Route 1: End or Beginning of the City

The edge of the city could be seen as the end, or a confined area, but it could also be the beginning of all beginnings, the place where the mix of city newcomers and locals alike bears its fruit. Two streets in this eccentric area of the city give their name to two works of literature both of which examine issues related to identity: Carrer Bolívia by Tremp-born writer Maria Barbal, and Carrer Marsala by Majorcan writer Miquel Bauçà. Carrer Bolivia is a story about the migration from Andalusia of the new Catalans of the seventies: Catalanism, the working class and trade union conflicts, political commitment, adult literacy, and feminism. Carrer Marsala is an insight into the account of an individual who is isolated on the edge of the big city and caught up in social confinement, avoiding integration with his fellow citizens.