts of El Raval can get a bit uneasy (not necessarily unsafe) at certain hours at night.
Note however you said "around mercat de Sant Antoni"... that's not even El Raval, and in any case, it's next to the upper side so I wouldn't worry at all.