This year’s poster, created by Barcelona muralist and visual artist Cinta Vidal, is entitled, “Barcelona unfolded: a city of perspectives, routes and discoveries.” After controversies over previous posters, it was approved by “virtually unanimous approval from residents,” according to local residents.

In many ways, the result is a salute to Barcelona’s legacy of people-focused urbanism. The poster includes recognizable landmarks such as the cathedral, Plaça del Rei and Parc de la Ciutadella, but they are stacked on top of each other and all are pointing in different directions. People inhabit the abstract spaces. Oversized elements of Barcelona culture are embedded in the scenes, including espadrilles, an oil cruet and a baritone horn.

“Just like Barcelona, the poster cannot be understood from just a single perspective,” the city notes in its description.

The city’s site describes the poster as “an open scene full of possible routes which encourage viewers to participate.” Vidal’s work will live on as a permanent large-scale mural in the Francesc Candel Library.

“I wanted to depict a city that cannot be seen from just a single place but is discovered by walking it, a Barcelona made of diverse connections, encounters and perspectives which is transformed into a huge shared space during La Mercè,” Vidal says.

Barcelona does a great job of chronicling the creation of the poster and mural.

You can find past posters here:

Merce Posters

La Mercè is always at the end of September and starts this year on Sept. 23. One less endearing tradition: they never release the final program until days before the festival, apparently in an attempt to limit international tourists. You can find info as it becomes available here.

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When tourists talk about “the bullring” in Barcelona, they are typically referring to Las Arenas, the former bullring on the Placa Espanya traffic circle that was redesigned into a circular shopping mall in 2011 by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. It offers an eclectic mix of chain stores and an upper deck with a nice view of the traffic circle, but it doesn’t offer much of an authentic experience, unless you really like round shopping malls.

But Las Arenas was not the only bullring in Barcelona. There is another, much-less-traveled arena that still carries the ambiance and style of a real bullring and it hosts a museum celebrating the gruesome sport’s history in Barcelona. The arena is also a spectacular example of 1900s design and craftsmanship, constructed at the time when modernisme was sweeping through the city.

Built in 1914, La Plaza de Toros Monumental was the last active bullring in 2011, when Barcelona officially and finally banned the spectacles. Usually referenced as La Monumental, the arena is most often described as an example of “neo-Mudéjar” design, thanks to the geometric brickwork and arches, a vaguely Moorish look that was common for big public facilities around Spain.

But the stadium still has solid modernist credentials. The bullring was expanded in 1916 under the leadership of two leading modernisme designers, Domènec Sugrañes i Gras and Ignasi Mas i Morell. Sugrañes was a disciple of Gaudi and would eventually take over as head architect of Sagrada Familia. Sugrañes and Mas integrated thousands of blue and white glazed tiles, wrought-iron grills, colorful roofline and egg-shaped dome finials, giving the arena a distinctly Catalan façade.

The building is still a working arena, and it regularly hosts concerts, circuses and fairs. Fun fact: The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen have performed at La Monumental.

For a small fee, you can walk around the bullring and bullfighting museum, Tuesday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Or you can also take a few minutes to just walk around on the street and enjoy the spectacular façade.

La Monumental is located on the north end of Eixample, on the corner of Gran Via and Carrer de la Marina. There is also a metro stop, Monumental, on L2.

Map to La Monumental

La Monumental Web Site

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Dear Subscribers,

What makes a city interesting, compelling, the type of place you want to explore and maybe sell your furniture and move to? It’s not an easy question. Great cities don’t happen by accident. Choices are made. Risks taken. In every city, heroes and villians emerge.

In a sense, Barcelona Anarchy is about answering those questions, at least for this specific place, which has been shaped by centuries of inspiration, scandal and questionable decisions.

In recent weeks, I’ve started to write more about the topics that I’ll be exploring in Barcelona Anarchy, while continuing to add news items and building out the tips section. In a couple of months, Barcelona Anarchy has zoomed past 100 subscribers, a nice start-up milestone. It’s been fun diving into the Substack community, which is engaged, interested and free of a lot of the hubris and bullshit found on other platforms.

As I continue to finish work on my Barcelona book, you’ll start seeing more about the themes, people and stories that have sucked me into Barcelona.

I’m selective in choosing topics for news articles. There are many great news feeds out there. But Barcelona news is often interesting to the rest of the world, in a what-the-hell? kind of way. In general, I’m focusing on news that impacts tourists and expats. The item on the Sagrada Familia LEGO set has been my most widely read story so far.

Meanwhile, I’ve started to hit critical mass in the travel tip section. I’ll soon put these behind the paywall (along with older articles). Adding tips will be an on-going process.

I promise not to bombard you with emails. Thank you for reading and your support!

Kevin

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In its latest move to address the impact of tourism on the city, the Barcelona City Council has decided to ban private bike-sharing programs, such as Lime, Bird, Bolt and Voi.

The Council says it will continue to expand the oft-criticized city-operated bike-sharing program, Bicing, which is only available for residents. But the private bike services are a “mess” that are doing more harm than good, Mayor Jaume Collboni said at a recent press conference.

Data shows that 90% of rentals on the “dockless” private programs are by tourists, the city says. And confused bike-renting tourists are apparently careening around the city, causing accidents and cluttering the sidewalks and parking areas with discarded bikes, city officials say.

In recent years more than 4,500 complaints have been filed about the bike programs and more than 5,400 fines issued, according to the city’s statistics. At its peak, more than 3,500 bikes were laying around the city, and more than 2,000 bikes have been impounded for parking in unauthorized areas.

The city says the bike services didn’t live up to agreements to police their own riders. They voted to eliminate the bike-sharing apps by Jan., 2027.

