Anthony Burgess traveled to Barcelona in October 1977 on a commission from the New York Times to write a diary-style travel article about the Catalan capital. Describing the city as the jewel of Catalonia, the author focused his piece on the architecture of Antoni Gaudí and his reflections on George Orwell’s writings, offering a rare look at his engagement with visual art.
Burgess viewed himself as a citizen of Europe, basing his life in Monaco from 1975 onward. That coastal principality gave him immediate access to the continent’s rail networks, allowing him to travel through France and arrive in Spain for an early dinner.
His 1977 journey yielded a vivid account of Barcelona, a city he contrasted sharply with the philistine environment he felt characterized his home in Monaco.
Evaluating Gaudí Through the Lens of a Colourblind Writer
Burgess rarely wrote about visual art and architecture. Writer Jonathan Meades noted that Burgess’s severe colourblindness was very evident from the clothes he wore, steering him instead toward literature and music. That limitation makes his New York Times dispatch an unusual addition to his journalism.
George Orwell's “Nineteen Eighty-Four” used “We” as a blueprint; Anthony Burgess and Kurt Vonnegut were also in its debt https://t.co/QxehHDVwse
His primary focus during the visit was the Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudí’s vast unfinished cathedral. When Burgess visited in 1977, the structure had yet to be consecrated, an honor that eventually fell to Pope Benedict in 2010. Burgess described the building in effusive terms as a metaphysical conceit humanized with crockets and pompoms.
Following his stop at the cathedral, Burgess toured Casa Batlló and Park Güell. He marveled at the gingerbread pavilion for the concierge and the undulant jigsaws of pebblework, concluding that visitors could only drink black coffee and Fundador while observing Gaudí’s architectural fancies.
| Milestone | Year | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Gaudí’s Death | 1926 | Struck down by a streetcar on his way to confession |
| Burgess’s NYT Article | 1977 | Commissioned to write a diary-style piece on Barcelona |
| Sagrada Familia Consecration | 2010 | Consecrated by Pope Benedict |
| Spire Milestone | 2025 | Became the tallest church in the world after a central spire lift |
Confronting the Legacy of George Orwell in Modern Catalonia
Throughout his time in Barcelona, Burgess wrestled with the ghost of George Orwell and his Spanish Civil War memoir, Homage to Catalonia. Burgess struggled to find physical traces of Orwell’s Barcelona, noting that the city had largely moved past the political upheavals documented in the 1930s.
Their respective views on the city’s architectural centerpiece could not have diverged more sharply. While Burgess praised the Sagrada Familia as an evanescent dream hammered into sempiternal solidity, Orwell had dismissed the modern cathedral in his memoir as one of the most hideous buildings in the world.
Burgess also observed that Barcelona had largely left Orwell behind on its bookstalls. While Ernest Hemingway’s works remained ubiquitous, Orwell’s direct engagement with the politics of the conflict received less commercial attention, prompting Burgess to remark that history is always unfair.
The Mediterranean Paris and Wider European Ties
Concluding his 1977 journal, Burgess reflected on Barcelona’s vibrant energy. He found a rich day and night life that he associated with Paris, viewing the destination as a place of southern European renewal.
Though Gaudí died 100 years ago after being struck down by a streetcar in 1926, his architectural footprint remains central to the city’s identity. In 2025, the Sagrada Familia became the tallest church in the world following the placement of a central spire section.
Burgess ultimately captured Barcelona as a city of energetic individualism, noting that residents allowed Gaudí to dance in their sky despite differing faiths. The author’s travels across Spain, including a wartime stay in La Línea and a visit to Tenerife in 1963, cemented his lifelong fascination with the Iberian Peninsula.
