Carrer del Carme (official Catalan name; Spanish: Calle del Carmen) is a street in central Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, located in the Raval neighbourhood of the Ciutat Vella district. It is part of the recently revamped commercial area of Raval. This street contains the main offices of Institut d'Estudis Catalans and Societat Catalana de Geografia, as well as the Catholic church Església de Betlem, built in the Baroque style, and the public library Biblioteca Sant Pau-Santa Creu, based in the former building of Hospital de la Santa Creu, which was moved to El Guinardó. The street is notable for being mentioned on the first page of Jean Genet's novel The Thief's Journal.Juan Goytisolo, La santidad de Genet, January 1 2009 El País article