The bike programs are a “mess,” Mayor Collboni told reporters. “The city must protect public space.”

The news will likely prompt gratuitous eye-rolling in some circles, given Barcelona’s socialist-led government’s recent headline-grabbing efforts to curb the effects of the tourists flooding into the city. In the past year, the city announced plans to eliminate AirBnbs, raise tourist taxes and ban cruise ship stopovers.

Critics say the city’s decision to dump the private services will eliminate mobility options, at a time when biking-sharing is growing in popularity in many cities. The public Bicing bike-sharing network, with docking stations around the city, is popular and tidy, but it also plagued by glitches and maintenance issues. And it’s only for locals.

“This decision goes against the trend elsewhere in Europe and the world, where bike share systems are increasingly an integral part of sustainable urban mobility systems,” Henk Swarttouw, the president of the Brussels-based European Cyclists’ Federation, said in a social post.

But the Council has been consistent in its efforts to shift the city’s focus from tourism to residents. In recent years, the city has greatly expanded the local network of bike lanes and car-free roads, making cycling a safer and more reasonable experience. (Although the Bicing system is for locals only, tourists can still rent bikes from local shops, Barcelona authorities note.)

While eliminating the bike-sharing apps may seem anti-mobility, the dockless programs present specific issues. It’s similar to the rollout of scooter rentals, which swamped cities. Scooters rentals seemed like a good idea, right up until piles of abandoned scooters started showing up on street corners and emergency rooms filled up with drunken frat boys who, it turns out, can’t ride a scooter.

The same issues have plagued the rollout of the bike apps, and the numbers suggest they won’t be missed, at least by locals.

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If you want to learn more about Antoni Gaudí before he became a celebrity brand, it’s best to get away from his big tourist sites – Sagrada Familia, Parc Güell, and his contributions to Passeig de Gracia’s mansion scene, Casa Batlló and Casa Milà. You can find lessor known Gaudí creations throughout the city, and each illustrates different aspects of Gaudí’s life and work, before he became obsessed with Sagrada Familia.

One of his earliest and most influential works rarely gets the attention of the tour buses, but it’s steps off La Rambla, making it, if nothing else, the easiest accessible Gaudí site.

Palau Güell was Gaudí’s first major commission for Eusebi Güell, who become his most important patron. The regal mansion on the narrow street was built from 1886 to 1890 — Güell reportedly wanted to stay in the old city rather than join the mansion-building contest going on in the new Eixample district — as the young Gaudí was starting to attract serious buzz. He had finished his first residential commission, Casa Vicens, only a few years earlier.

Palau Güell features many elements that would become Gaudí signatures. Gaudí and Güell shared a zealous commitment to their religious beliefs, and the mansion is a mix of symbolism and practical innovations for designing a place to live in 1890.

The mansion, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984, Palau Güell features stunning glass and iron work, soaring parabolic arches, and the type of artistic flourishes that helped define Gaudí’s legacy. The centerpiece is a massive 17.5-meter-tall vestibule with gold leaf, sculpted oak ceilings and a tall pipe organ, celebrating the piety of the owner and the architect.

But Gaudí was also focused on supporting the Güell family’s daily lives, from the placement of the lanterns to the location of the livery stable below the living quarters. On the roof, mosaic chimneys — a design element that would pop up in his later work — allow air and light to stream into the spaces. Bedrooms and playrooms were brought to life with stained glass and sculpted designs, the flairs of a young architect using every detail to create wonderful environments. There are many religious spaces, but there’s also a billiards room.

Tip: In the summer, the Palau hosts special rooftop events, including an express tour, refreshments and a live concert performed by young musicians from the Raval’s Taller de Músics.

Extra tip: Admission is free on the first Sunday of the month, part of Barcelona’s free museum program.

Palau Guell Web Site

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It happens all the time. You’re looking for a nice restaurant. Nothing fancy. You don’t need a Michelin star. And you definitely don’t want a chain. You just want that comfy spot, with a little authenticity, some style and, you know, maybe good pizza.

It can be a challenge in Barcelona, especially if you’re not familiar with the neighborhoods. Prices are high and authenticity scarce.

Il Giardinetto di Gràcia is what you’re looking for. It’s located on a quiet side street in Gràcia, in a building dating to 1880, with a small garden in the back. It’s been run by the same family for 30 years, offering “traditional food with the best from the local market.”

For the record, Il Giardinetto de Gràcia is unrelated to Il Giardinetto, a fancy, award-winning Italian restaurant in Sarria-Sant-Gervasi. One of the best known upscale Italian restaurants in the city, Il Giardinetto was established in 1974 by the famous Catalan photographer Leopoldo Pomés. (Il Giardinetto is “little garden” in Italian.)

Even though the sign says “Pizzeria,” Il Giardinetto di Gràcia is really more Catalan than Italian. The menu offers traditional local favorites, such as pigs feet with beans and mushrooms (peus de porc a la catalana amb mongetes i moixernons) and bacallà amb samfaina o gratinat amb all i oli (cod with samfaina or gratin with garlic and oil). Chef specials spotlight regional offerings like grilled squid, Andalucian gazpacho and grilled artichokes.

If you’re not in the mood for the Catalan dishes, the menu also includes a variety of pasta dishes and pizza, all served with fresh ingredients and some style.

“All our dishes are prepared by hand with fresh, quality products,” the restaurant says on its web site.

Il Giardinetto di Gràcia makes good on that promise in a quaint neighborhood-restaurant environment, far removed from the tourist throngs.

