Barcelona was another imagined world, where after several visits, I fell in love with the city and its history. Later, I went to live in the Raval neighborhood, District V, also known as the Chinatown. After reading The Thief’s Journal by the playwright Jean Genet, I wanted to explore the alleys of Raval and meet the people who lived there. The many stories of Barcelona, and in particular of this neighborhood, seduced me. I spent time searching for the house where Ramón Mercader, Trotsky’s assassin, lived, on Cadena Street, now disappeared. The stories I heard at Casa Leopoldo restaurant, the tales of writer Vázquez Montalbán, the love adventures of the transsexuals at La Concha bar, the nights of discussions and drinking at El Fidel bar, and an endless number of unfinished stories.
