Geocaching or treasure hunting in Barcelona
In the parks, streets and squares of Barcelona the "caches" are hidden. They are treasures that can be located with the help of a GPS. The game of geocaching is worth not so much for what we find, but by the path we travel until we reach our discovery.
The first thing will be to choose between the 650 caches camouflaged in Barcelona. All coordinates are on the geocaching website. In addition to the clues, we will have a description of the site that we are going to visit. "It's like having a private guide who shows you the other side of the city," explains Mariano Cuenca, one of the members of the community.
We can choose emblematic points such as La Sagrada Familia or leave the tourist circuits and discover, for example, the Poblenou cemetery . exist themed tours that propose, for example, a walk through the Eixample neighborhood to contemplate each one of its fountains. We can also let ourselves be guided by a series that honors Dragon Ball with seven spheres hidden around the city or opting for a circuit that pays tribute to Carlos Ruiz Zafón and the settings of his novel, The wind's shadow.
One of the Geocaching containers
Participants take advantage of urban vegetation as camouflage . They also serve streetlights, benches or traffic signals. Mariano adds that “there are people who make containers so adapted to the environment that they are very difficult to distinguish. They can be auctions in fences or railings and false bricks”. The most used container is a plastic container with a notebook and some objects such as key chains, balls or stickers inside. We will have to register our name and, if we want to take a souvenir, leave something in its place Next, we'll hide the cache so it can be found by the next browser.
BEWARE OF GEOMUGGLES!
Geomuggles are the people who do not participate in the game. Experts recommend that the treasure hunt goes as unnoticed as possible to prevent containers from disappearing. However, Mariano says that “you can get to a square full of people having a beer, search five meters away from them and sign the cache without them knowing. It is as if there is a reality that the uninitiated do not see ”.
The adventure does not end in Barcelona . There are two million caches camouflaged in 180 countries . The participants agree in considering this game as another way of seeing the world. Mariano points out that he has visited “hidden waterfalls that very few people know, remains of the Civil War in good condition, abandoned medieval monasteries or simply the view of a known site from another point of view. In short, a lot of treasures ".
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Geocaching in Barcelona