The ‘noi del Poble Sec’ moved out of the neighborhood many years in the past. Joan Manuel Serrat lives on the opposite aspect of Barcelona, within the Gràcia district, the place the neighbors heard him sing throughout confinement from his patio. He lives a discreet life, removed from the glamor and the concentrations of the Palau Sant Jordi, which on December 23 will host his final farewell live performance. But on occasion he returns to the origins that impressed a part of his work.
Serrat often visits ‘El meu carrer,’ the road that you just favored from port i nom de poeta (with the flavour of the port and the title of a poet), to satisfy up with outdated associates. He meets followers and vacationers who ascend the steep Calle Poeta Cabanyes to {photograph} quantity 93, the place a plaque remembers that one other troubadour was born there, proper in entrance of singer-songwriter Jaume Sisa.
“All the road children used to play bater (baseball), buying and selling playing cards, marbles…”, remembers Margarita, 86, who lives throughout the road. “I might go extra together with his older brother and he would come operating to play and get offended if the older ones did not let him,” she explains.
A plaque remembers the door the place Serrat was born on Calle Poeta Cabanyesniusdiario.es
“He actually favored taking part in soccer” says Anna, 90, who was born at quantity 91 and is a fan of Serrat: “I like all his songs apart from ‘El meu carrer’, which he says had no solar and is lie”, he says subsequent to the supply that mentions the melody.
Fury among the many neighborhood ladies
That unruly and soccer-loving boy turned a stressed younger man: “He was very good-looking, all the women favored him and when he turned well-known they went loopy,” explains Victoria, 86, who admits that she favored him too. “He was a hippy. Every afternoon he was with associates at El Sortidor,” says María.
The El Sortidor restaurant, positioned within the sq. that offers it its title, is among the hundred emblematic locations in Barcelona, because it opened in 1903 and retains a part of the unique ornament. Its homeowners have modified: “In the Nineteen Sixties it was a tavern and a gathering level for neighborhood associations,” explains Carles, its present proprietor. The place retains a photograph of Serrat: “He got here to a meal a number of years in the past with associates from the road and also you did not know who was well-known. They all joked round,” he explains.
El Sortidor restaurant, the place Serrat was with associates throughout his youthniusdiario.es
Gastronomy, one of many singer-songwriter’s declared hobbies, additionally strikes him round Poble Sec, such because the Quimet i Quimet tapas bar: “He likes cockles and he takes nice care of himself,” admits its proprietor, or the Montalbán restaurant, a small seafood restaurant of six tables: “He stopped coming throughout the pandemic however then he got here again,” confirms the proprietor.
Lunch postponed as a consequence of farewell
He has no less than one assembly a 12 months together with his associates from the neighborhood. One of these lunches that lasts for hours, normally in December. In latest years it has been in El Rebost de Sant Antoni on Ronda Sant Antoni. A handful of tables are hidden behind the delicatessen window.
Those from the road keep there, no less than every year: “You can see the great vibes and it appears that evidently Serrat has helped a number of,” explains Xavi, its proprietor. This December couldn’t have been: “They have postponed it as a result of Serrat had work. We anticipate the reservation in the beginning of the 12 months,” he provides, assured.
This Friday, Joan Manuel Serrat provides the final live performance of the farewell tour of the phases. Those who know him say that he’ll proceed to sing in non-public. And dwelling, that, as his consultant, Berry, informed NIUS, “we have already got an age.” The singer-songwriter turns 79 this December 27.