Okay, I´ve been skirting around this topic but here goes. I was walking around the gothic quarter in Barcelona and came across a huge block of(I would bet my firstborn) feces in the middle of the walk in front of Barri gothic. I talked to another girl who was in Barcelona and she saw the same thing!
I love barcelona and this is in no way a representation of or my impression of the city but I´m SOOO curious, Where did it COME FROM?

I definatley agree with Wolf. I was at first a little put off a little by the different smells and such, but what would a european think of San Francisco, or New York for that matter?

I also think that Barcelona is as Spanish as lets say the north of spain. Spain is made up of unique and very individual regions, THAT´is what´s Spanish!

Right now I am studying in Bilbao, in northern Spain. Just spent a weekend in Madrid. Although I loved the city, I would have to say that in comparison with Bilbao, Madrid is dirty. The biggest thing that stood out in my mind was the subway. I was surprised at Madrid's subway. Here in Bilbao, the subway is VERY, VERY clean. Still, it is probably important to keep in mind that Madrid is a lot bigger city than Bilbao. That said, I dont think that Madrid is any more dirty than a city of comparable size in the USA. :p

kelar419, I recently read an article in www.Madridiario.es about a special commission (??) being appointed to address the messy state of its subways. I saw photos and it seemed the majority of the trash were the unwanted, tossed aside, free Metro daily newspaper. Do away with those and free publications like it and the metro stops would be cleaner, I'm sure. But THAT will never happen (doing away with the free publications, that is). I rode the metro several times last spring and Christmas and didn't notice the metro stops or the metro trains themselves to be trashy at all.

Saludos, MadridMan

The reason why Madrid's subway was so dirty on that week is because the employees in charge of the cleaning were on strike.

As for the newspaper, it is said they were the employees as well who cut them in small pieces and throw them all over the platforms and corridors to show "how dirty the subway is" and "what a wonderful work they do everyday for little money". I wouldn't believe someone taking the subway bothers to cut them in pieces before throwing it.

Thanks for the info!! That explains why the metro was such a mess the weekend I was there

Hola Alabina, what a beautiful handle, just like the famous Arabic singer!

Well, I must say,Alabina, I had the opposite experience, I found Spain very clean, cleaner than Miami, Jacksonville or Orlando, Florida, that's for sure!

In Madrid I was amazed by the joy the street cleaners had every time they found dirt! They were everywhere after 9 p.m. I was there last during Christmas 2001 and New Year, and during that time I would have expected a mess, but no, everything was clean and tidy. The restrooms in the Renfe and Autores station were very clean, but alas like all countries, too few stalls for women . The facilities in the Renfe trains I took were delightful, clean and well supplied with paper towels and soap, very sanitary, I wish our own Amtrak had those standards!

I did notice that the floor of the wonderful Tapa bars I visited were a bit dirty, but since I din't eat off the floor, it did not bother me a whole lot, after a couple of cañas and jamon iberico, I was cool about the dirt. As a matter of fact it gave my trip that traveler's ambiance that says, Gal you aint home no more! That is delightful. However, the restaurants I visited had spotless floors.

The cleanest place was a laundry in Huertas called Onda Blue, that by the way also has Internet ready computers so you can chat while you wash! That place looked like Mr. Clean lived there!

The museums were spotless! I accidentally dropped a napkin at the Prado and the Museum attendant called me back to pick it up with the same stern look I give people with overdue books.

I experience the same ambiance of cleanliness at Salamanca, Segovia and Santiago de Compostela. It was almost eerie that the streets were so clean, after all some of these places have been around since medieval times.

Anyway Alabina, may your next trip to Spain be a cleaner one!