The Poblenou cemetery, an open book of what has happened in Barcelona in the last two centuries

The gravestones, mausoleums, sculptures... of Poblenou Cemetery "tell" many stories of Barcelona over the last two centuries. Adrià Terol, a historian of Barcelona's cemeteries, has guided a large group of visitors through the cemetery. Premium Club (The places were sold out) and he revealed a lot of stories related to this necropolis which, when it opened, was not well received by many Barcelonans, because it meant burying their relatives outside the city walls and very far away.

Many illustrious Barcelonans rest in the Poblenou cemetery: members of the Güell family, Josep Anselm Clavé (creator of the Clavé hearts), Narcís Monturiol (inventor of the submarine), the poet Marià Manent, Jordi Sabater Pi (the primatologist who...

Walking among the niches, Adrià Terol explained that in the past many Barcelonans came to the cemetery to socialize, to do business... For widows, it was an opportunity to find a new husband. He also noted that there are few texts in Catalan on the tombstones: Catalan was prohibited for many years, even in cemeteries. One of the first epitaphs in Catalan dates from 1857. It reads: "Josep Verneda, I said to myself. I, who without ills or harm, lived 79 years, robust and temperate. A doctor, I will not say who, visited me only once, prescribed an emetic, and I said that I said to myself the next day."

The group has stopped at the main attractions, such as the cenotaph that commemorates those who died (some 10,000 people, 20% of the population of Barcelona) from yellow fever in 1821, caused by a mosquito from Cuba, The Kiss of DeathA beautiful sculpture commissioned by a couple who lost a young son—an angel of death takes the young man's life with an embrace and, above all, a kiss; if you look into the angel's eyes and move away, he follows you with his gaze—and the niche of Santet (a nickname for Francesc Canals i Ambrós), who also died young. Santet was very kind, and even now, many people ask him for protection in their health and good luck in love. Adrià Terol suggested, as is customary, walking backward from Santet's niche, so as not to turn their backs on him, as a sign of respect, something the group naturally did, passing by the niche of Salvador Dalí's ancestors (among them his paternal grandfather, who committed suicide after being able to be buried in the cemetery).

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