Click here for Il Giardinetto di Gracia

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A thriving community of writers is chronicling life in Spain on Substack. They are sharing stories of history, culture and the horrors of finding an affordable rental, bringing their own perspectives to every tale.

The one universal topic is food, specifically the flavors, animal parts and traditions that make Spain’s culinary world fascinating and smelly. Every dish has a story behind it. Every recipe and ingredient tells us something about the region and the people.

Here is a sampling of recent articles from Substack writers, capturing some of the elements that make Spanish food special.

Easily the best story I’ve read recently about barnacles. It turns out there is a festival, the barnacles are really expensive and geese aren’t really involved.

“The goose barnacle is one of the ocean’s strangest-looking delicacies and one of the most expensive in the world. If you squint hard enough, the long, leathery neck and prehistoric-looking ‘claw’ looks a little like a barnacle goose - at least that’s what people thought when the birds turned up for the first time in Scotland in the 12^th century.”

Read "The Roncudo Goose Barnacle"

Margaret Gypsy takes us into the world of sardines, a staple of Spanish menus. You’ll also learn about garum , a “fermented fish sauce.”

“Size is not important here. What is important, is the freshness of the fish. A fresh sardine should be shiny and not floppy. When cooked, the meat is soft and flakey, with a sweet and rich flavor.”

Read "A Simple Sardine"

“Slushies” make me think of a convenience story sludge. That’s not this. Rachel Drummond shares the recipe for a simple, refreshing Spanish summer favorite that may or may not work for mojitos.

“Keeping with the citrus theme, this year we’re making citrus granizados, or lemon-lime slushies. Granizados get that we need copious amounts of ice to cool off and hydrate. They’re only available in some bars: look for the hand-drawn sign outside, or make your own at home.”

Read about "Citrus Granizado"

More from Galicia. Miguel Balsa Campos shares the background and recipes for the famous Galician octopus dishes, Pulpo Á Feira and Pulpo A La Gallega (I write about my favorite Galican octopus spot in Barcelona here.)

“Pulpo á feira literally means “fair-style octopus”, while pulpo a la gallega means “Galician-style octopus”. In practice, many people use the names almost interchangeably outside Galicia, but although they refer to the same dish, both names have different literal meanings. The dish consists of round slices of boiled octopus dressed with paprika, olive oil and salt. It’s pretty simple.”

Read “The Camino’s Most Iconic Dish”

What to Bring Home from a Spanish Supermarket (and What to Leave Behind)

You need help from a local. I can be that local.

You’re in a Spanish market and looking for a few items to take home. Blanca Valencia offers helpful information for excellent items to stuff in your suitcase that will live in your kitchen for months.

“My list includes extra virgin olive oil that smells of fresh tomato leaves and cut grass, tinned fish with labels that belong in a design museum, legumes and rice with a sense of place wrapped in sackcloth.”

Read "What to Bring Home From..."

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As big city cultural institutions go, it’s pretty easy to get into one of Barcelona’s cool museums for free.

To start, most museums open their doors on the first Sunday of every month. So that’s pretty good. Less widely discussed: many museums may let you in after 3 p.m. on any Sunday. And there are also of a slew of open days during festivals and events, in addition to the annual La Nit dels Museus, when the museums open until 1 a.m. the Saturday before International Museum Day, May 18.

And we’re talking pretty much every major museum in town, including:

• Picasso Museum

• MNAC (National Art Museum of Catalonia)

• Miró Museum

• Montjuïc Castle

• Botanical Garden

• Palau Güell

At the very least, it’s worth checking any museum’s site before you go. You might be surprised to find there is an opportunity for a free visit.

Of course, be aware, you won’t be the only one with this idea. Free days can be crowded, especially in the afternoons. Museu Picasso, for example, is typically overrun, and the narrow old city streets in the area get clogged, making it a great area to avoid on free museum days, unless you’re an early riser.

But if it’s a rainy Barcelona day and you have nothing better to do – and maybe you’re entertaining kids – you can’t beat a free museum.

Barcelona Tourism is a good place to start for information.

Barcelona Tourism Museum Info

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As UNESCO celebrates Barcelona as the 2026 World Capital of Architecture, highlighting the city’s success stories, organizers should take some time to discuss the misguided decisions and scandalous projects that continue to tarnish the city’s neighborhoods.

Throughout the city, random glass, steel and concrete edifices protrude from the famed modernist neighborhoods, unconnected to the community, style or common sense. The ideals that define the city were abandoned to approve projects that provide little value and, to this day, destroy the skyline.

These buildings didn’t happen by accident. Plans and regulations were ignored. Developers were given free rein. Leaders vacated their responsibilities.

It’s a familiar story in cities around the world. But it is particularly glaring in Barcelona, where the city’s core and identity are built around scale, nature and a commitment to healthy living.

Even in Eixample, the district of uniform blocks created by Ildefons Cerdà’s world famous urban plan, the neighborhoods are littered with shockingly inappropriate, utilitarian buildings. In many cases, they are jammed next to classic old buildings. Who would think this is a good idea?

These are the type of buildings that pop up when planners don’t care and city leaders turn over the keys to the developers. It happens in most cities and Barcelona, land o’ modernisme, didn’t escape the greed and short-sightedness of politicians and bureaucrats.

Of course, in Barcelona there is a historic twist. Many of these buildings trace their origins to the depressed decades after the Spanish Civil War, when dictator Francisco Franco brutally suppressed the city. Some buildings were hastily constructed to fill in the destruction caused by bombers during the war. (Barcelona stands out in the annals of modern warfare as the first city systematically bombed from the air.)

