- Do you live where you want to live?
- I live very near Plaça Molina. I'm fine there, but I'm thinking of moving.
- Why and where would you like to move to?
- I have lived in Barcelona virtually all my life, in different neighbourhoods because I have no real preference. What is important is that the flat has enough space for me to set up my observatory, which I have had since I was six; at first very basic, then since I was nine, I have had a good one. The other fundamental feature is that it has good transport links, because, having driven for 27 years, I am now a pedestrian. I have sold my car and I go on foot or use public transport, particularly the underground, and I even go by bike now, although I find cycling in Barcelona a little frightening.
- Do you spend time in your neighbourhood and with your neighbours? Do you have the shops you need nearby (baker's, grocer's, dry cleaner's)?
- In my neighbourhood there is everything. We eat organic products at home and there is a speciality shop right next door which delivers everything. Anything more practical is impossible.
- Do you stroll around your own neighbourhood for pleasure or do you go elsewhere?
- I have my favourite walk, which I often go on with my partner: Passeig de Maragall, Peris Mencheta, Font d'en Fargas, Turó del Carmel to the Turó del Guinardó. We often take a lunch box and eat under a tree. And we are always alone. On one hand its good to be alone, but you also think "What a shame, people in Barcelona don't know what they are missing!"
- Which are your favourite cinemas, theatres and clubs?
- I love the cinema. My mother used to check the reels of film in the cinemas, and she instilled her love of films in all her children. Normally, I go to cinemas showing original versions, particularly the Verdi screens, and also to the Icaria-Yelmo.
- And which are your favourite restaurants, bars and cafés?
- When we eat out, we like to try different things, and discover new places and innovative cuisine all over Catalonia. Our latest discovery is the restaurant Les Fonts, in Olot. But there are also restaurants where we are regular clients, such as the Restaurant Orgànic in Carrer Junta del Comerç.
- Is there any public area where you like to go, to sit and chat?
- Parc del Guinardó. As with all the parks in Barcelona, it is very quiet, maybe too quiet, because this means that few people go there, which is a shame.
- When you have to act as a guide for visitors, where do you take them?
- To the parks. Barcelona doesn't have much green, but it has some magnificent small parks, which are not very well known.
- What is the most appropriate, funny or surprising adjective you have heard to describe Barcelona? Which one would you use?
- The first that I can think of is "noisy". Fortunately, I have heard other much more positive adjectives. However, "noisy" is true.
- Of where, between the sea and Tibidabo, do you have the most memories?
- Carmel, where I was born, in the street next to where there were those terrible collapses. It was a neighbourhood of small tower blocks, and, when we went into the centre we used to say, "We are going to Barcelona".
- Which is the best place (a park, a café, a seat in the city) to have a romantic date, or to be able to whisper sweet nothings to a loved one?
- I would like Barcelona to have more of these places, it's something that needs to be sorted. Despite this, even for a romantic date, stormy days near the sea are wonderful, with the waves breaking against the rocks. Or on Collserola, with the view of the sky all around, watching how the storm develops.
- What colours or smells, when you see or smell them anywhere in the world, remind you immediately of Barcelona?
- The smells depend on the wind, and each wind brings its own smell: the levanter, the mistral, the "poniente", the "ábrego" and the "marero". But, when you are away, for better or worse, you like to compare. And this is when you realise that, unfortunately, Barcelona smells a lot of petrol, of cars; it is a black mark for the city. Recently, I was in London where traffic is restricted, and this is very good; Barcelona should move in this direction. Regarding colours, I recall Barcelona as dark and grey, from Carmel. We have improved, but we still lack green spaces.
- Which of the changes that have been made in the city recently are you happiest with?
- The pedestrian streets, and anything that gets rid of atmospheric and sound pollution.
- What don't you like, and what would you do to change it?
- I don't like all the noise. Mediterranean people are noisy, but Barcelona is excessive. Just today, I walked from Gràcia to BTV (in Via Laietana, near the Palau de la Música) and the noise of the car horns, motorbikes, cars braking and speeding away is terrible. This is no way to live.