I ask the woman. She's gone back inside with her broom; meanwhile, another neighbour pokes her head out from the floor below. She looks at me from a doorway with a peculiar upper opening, from which she finishes a cigarette, in a ritual that seems to be a daily occurrence. With a piercing gaze framed by smoke, the peculiar window and the passage of time, Juana recounts how, out of the colony's 22 homes, only five still have residents. The rest are empty and boarded up. Getting off at the Foc stop is in itself a protest, given the decades it took to bring the metro to the Marina. The long, wide promenade of the Zona Franca stretches towards the sea and the mountains. A few early-rising acrobats are already dancing on the large zigzagging skatepark a few metres from the stop, and a little further on, the edge of the Fira Gran Via complex appears. On the opposite pavement, some of the many buildings that will fill the neighbourhood with flats and new residents are being erected. "La Marina will gain 30,000 homes in the coming years" is the already well-known headline looking towards a neighbourhood now full of contrasts, where old homes and complexes coexist with modern apartment and office buildings. Walking around makes you hungry. Where to have breakfast in La Marina? "I've only lived in the neighbourhood for a short while, but they make good _bikinis_ there," says a neighbour. And I go to _Tu Tesoro_ while neighbours come in, have breakfast, chat, and leave. If you have to try the _bikini_, you try it. "I've lived here for a year. I didn't know they had Colombian food," a neighbour comments to the owner, who replies something that seems common in a neighbourhood under construction: "We've also only been here for a year".

On the way to the old colony, the streets are almost eerily quiet. Hidden behind a petrol station back on the Passeig de la Zona Franca, the Colònia Bausili stands as the last popular vestige of the neighbourhood. Intersecting staircases transport you to the Barcelona of the past, but the smell of rubbish brings you back to the present. "Look, look, peek out," a neighbour whispers from the top of the stairs as she sweeps her entrance, which is indeed immaculate. Dozens of rubbish bags are piled up next to the old two-storey building. The confusion stops when Maite arrives, Juana's daughter, who lives in the same place where her grandparents settled 50 years ago, now with her young son too. Maite joins her mother's complaints and indignation. Juana lights another cigarette, and the smoke and conversation drift away at the same pace as the neighbourhood's memories. Save on select hotels when you book in the app. Our app deals help you to save on trips so you can travel more and manage it all on the go.

Is there anything traditional? "Just around the corner, you have Perancho restaurant; it's been here for about fifty years." Not fifty, many more, corrects Gerardo García from behind the bar. The current manager's great-grandparents opened it 80 years ago. Since then, they have seen the neighbourhood and its clientele change, from industrial park workers and residents of low-cost housing to today's neighbours. The fourth generation, which misses having more shops in the new Marina, maintains the Perancho emblem, which keeps growing. A colossal Spanish omelette: "We make them weighing eight kilos". He sends me straight to the Colònia Bausili. It seems to be the oldest corner of the neighbourhood. There is no trace left of the large herds of livestock that populated the area 200 years ago, but the mark of the textile factories remains, which dyed the land red with their dyes** and gave the neighbourhood the name Marina del Prat Vermell.

The price for unblocking drains in La Marina del Prat Vermell usually ranges between €53 and €546. The final amount depends on the property's condition, materials, and time spent working. We always provide a fixed quote before starting. Stay at this business-friendly hotel in Barcelona. Enjoy free Wi-Fi, an outdoor pool and 2 restaurants. Our guests praise the helpful staff and the clean rooms ... "We loved the atmosphere of the place. We did feel that they were overcharging for the breakfast."