After the war, Barcelona suffered under Franco’s regime, which had little interest in preserving the “decadent” architectural style of the defeated city. Grand authoritarian buildings were promoted, demonstrating Franco’s classically fascist tastes. A typical example is the Banco de Espana headquarters on Placa Catalunya, built in 1955, which would seem more at home in 1930s Berlin or old Rome.

Throughout the city, random towers were hastily constricted with designs that purposely ignored the craftsmanship and spirit of the modernist movement or the urban planning elements that defined the city. The 28-story Edificio Colón, completed on the port in 1970, is an office building with a restaurant on top, designed in a semi-brutalist style that probably looked cool and trendy for maybe six months.

The 22-story Torre Urquinaona, completed in 1971, captures the essence of the cheap authoritarian stylings preferred during the Franco years. Lot’s of sharp corners and straights lines, in sharp contrast to flowing curves and whimsy of modernism and Art Nouveau. It looks like Ming the Merciless designed a condo tower.

After Franco’s death, the 1992 Olympics sparked a great building surge, a feverish effort to catch up and create the type of architecturally “significant” projects city leaders believed would make Barcelona a modern city. Developers were allowed to bulldoze huge swatches of the city. Whole communities were displaced. And Barcelona was left with a series of random projects with few links to the city’s famed design aspirations.

In the runup to the Olympics, an Olympic Village was thrown up on the new waterfront, Vila Olímpica, including the city’s new tallest buildings. Of the two, the most striking is the 154-meter-tall, 44-story Hotel Arts, which copies the distinctive exo-skeleton of Chicago’s legendary Hancock building. That’s not surprising, since the hotel was designed by Bruce Graham and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the same team behind the Hancock building, who apparently cashed in with a small-scale version of their iconic Windy City project.

The other tower developed in what could have been a seminal complex is Torre Mapfre, a bland steel-and-glass office tower that would look great in downtown Fresno. Torre Mapre’s claim to architectural fame, at the time, was “the highest helipad in Spain.”

To add a bit more starchitect flair, Frank Gehry, fresh off earning the Pritzker Prize in 1989, tossed in a 52-meter glimmering fish sculpture, El Peix, as a canopy for the shops and restaurants. And, at the time, the complex created a pleasant image when the world turned its attention to Barcelona and The Games.

But time hasn’t been kind. Today Vila Olímpica survives as a cold, remote hotel, retail and shopping center that has little to do with the rest of the city. (Hotels Arts is operated by Ritz Carlton.) It’s a place for tourists and the crowds frequenting the casino.

In the craze to build new and look modern, Barcelona approved a series of architectural anomalies that speak to architects trying to wow architecture students. You can see city leaders grabbing at design trends, hoping to appear hip, while ignoring the elements that would later define Barcelona as the “world capital of architecture.”

Stark, charmless buildings began appearing throughout the city. In 1993, the fast-expanding, nine-story El Cortes Inglés department store on Plaça de Catalunya, occupying one of the city’s most treasured corners, was reclad into a brutalist fortress.

Beyond Sagrada Familia, the most distinctive building on Barcelona’s skyline is Torre Glòries, a round, glass-coated tower built in 2005 that sticks out of the landscape like a glowing condom. Designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, Glòries is beloved by tall building fans for its natural ventilation system and complex façade. And many locals tout it as an example of a new era of design. But it has little to do with the style, skyline and character of Barcelona, and you can’t not see it.

Architecture fans will also note that Nouvel used almost the same design to better effect in Qatar, with the Doha Tower. That makes Glòries nothing more than Nouvel’s second-best glass condom tower, which hardly stands as a great sell line for the postcards.

As a side note, in recent years the public space around Glòries has been the target of a massive urban renewal project, including new parks and cultural spaces. It is one of the success stories that will be discussed during the World Capital of Architecture events. And Torre Glòries still seems rundown and out of place.

The most hated building in Barcelona might be the W Hotel built in 2009, a glass “sail” on the waterfront with zero connection to anything in the city. The developers ignored Spain’s strict laws for building on the water’s edge. A key piece of land was wasted. Two years after it was finished Spain’s Supreme Court ruled that the construction was illegal, but refused to order it torn down. The “sail” design is also a ripoff of the Burj al Arab “sail” design in Dubai.

Nobody leaves Barcelona talking about the ugly buildings. But there are lessons to be learned from the city’s mistakes. Decisions have long term consequences, and Barcelona is still paying the price.

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In honor of Barcelona’s year-long celebration commemorating the 100^th anniversary of Antoni Gaudí’s death, LEGO is releasing a Sagrada Familia set designed to “reflect both the scale and spirit of Gaudí’s vision.”

The set will include more than 1,200 pieces, making it LEGO’s largest product by piece count. It also carries an $800 price tag.

LEGO takes this stuff seriously. The massive set seeks to “capture the evolving story of Barcelona’s most iconic landmark, with the building steps mirroring the basilica’s actual construction sequence,” according to the press release. Extra time was spent to capture the stained-glass window effect, in order to “echo the unique way light moves through the real basilica.”

“We felt an immense responsibility to do justice to the Sagrada Família through this design,” LEGO Architecture Designer Rok Žgalin Kobe said in the press release. “Our goal was to honor Gaudí’s vision with the utmost respect, capturing the rhythm of the basilica’s construction, its extraordinary complexity and ambition, and translating that into an immersive building experience.”

According to the press release, “builders” will be able to enhance the experience through the LEGO Builder app, which offers “intuitive 3D instructions, progress tracking and the ability to save builds, turning the building process into a guided, immersive journey.”

Sagrada Familia will join projects from around the world that have been immortalized in the toy company’s architecture series. You can also find sets for the Trevi Fountain, Notre Dame and Germany’s Neuschwanstein Castle.

