La Confiteria, Barcelona

As previously noted, most change is for the worse as far as a Jarvis is concerned. Innovation is seldom synonymous with improvement, and modernisation tears the soul out of most establishments. Yet a change for the better occurred in the 1980s when La Confiteria, a 19th-century Barcelona confectionery store, was turned into a late-night bar, and the owners had the good sense to leave well alone when it came to the decor.