Housed in an emblematic concrete and glass building designed by Richard Meier, Barcelona’s contemporary art museum, the MACBA or Museu d’Art Contemporani de BArcelona, was inaugurated in 1995. More than just a museum, in addition to its permanent and temporary collections, the MACBA is a centre for art education and research. As the museum’s name…
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A Fan’s Guide to Seeing FC Barcelona Play at Camp Nou (written by a local)
Futbol Club Barcelona, aka Barça, is one of the best football clubs in the world, and their ground El Camp Nou is the largest football stadium in Europe. If you like football, no matter which club you support, then seeing Barça play at Camp Nou should be high on your list of things to do…
Visiting the Picasso Museum in Barcelona (Info, tickets and tips)
The Picasso Museum of Barcelona (Catalan: Museu Picasso de Barcelona) is one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions and one of Spain’s best-known art museums. Founded in 1963 by Picasso’s friend and secretary Jaume Sabartés, the museum contains more than four thousand paintings, the most extensive collection of Picasso’s work anywhere in the world.…
Monument to the People Executed Between 1939 and 1952
The parapet of the people executed 1939-1952 (Catalan: Parapet de les executades i executats 1939-1952) is a fifty-five metre-long memorial to the 1,706 people executed in Barcelona during the early years of Franco’s dictatorship. The executions were by firing squad, and victims were lined up against a concrete wall which stood next to an area…
The Ultimate Guide to Visiting Montserrat from Barcelona
Tucked away amongst the jagged peaks of Montserrat, the Benedictine Monastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat is one of the most popular day trips from Barcelona. The monastery dates back to the eleventh century and was built to house a wooden statue of Our Lady of Montserrat, which, legend has it, was found in a…
The Twenty-Metre Tall Granite Obelisk in Plaça Cinc d’Ors
If you keep walking along Passseig de Gràcia, past La Pedrera, towards the Vila de Gràcia, you’ll come to a large and rather chaotic intersection called Plaça Cinc d’Ors. The plaza, which is really just an overgrown roundabout, takes its name from one of the cards in a pack of Spanish playing cards; the Cinc…
Olot: Things To See & Do In The Capital Of The Garrotxa Region
Olot is the largest town in the Garrotxa Volcanic Zone, a natural park approximately one hundred kilometres northwest of Barcelona. As the name implies, the area is known for its volcanoes, four of which are located within the city itself. The volcanos last erupted more than eleven thousand years ago and are now mostly covered…
What To Do If You Run Out Of Medication While Visiting Spain
When travelling abroad, whether on holiday or for work, you should always ensure that you have enough medication for the duration of your stay. For longer stays, your doctor may be able to write you an extended prescription. On the other hand, sometimes plans go awry, causing you to run out. Maybe your bags got…
Peralada Travel Guide: What to See & Do
Peralada is a picturesque medieval village approximately one hundred and forty kilometres north of Barcelona. The town dates back to the fifth century BC and rose to prominence during the middle ages when it was home to the Counts of Peralada. Nowadays, Peralada is best known for its impressive medieval castle, El Castell de Peralada,…
The Monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes (and how to get there)
The Monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes is a Romanesque-style Benedictine monastery which overlooks the Costa Brava, one hundred and fifty kilometres north of Barcelona. Legend has it that the monastery was built by monks who fled from Rome during the seventh century, taking with them the remains of Saint Peter. In reality, the first…
El Port de la Selva Travel Guide: What to See and Do
Set in a natural bay and surrounded by mountains, El Port de la Selva is a small fishing village on the Costa Brava, just twenty kilometres south of the French border. Although there are a few hotels in the village as well as a campsite, some holiday apartments and several good restaurants, El Port de…
Sant Pau del Camp: The Oldest Church in Barcelona
The church of Sant Pau del Camp (English: Saint Paul of the fields) is the oldest Christian church in Barcelona and was built between 897 AD and 910 AD. It is also one of the best examples of Romanesque architecture to be found in the city. Located in the multicultural Raval neighbourhood and off the…
The Controversial Monument to Slave Trader Antonío López y López
Many of Barcelona’s squares and plazas feature large and impressive statues. Some of the statues are decorative works of art, while others are monuments which honour famous people. Some of the monuments honour kings or heroes of yesteryear. Others feature famous artists, writers, politicians and wealthy businessmen. One such monument was the statue of Antonio…
The Martinet Valley, Aiguafreda de Dalt and the Dolmen de Cruïlles (Montseny Natural Park)
This easy, ten-kilometre hike in Montseny Natural Park is best undertaken in spring or early summer when there will be water in the Riera de Martinet. You can also walk it at other times of the year, but the pools and waterfalls near the start of the trail will likely be dry. The circular route…
Monument to Lluís Companys (Statue of a girl with a handkerchief)
Born in Tarrós in 1882, Lluis Companys was one of the founding members of the Catalan political party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya and served as president of the Generalitat de Catalunya from 1934 until he was executed in 1940. The first part of the twentieth century was a time of political unrest and upheaval in…
