The smell of sickly sugar hangs heavy in the air as we sidestep past a line of cameras and guidebooks, impatiently queueing across the sun-drenched street for crepes drowned in chocolate and bubble-gum blue ice cream.

La Rambla, the wide, tree-lined boulevard that connects Barcelona’s Placa de Catalunya square with it’s waterfront, has long been established as the city’s most popular street. Yet on a weekend city break with my family, who share my love for a path less travelled, this isn’t the authentic Spanish experience we were hoping for.