The completed Sagrada Familia model will be 24 inches high, 18.5 inches wide, and 15 inches deep. At this point it is only available for pre-order, with sets expected to ship in November.

You can find all the details on the set and pre-ordering here.

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Sure, La Boqueria is the “most famous” food market in Barcelona and it’s steps off La Rambla. It’s also overcrowded with tours and busloads of people eager to get a free sample of cheese, as well as a fertile hunting ground for local pickpockets.

If you’re jonesing for an authentic Barcelona food market moment, but you’re in that tight tourist time frame, there is an easy alternative not far away from the crush of La Rambla.

Mercat de Santa Caterina is the real deal. A buzzing sea of stalls, it is a short stroll across Via Laietana from the central cathedral, and not far from the Palau de Musica Catalana. When you’re done, the market is also a starting point to dive into El Born from the backside, a labyrinth of alleys, restaurants and shops often missed by short-term travelers.

The site was the original home of a Dominican convent founded in the 13^th century, but was reborn as Barcelona’s first covered market in 1848. A 2005 renovation led by architects Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue created a modern form of the traditional market, heighted by an undulating roof line with 325,000 colorful ceramic tiles, supported by an intricate steel and wood frame.

Inside, Caterina is a bustling traditional market, serving the local neighborhoods. Stalls offer the fresh meats, fish and vegetables that are the lifeblood of city kitchens. There are also a couple of restaurants offering a spot to take a break and watch the swirl of the community. Without the oppressive tourists throngs of Boqueria, Caterina gives you the sights, smells and authentic experience of a real Barcelona working market.

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Like many tourists, I didn’t really get Barcelona on my first visit. The neighborhoods seemed strangely monotonous and the crowds in the tourist spots were obnoxious. I walked La Rambla, gazed upon Sagrada Familia and joined the throngs herded into a Gaudi house. The city registered as a Paris wannabe with a cool church, little more than a nice stop on a quickie Euro jaunt.

It wasn’t until my third visit, after I had worked through the list of must-do tourist activities, that I started to understand why so many people fall in love with the place. When you sink into the city’s rhythm of life and move away from the tourist zones, you start to discover the real Barcelona, the city that inspires so much loyalty, outrage and bad poetry.

I’m often asked why I’ve become marginally obsessed with the city, a valid question. There are plenty of cities with beautiful old cafes, great history and cool art. I could just as easily be eating tasty pastries and swapping tales of revolution and architecture in a Paris or Copenhagen coffee shop.

On one level, my answer is simple: I’m an architecture and urban planning geek and Barcelona is the best designed city in the world. Fellow urban planning geeks know exactly what I’m talking about. The wide sidewalks, notched corners at the end of the blocks, the sunny corridors — they’re all the product of an urban plan developed in 1860 by Ildefons Cerdà, an innovator in sustainability and healthy cities a century before it was cool to be green. In an era when most cities planned streets around troop movements, Cerdà explored how people live and move through neighborhoods, addressing the poor conditions that plagued so many cities.

Much of the best parts of Cerda’s plans were tossed aside by greedy developers, but the results still can be seen everywhere in the modern Barcelona, from the cafés that line the sidewalks to the fresh air that flows through the wide avenues. It’s easy to walk from block to block because Cerdà spent a lot of time figuring out the appropriate length and height of a city block. The design encourages people to live outdoors in the cafes, squares and parks. Traffic, buses and the metro move naturally through the streets. It is still, and always has been, a city that works, right up until the times it turns into a crazed shitshow, which happens with sad regularity.

The more I learned about Barcelona, the more I became fascinated by the centuries of scandals, tragedies and passions that shaped the city and its culture. Barcelona’s charm and fabled quirkiness are no accident. Battles were fought, decisions made, norms ignored to make Barcelona what it is today. To understand the long-running Catalan independence movement today, you must first appreciate the region’s centuries-old battles with Madrid and Europe, and the tales of irritated queens and ambitious French operators that almost always ended badly for Barcelona.

Beyond journalistic curiosity, digging deeper, my obsession becomes harder to explain.

As soon as I arrive, I’m always amazed at how comfortable I feel in the city. Strolling the streets, I instantly feel like I never left. Within hours I’m eating weird forms of pig in dark cafes in the middle of the night, complaining about noisy garbage pickups and spending too much time sipping cortados and watching old men play bocce ball in the park.

Once you’re away from the tourist areas, Barcelona is remarkably free of the hubris and fast-food chains that provide the landscape for so many cities. Neighborhoods may look the same, but each is unique, defined by the bakeries, markets and wine stores that have been part of the block for generations. An old lady sells vegetables form her cousin’s farm; a shop offers a rare cheese from a little town in Basque country; a cobbler repairs everyone’s shoes, same as his father and his father before that. These neighborhoods have survived crazy kings, Franco and the rise of Wal-Mart.

In Barcelona, I walk obsessively, sometimes just because I’m bored. It is a city that always pays off when you make the wrong turn or decide to walk down a new alley. The city’s history can be found in the nooks and crannies, the labyrinths of old street and the sordid tales reflecting centuries of anarchists and artists; royalty and deceit; celebrations and vendettas.

A bizarre stew of cultures, tragedy and inspiration produced a city with a distinctly different vibe than any other major city in the world. The streets are named after poets and architects, not conquering generals. It is a city that treats art, theater and music as vital parts of the daily environment, from random, outrageous street performers to the opera singer practicing a mournful aria amid the old stone walls. In Barcelona, instead of a ratty dropout trying to play old Beatles songs on an out-of-tune guitar, the street musicians are often trained artists playing jazz and classical music, taking advantage of the acoustics of a secluded spot. You can tell a lot about a city by the quality of the buskers.

