The history of the Canaletes fountain in Barcelona (and its 16 copies)
The Canaletes fountain is probably, with the permission of Montjuïc, the most famous fountain in the Catalan capital. The victories of FC Barcelona have a good dose of responsibility in it. Without being conspicuous by its spectacular nature, it does respond to a very specific moment in the history of the city and hides a good handful of anecdotes. The current fountain is made of iron, made in the 19th century and has four springs. It is crowned by a street lamp with four lights. In one corner of the fountain there is also a small trough for dogs. This model, called street light source, it was created by the municipal architect Pere Falqués in 1889. In total in the city there are another 16 identical. They can be found in squares, gardens and streets of 8 Barcelona districts.
this font gives its name to the highest part of the Rambla, next to the Plaza de Catalunya, which is known as the Rambla de Canaletes. The name comes from a source that existed in the sixteenth century in the same areaa, where the water flowed down some gutters, hence its name. The original fountain was located in the courtyard of the General Studies building, preceding the University of Barcelona. When this building disappeared, the fountain was moved to the Rambla. The water originally came from the Collserola mines and entered the city through the Portal de l’Àngel; From there a ceramic channel carried the water through the wall to the top of the boulevard, where it was the first source to receive the water. For this reason, being the first source, it was reputed to have the freshest water.
When the walls of Barcelona were demolished, a new fountain was installed, whose water came from the Moncada Mine. The current fountain dates from 1889, when the City Council discovered the installation of a lamppost fountain. A legend tells that many visitors are encouraged to drink water from the fountain; People say that “Whoever drinks from Canaletes, returns to the city”, so that everyone who likes the city or has reason to return to it comes to drink as if it were a superstition. This legend has been picked up by many chroniclers, and some give the version that the water from the fountain casts a spell on whoever drinks it and awakens a great passion for the city of Barcelona, preventing them from leaving.
Made of cast iron, the fountain has a circular base on which stands a cup-shaped structure with four taps that pour water onto four circular basins; Above this cup stands a column topped by four lampposts. The copies were placed in various parts of the city, such as Portal del Ángel, Calle Mayor de Gracia, Plaza de San Agustín Viejo, Ronda de San Pablo, Gran Vía with Pau Claris, Plaza del Surtidor, Plaza de Barceloneta, Gran Vía with Rambla de Catalunya (Queen Victoria gardens), Calle Mayor de Sant Andreu, the square of the Sant Miquel stream, Plaza de Santes Creus, Plaza del Fénix, Avinguda de Esplugues, Sant Adrià street, the Children’s square and the Vía Trajana. Some of them have already disappeared, such as the one in Portal de Santa Madrona/Montserrat and the one in Plaza de Tetuán.
About the Barcelona tradition of going down to paddles, Legend has it that in the 1930s Barça fans used to go down to the Ramblas to find out the results of the match, where they signed up on a blackboard hanging in the “La Rambla” newspaper office, near the fountain. Although this blackboard no longer exists, the tradition of going down to the Canaletes fountain on the Rambla to comment on the match and celebrate the victories will continue to this day.