Barcelona’s W Hotel (“Hotel Vela”)

Dawn, Hotel Vela. Barcelona, 2013

Shaped like a sail (“una vela”), this elegant hotel has been a landmark (and a controversy) at the entrance to the Port of Barcelona since 2009 when it was inaugurated. Interestingly, the issue of the controversy does not appear in the English Wikipedia entry, but does in both the Spanish and Catalan Wiki entries.

To sum up…There are those who say the project was not legitimate from the start as they appropriated public land for a private purpose and the entire process was not completely transparent. Then there is the problem of its proximity to the sea which apparently violates the Catalunya coastal construction law.

I am guessing that the building is still there because it makes money and the people with the money don’t want it demolished–which is exactly what those opposed to it eventually want done with it.

If the controversy doesn’t bother your conscience, you have Euros to burn, and you are looking for luxury accommodations in Barcelona, try a booking through the Hotel W website. You can spend anywhere from 230 to well over 1,000 Euros per night’s stay, so their website is a great place to go to fantasize or to have a stroke, depending on your druthers. (Well…the nude beaches are right next door, so maybe that will motivate you to find a way to pay the high rates regardless.)