On a fundamental, bureaucratic level, Barcelona embraces culture, education and the outrageous. The city’s identity and tourism industry are built around the flamboyant designs of art nouveau, a movement that flips the bird to old traditions and rigid thinking. Among its long line of festivals and parties, every April the city celebrates the Saint Jordi Festival by sharing books and roses. There are no military parades in Barcelona, but there are regular massive, traffic-snarling demonstrations around global peace, worker rights and equity issues.

It is, without a doubt, a city with flaws. Tourists overrun the neighborhoods in the summer; graffiti scars the old buildings and there is a seedy veneer to many of the old streets. In the dark corners of Raval, not far from the tourist throngs, you might see hippies shooting heroin in a picturesque cobblestone alley and the guy next to you in the bar in Poble Sec may or may not work for the Russian mob. And it is true that many of the world’s best pickpockets operate in the city.

All those things are true and none of it matters. Catalonia’s historic knack for landing on the wrong side of war and politics has produced a resilient spirit, a sense of nationalism and pride that remains a very real part of the modern Barcelona. The outside world, and the scandal du jour don’t really matter. The city succeeds and grows and remains a great place to live and visit, despite all the weirdness and turmoil. In 2017, after a horrible terrorist attack on La Rambla, tens of thousands took to the streets to chant, “we are not afraid.” That is Barcelona.

In the real Barcelona, which has nothing to do with the tourist Barcelona, not everything fits the postcard images. The heroes are often damaged; the fables often end badly. The stories don’t quite fit the myths. There is context and a story to everything about the city. The great buildings are the product of craftsmen and builders who were oppressed and manipulated by the city’s elite for generations. The beach is sunny and fun and completely man-made. The rewards go to those willing to sink into the city and discover what makes it different and worthy of stirring Catalan ballads.

As a journalist, I love that there is a story behind every corner. That feeling never goes away in Barcelona. No matter how much I learn, I am constantly reminded that my perspective is that of an outsider, a dumbass American experiencing a city built over generations. After years visiting and living in the city, I am keenly aware that I am no more than a guest, and it would be arrogant and foolish of me to think I will ever really understand this place.

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Barcelona’s city government last week fired a salvo across the bow of the cruise industry, voting to double taxes on transit passengers and reduce the number of available terminals. The ultimate goal is to eliminate all cruise ship stopovers in the city, Mayor Jaume Collboni told reporters, in the biggest move yet to change the paradigm of mass tourism in the city.

While the pronouncement will certainly induce some eye rolling —another example of wacky Barcelona’s anti-tourism campaign! —Barcelona’s leaders are taking real action to stem the flood of tourists swamping the streets. Last year saw record activity in cruise activity, with 832 calls and more than 3.9 million passengers wandering La Rambla and lining up for tour buses.

Ultimately, leaders make decisions about what kind of city they want, and Barcelona’s City Council is fighting back against a tourism industry that many people believe has done real damage to the city. The council has already backed plans to eliminate licenses for Airbnb and similar short-term rental units.

Barcelona mayor’s proposal would not ban cruise ships, only the quick stops that deposit thousands of people into the streets only to see them leave in a few hours. Barcelona would still be used as a home port, which encourages passengers to stay in the city before or after their voyage.

The city is trying to encourage a cruise industry that brings people to the city’s hotels and restaurants, instead of simply using the city as a theme park for daily visitors who clog the roads and streets and don’t even buy lunch. Beyond tour operators and souvenir shops, cities often see little benefit from the cruise ship onslaught.

In the short term, the city doubled the tax on passengers who spend less than 12 hours in the city to 8 euros. It will also reduce the number of cruise ship terminals from seven to five, a concrete step that suggests it is serious about reconfiguring the port economy.

The city says it will use money raised by the new fees to improve the tourism infrastructure and develop more local housing, which remains to be seen. But Barcelona is moving beyond talk to take real action. Some may disagree, but at least the city is showing a willingness to step back from the buffet and rethink its approach to mass tourism.

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The Spanish Civil War and Franco’s devastating reign over the city remain the seminal, cataclysmic events that shaped the modern Barcelona. Little known to many outside Spain — especially in the U.S. — the struggle against fascism in Barcelona degenerated into strife and nightmare, creating a lasting symbol of the heartbreak and loss that continue to plague the city’s complicated psyche.

Nick Lloyd’s tours are well known in Barcelona as a starting point for any discussion of the war. Nick is the author of “Forgotten Places: Barcelona and the Spanish Civil War,” as well as the recently released, “Travels Through the Spanish Civil War” (links below). He has a passion for bringing the stories of the war to life and humanizing the horrible events that tore apart families and neighborhoods for generations.

Check out the book

The Gothic Quarter tour is a stroll through the chaos, terror and tragedies of the war. The stories and details will resonate whether you are an expert on the war or a neophyte. Many sites vividly remain, such as the pockmarked stones walls of the church of Sant Felip Neri, where in Jan. 1938 bombs from Italian planes killed 42 people, primarily children huddled in a shelter. Barcelona was one of the first major cities to face systematic bombardment from the sky, and the scars are found throughout the old city.

On the tour, you will also learn about the mélange of Stalinists, Trotskyites, anarchists and Catalan nationalists that fought for control of the city during the war. There was nothing simple or clean about the anti-fascist cause in Barcelona. Savage and bloody fighting broke out between the various groups. Author George Orwell was famously swept up in events, which he chronicled in his book “Homage to Catalonia.” The tour takes you to Orwell’s wartime haunts, where he struggled to stay alive amid the battles between the city’s warring factions.

