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We walked through Sant Antoni, across La Rambla, into the narrow streets of Barri Gòtic to Plaça Sant Jaume which, between the regional Catalan government and the City Hall, was stuffed full of tourists in Picasso stripey shirts with selfie-sticks.

I loved the building housing the nearby Picasso museum but sadly photography is forbidden and the warders are very alert! I didn’t want to steal images of Picasso’s paintings, of course, but I’d have liked the opportunity to get a few more pictures of the beautifully restored building. It’s an uneven collection, since Picasso left Barcelona for Paris quite young so there are lots of early works then huge gaps, but it has all 58 of the Las Meninas paintings including nine scenes of doves. It emerged that my mum had seen an exhibition of these paintings at the Tate in London in 1960 and loved the doves so my daughter and I indulged in a bit of subterfuge in the shop, trying to buy her a set of prints for her birthday without her noticing. Not easy. Nor was carrying them discreetly round Mercat del Born and back to our flat before – Yippee! – heading off to the airport to meet my sister – finally arrived!


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