Barceloneta Beach

This guide to Barceloneta Beach in Barcelona begins with Carmen Amaya, a girl who danced for pocket change on this sand before touring for the King of England and the White House, and grew up in Somorrostro, a shantytown of thousands of shacks that once covered this whole shore. You'll hear how Francisco Franco's government erased the neighborhood almost overnight in 1966 ahead of a naval visit, and how the 1992 Olympics reshaped the coastline into the beach you're standing on now. Watch for a twisted knot of rusted steel near the water as you walk the promenade.