The tour takes four hours and usually starts from Placa Catalunya. Tours are led in English, but Nick speaks Spanish, as well. It’s best to book early, spots fill up.

Here’s the link to the Spanish Civil War Tour site for more info.

Click for Spanish Civil War Tour info

And here is a link for Nick’s new book:

Click for more info

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The latest report from Mark Stücklin at Spanish Property Insight suggests the Spanish government’s campaign against foreign property buyers is starting to have an impact. New data from the Spanish Notaries Association shows home purchases in 2025 by non-resident buyers from outside the EU — think Brits and Americans — were down 17% year-on-year.

“That’s a striking drop in a segment that had previously been relatively resilient,” Stücklin writes in his latest newsletter.

Overall, the number of foreign home purchases in 2025 was relatively unchanged from 2024 — down 0.6% — thanks to a small increase in EU buyers, who are apparently still happy to buy their home in the sun. In contrast, the sharp drop in non-EU buyers stands out, in large part due to the timing, notes Stücklin, who has been a leading analyst of the Spanish property market for a couple of decades.

The decline coincides with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s high-profile attacks on “speculators” and the influence of foreign buyers, including much-discussed proposals for a 100% purchase tax or an outright ban on foreign purchases. None of these initiatives have gained traction, but they were widely reported and now the data raises an obvious question: “did the message land?” Stücklin asks.

Other factors could be affecting sales, including higher prices, limited supply and a general global craziness. “But political signaling shouldn’t be dismissed,” Stücklin writes. “When a government openly questions whether you should be allowed to buy property at all, it’s not unreasonable to hesitate—or look elsewhere. “

(On an anecdotal level, it definitely seems like there has been a shift in the market It’s interesting how many people I hear lead their international property destination list these days with Portugal, not Spain.)

Stücklin goes a step further and argues that the government’s efforts to curb foreign buyers is going to have little affect on goal of making housing more accessible to Spanish citizens. Non-EU buyers account for little more than 11% of the foreign market, and barely 2% of the total Spanish housing market, he notes. And the non-EU buyers primarily purchase in the coastal areas and the urban centers. They are not competing for homes with working class Spanish citizens.

“If the goal was to address Spain’s housing crisis, this changes nothing,” Stücklin writes. “Even if [the non-EU] segment disappears entirely, it won’t make homes more affordable where it matters most.”

Read the full article and find more info on the latest property trends here.

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At some point in your early visits to Barcelona you will almost certainly find yourself searching for a flamenco show. It’s one of those unavoidable experiences, like a trip to Sagrada Familia or dealing with a surly Catalan waiter.

If a trip to Spain would not be complete without a stage-pounding flamenco experience than you definitely should do it. Flamenco is engrained in Barcelona tourist culture, one of the attractions, a stop on the tour. Check out the big church, hit a Gaudi house, eat some paella and catch flamenco at night, the check list of the in-and-out Barcelona tourist.

Purists will note that flamenco (like paella) really doesn’t have much to do with Barcelona. The movements and lore of flamenco grew out of Andalusia and its very specific mix of cultures. Going to Barcelona to see flamenco is akin to flying to Boston to hear New Orleans jazz.

It doesn’t matter. Once you, a spouse or significant other decides they must see flamenco, there is no way out of it.

There are a dozen regular flamenco shows in downtown Barcelona catering to this obsession. For the most part, they are remarkably similar. A few smoldering, boot-stomping, skirt-swirling dances by slightly bored men and women practiced at the art of looking longingly into each other’s eyes is intermixed with interludes by finger dancing guitarists. As the show builds, the dancers whip the crowd into a frenzy with handclapping and dramatic swirling, invoking images of passionate nights and bitters feuds in far off Spanish locales.

You really can’t go wrong.

And, at this point, I should acknowledge that I’m really not the guy to give insightful analysis into finding the proper flamenco experience for you. I love flamenco and appreciate the artistry and all that but, full disclosure, I have no idea which show best captures the authentic flamenco legends with the most talented performers in the best venue. Anybody who says they can rate the shows is probably selling you something. Your interests, goals and schedules will vary.

Yet, I can definitely offer some advice on how to approach this search, based on personal experience and general flamenco scuttlebutt.

For one, I would start and hopefully end any quest for flamenco at the Palau de la Música Catalana. Designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner in 1908, the glorious theater is one of the city’s modernist masterpieces and still an active concert venue that regularly hosts flamenco shows, featuring top dancers, singers and guitarists.

With the Palau program, you know the quality will be top notch. And the possibility to cross off flamenco and a visit to the Palau from your to-do list in one night is a big win. If you have the opportunity, a Palau flamenco show is the way to go.

Beyond the Palau, the choices get a little murkier. But there are still reasonable guidelines that anyone familiar with the hot Barcelona flamenco scene would definitely support.

As a rule, you might avoid any flamenco place that regularly hosts tour groups. Nothing against tour groups and cruise ship passengers, but it definitely kills the cool vibe when a busload of flamenco-crazed seniors arrives.

This leads to a corollary rule, which may or may not be true, but I’ll go with it anyway: avoid shows that offer dinner. I’ve done it twice, under duress, and I never came away thinking, “yum, that was a great dinner.” Plus, the clack and clanks of a busy dinner service is not really conducive to the sultry-deep-in-an-Andalusia-tavern atmosphere you want in your flamenco experience.

A few smoldering, boot-stomping, skirt swirling dances by slightly bored men and women practiced at the art of looking longingly into each other’s eyes is intermixed with interludes by finger dancing guitarists.

