Interestingly, Barcelona has not always had such nice beaches. Before coming to Spain and learning about the 1992 Olympics here, I would have just thought Barcelona, being a coastal Mediterranean city would have a nice beach, man was I wrong. The beaches in Barcelona are great, with nice fine sand that is pretty clean and a very enjoyable general atmosphere. Unlike other countries, these beaches are public, and there is no need to rent chairs or tents like the case may be in Italy or other coastal countries. People at the beach tend to be friendly, while there are club promoters walking around hyping up their nightlife or asian women with oil offering cheap massages. You can even find immigrants with coolers (illegally) selling beers to tourists. The attitude towards toplessness and nudity at the beach is completely different than in the United States. When women are sunbathing with their breasts exposed, it just seems like a very natural thing, like 'this is who I am and this is my body' not a sexual thing. The beaches in Barcelona haven't always been this nice. Prior to the 1992 Olympics, the Barcelona beaches were run down, dirty and not even geologically nice. So when the Olympic committee announced in 1986 that Barcelona was to host the Olympics in '92, construction began to build up this forgotten part of the city in the Port Olympic area. Personally, I'd have to say they did a great job.
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