Doing Laundry In Barcelona (Laundries, Laundrettes, Dry Cleaners & More)
If you are staying in Barcelona for more than a week, or are visiting the city as part of a more extended trip, then chances are, you’ll need to find somewhere to wash your clothes. Doing laundry when travelling has the advantage that it allows you to carry less luggage, but it does require some…
Monument to Santiago Roldán (The Ass Monument)
Barcelona is well known for its public art. Wherever you go in the city, you will see statues and monuments decorating plazas, parks and other public spaces. Designs range from classically styled monuments and busts to more unusual, modern and even surreal creations. One of Barcelona’s most unusual and quirky statues is the Monument to…
Taxis in Barcelona: Information, Fares, Apps & Tips
Taxis are a quick and easy way to get around in Barcelona. The distinctive black and yellow cabs operate twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and in most areas, you will only usually have to wait a minute or two to flag one down in the street. Alternatively, there are more than two…
Contactless Payment in Barcelona (Credit & Debit Cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay & Samsung Pay)
Contactless payment has been available in Barcelona since 2012 and has become so widely available that you no longer need to carry cash. All shops and supermarkets in Barcelona now accept contactless payment, and you can pay with credit cards, debit cards and smartphones at bars, restaurants and tourist attractions. The only caveat is that…
Where to Buy Alcohol in Barcelona on Sunday (with map)
Most shops and supermarkets in Barcelona don’t open on Sunday, which is good news for people who work in shops, but not so great for tourists, especially for visitors who arrive in Barcelona on a Sunday or simply weren’t organised enough to get the beers in on Saturday. Fortunately, there are exceptions, and whether you’re…
Steel Pergolas on Avinguda d’Icària (Poblenou)
When Barcelona hosted the Olympic Games in 1992, they needed an area within the city to build an Olympic Village to house the approximately 10,000 athletes who took part in the games. Barcelona sits between the hills of Collserola on one side and the Mediterranean Sea on the other. The only area with enough space…
Barcelona Low Emission Zone: Everything You Need To Know
The Barcelona Low Emission Zone (Catalan: Zona de Baixes Emisions) was introduced in 2020 to reduce the adverse effects of vehicle emissions on the health of Barcelona residents. Access to the Barcelona Low Emission Zone is restricted from Monday to Friday between seven am and eight pm. During this time, vehicles entering the area must…
How to Check if a Holiday Apartment is Legal in Barcelona
Short term apartment rentals are an increasingly popular alternative to hotel accommodation. Whether you are visiting Barcelona with your family, on holiday with a group of friends, or planning an extended stay, renting a holiday apartment is often cheaper than staying in a hotel. You can also save money by shopping at local food markets…
Banyoles & Estany de Banyoles: What To See & Do
Banyoles is a small town built on the shores of L’Estany de Banyoles, the largest lake in Catalonia, and hosted the rowing competitions for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The lake was formed two hundred and fifty thousand years ago by the tectonic activity which created the Pyrenees mountain range. The area has been settled since…
Peratallada: A Pituresque Medieval Village Near The Costa Brava
Peratallada is one of the most picturesque and best conserved medieval villages in Catalonia. Unlike most medieval villages and towns, which have grown and expanded over the centuries leaving the original village centre surrounded by newer buildings, Peratallada has retained its original defensive walls and remains largely untouched. Indeed, apart from the three pay and…
Castellfollit de la Roca: What to See and Do
Perched precariously on the edge of a fifty-metre basalt cliff, Castellfollit de la Roca is one of Catalonia’s most picturesque and instantly recognisable villages. Built during the twelfth century on a rocky outcrop at the confluence of the rivers Fluvià and Turonell, at its narrowest point, the medieval village of Castellfollit de la Roca is…
Santa Pau: A Mediaval Village Surrounded By Volcanoes
Santa Pau is a picturesque medieval village in the Garrotxa Volcanic Zone, 100km north of Barcelona. The village dates back to the ninth century when the region was a no man’s land on the frontier between Christian and Muslim-controlled territories. With its narrow cobblestone streets and stone buildings, Santa Pau would be an ideal base…
Visiting The Croscat Volcano (La Garrotxa Volcanic Zone)
The Croscat Volcano is the highest volcano in mainland Spain and is one of forty volcanoes located in the Garrotxa Volcanic Zone, 100 km northwest of Barcelona. At this point, I have to point out that you shouldn’t come here expecting to see the likes of Krakatoa, Mount Fuji, Cotopaxi or other impressive volcanoes which…
Visiting the Gorg de la Plana Waterfalls (Brugent Nature Reserve)
Ninety kilometres north of Barcelona, the Espai Protegit del Brugent is a small nature reserve that follows the course of the River Brugent, just south of the La Garrotxa Volcanic Area. There are seven waterfalls and natural swimming pools located along the length of the river, all of which can be visited by following marked…
La Fageda d’en Jordà Beech Forest (La Garrotxa Volcanic Zone)
The Fageda d’en Jordà is a beech forest located in the La Garrotxa Volcanic Zone, approximately one hundred kilometres northeast of Barcelona. The forest is a popular day trip from Barcelona, especially in mid to late November when the leaves turn golden brown, making the area incredibly photogenic. Whatever time of year you plan to…