The Voice of an Angel

El Barrio Gotico

In June of 2009, I took my daughter on her first trip abroad to Barcelona. The city is relatively small but absolutely fabulous, full of beautiful architecture and wonderful people. We stayed at the Majestic (excellent service but very expensive, I thought), located on Paseo de Gracia near La Rambla Catalunya but north of Plaza Universitat, the dividing line between the scenic but more modern Barcelona and the Barrio Gotico, or old Barcelona. When La Rambla crosses Plaza Universitat it changes character and becomes much more touristy, still quaint but touristy. The farther down on the Rambla that you go the farther into the Barrio Gotico you venture. You can tell because the side streets become smaller and smaller.

On one day when I'd left my daughter sleeping at the Majestic, I walked that distance and turned into the Bario Gotico. The streets kept narrowing and the people took on a different appearance, they no longer looked like locals from La Rambla who catered to the tourists, they now looked like locals who sort of, maybe tolerated tourists but didn't really like them too much. I kept walking and just plowed into the heart of the Barrio Gotico, rounded a turn and walked right into a largish plaza surrounded by apartments and populated to all appearances by hookers. 

[more after the break]

An Angel Named Pilar

Yes, the sounds of “hey, meeeester” and “papi” filled the air as they spotted me, a tourist with a huge Canon slr swinging from my shoulder. I really wanted to offer them some Euros just for their photos but the idea of having that mistaken for solicitation and having my daughter bail me out of jail shook the thought right out of me. I plowed on across the plaza and encountered the voice of an angel.

Her name is (was?) Pilar Rodriguez and she stood outside a church singing classical cantatas for change, selling her CD recordings and occasionally actually teaching voice and music lessons. By the sound of her voice I suspected she had been classically trained. We spoke for a while and she told me about her life. 

An Angel Named Pilar

She had had some success earlier in her life, had run into hard times, had lost it all. Part of the story is that she apparently lost what money she had made to a crooked financial manager and was now reduced to being a street vendor in a city overrun with tourists during the summer. I asked her if I could take some shots and then bought a disc. I still listen to it every now and then and wonder what ever became of her.