Tucked away in a sub-neighborhood of the Gothic Quarter, I happened upon Satan's Coffee Corner. A couple weeks back, I spotted Satan's while on a field trip with my history class. We had recently studied the co-existence of Christians, Muslims, and Jews in 13th century Barcelona and had wandered into this neighborhood called el Call to see what remains we could find from the Jewish population, which once made up over 20% of the city. Today, this small neighborhood shelters the remains of a synagogue, a few Hebrew inscriptions found randomly amongst renovated homes, and Satan's Coffee Corner. In a neighborhood with religious significance that reminds both locals and visitors of Barcelona of the dark days of the Spanish Inquisition, I first found Satan's to be... distastefully placed. However, this small yet buzzing coffee shop quickly won my heart.
When I walked into Satan's yesterday afternoon, I found myself standing in front of a chalkboard that stated "no wifi, no decaf". Perfect, I thought. With 100+ pages to read for class, wifi was unnecessary and if we are being honest, so was decaf. I placed an order for café con leche and found a spot at the bar that looked out into the street. Just a few moments later, I had a café con leche sitting beside my book with an impressive design. Never before have I seen a cup of coffee as picture perfect as the one served up at Satan's. So there I sat on a high metal stool facing out into the plaza, reading my book, and enjoying this beautiful cup of coffee as classmates, friends, and couples rotated in and out of the seats around me. I loved the crowd, the vibes, the songs shuffling through the barista's iPod, the fact that dogs were welcome... yet I felt a weird guilt. I had fallen in love with a place called Satan's. I could only hope this little coffee corner had taken on its name for its devilishly-good coffee. But because the devil makes latte art, I will be back. I think I've found my new coffee home in Barcelona.
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