El Raval

Once the city's roughest quarter, El Raval has been reshaped over the past two decades by the MACBA contemporary art museum, a wave of immigration that's made it one of Barcelona's most multicultural neighborhoods, and a steady influx of students and artists drawn to its cheap rents. Narrow medieval lanes hide Moroccan tea houses, Pakistani grocers, natural wine bars, and vintage shops side by side, while the MACBA square serves as a hub for skateboarders. It still carries some of its old red-light-district edge after dark in pockets near the harbor end, but by day it's one of the most vibrant, walkable slices of authentic, non-touristy Barcelona. The Boqueria market and Liceu opera house sit right on its eastern border with the Gothic Quarter.