While internet dance experts will debate the quality and style of the different shows and performers, one of the best and easiest to endure is Tarantos, a nightly program in a small theater in Placa Real, the famous old square off La Rambla. Tarantos is billed as “the oldest flamenco tablao in Barcelona,” although it only opened in 1963, which speaks volumes about the historic role of flamenco in Barcelona.

The Tarantos show is known for attracting some of the best musicians and performers in town and the intimate setting — maybe 50 people — allows a close-up experience. Best of all, the show is a crisp 40 minutes or so, which scientists have shown is the psychological limit of peak flamenco enjoyability. It also ensures that flamenco doesn’t suck up your whole night. Shows fill up fast, but you can buy tickets online or queue at the box office starting at 8 p.m.

Click for Tarantos info

(Side note for guitar fans: not far from Placa Real, in the heart of the Gothic Quarter, the 14^th Century Basilica of Santa Maria del Pi, regularly hosts concerts with some of the best flamenco guitarists in the city.)

Beyond these basic staples of Barcelona flamenco, it’s hard to sift through the blizzard of “flamenco extravaganzas” and “nights of passion” advertised to tourists. For guidelines, mid-size venues tend to be a better bet than huge theaters or tiny places. And it’s always a good sign when shows advertise the names of their performers — it suggests the performer is in demand around the city.

Certain shows pop up over and again on review lists. The Tablao de Carmen scores points for hosting shows in a theater that actually looks and feels like an old tavern. It’s in Poble Espanyol, a fake Spanish village on Montjuic created in 1929 to showcase the culture of different regions. It is a dinner show, so it’s already shredding the rules, but it does get consistently good reviews. And your ticket lets you wander around Poble Espanyol, so it’s got that going for it.

Click for Tablao de Carmen info

Closer to the Gothic Quarter, there are several large old theaters offering regular flamenco shows. The City Hall Theater, just off Placa Catalunya is one of the best and considered one of the more affordable. The show clocks in at a crisp one hour and, best of all, you can purchase tickets that include drinks.

Click for City Hall Theatre info

For a venue with more of a vibe, one of the more established regular shows is hosted in the Palau Dalmases, an ornate 17^th-century mansion in the heart of El Born, is hard to beat. The atmosphere is great and the fast-paced one hour show fits nicely into an evening in the old city. Organizers claim to recruit the “best flamenco artists in the world.” You can get a drink; an optional dinner is offered after the show.

Click for Palau Dalmases info

For a place a little off the beaten path, Casa Sors caught my eye, and it consistently gets good reviews. I can’t vouch for the show, but I like that it includes a “museum” of flamenco guitars. Casa Sors is billed as a family business founded in 1972 with “more than 50 years of musical and guitar tradition.” It also claims to the “best-rated” show in Barcelona. It’s located on Consell de Cent, the pedestrian street off Passeig de Gracia.

Click for Casa Sors info

There you have it. Insights. All sorts of options. From here, you’re on your own. I hope you find the pulse-pounding, castanet-snapping dance and guitar experience of your dreams.

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As some of you know, I’m writing a book on Barcelona, and this Substack site will be my platform to share stories about the architecture, culture and daily life of a city that has captivated me for years.

The more I’ve learned about Barcelona, the more I became fascinated by the centuries of scandals, tragedies and passions that shaped the community and culture. There are crazy tales behind those old squares and modernist masterpieces.

In recent days, I’ve been primarily focused on building out the site’s Travel Tips section. During my time as a working journalist in the city, I accumulated a wealth of material and opinions. In addition to random notes, I’m focusing on many of the questions I hear over and over again. It’s been fun, and I hope to develop a useful package for travelers and expats. I’m trying to make good on the promise to offer a perspective you won’t get from the guidebooks.

As always, any opportunity you have to read, like and explore the site is much appreciated. Here are a couple of the recent articles.

In the weeks ahead, you’re going to start seeing more articles about architecture, art, design, history and the other elements of Barcelona that make it a great place to visit and live.

Thank you for your support.

Kevin

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A lot of cities talk big about the variety and ethnic diversity of their cuisine. Bloggers babble about “cultural crossroads” and “melting pots,” but in reality most big cities can’t compete with the choices and quality offered in the typical central Barcelona neighborhood.

I know, fighting words. But there are unique forces at play in Barcelona. The whole “crossroads” thing is real in the city. “Local” means Catalan, but the food scene is heavily influenced by the distinct cuisines of other Spanish regions, as well as nearby France. Moroccan and Eastern European inspirations are also baked into the mix, like most of Spain. And Barcelona is a port city, and touristy port cities often host a cultural stew. (OK, sorry for the cooking metaphors.)

Many cities may offer similar ethnic diversity, but the restaurants are separated into different barrios spread across the city. There’s a “Chinatown” or a “Little Italy” or a Greek neighborhood, but little cross pollination. In Barcelona, every type of food can pop up in any neighborhood. Walk around and you never know what you’ll find around the corner. In the heart of the city, everything from “fusion” restaurants led by boundary-testing chefs to fast-food Korean joints are always a short stroll away

On a recent visit to Barcelona, I stayed on Consell de Cent, a pedestrian street in the heart of Eixample, the central neighborhood. I was thinking food after recording a podcast with Brent Petersen for his site, Destination Eat Drink, and I began to explore.

Within a few blocks of my apartment, I found Greek, Indian, Moroccan, Chinese, Japanese, Italian and Argentinian restaurants. But that only scratched the surface, as I expanded the search into the surrounding blocks, where I discovered Malaysian, Mexican, Korean, Colombian, Filipino and Chinese hot pot restaurants, in addition to multiple hamburger joints and a shisha lounge.

There was probably a German place in the area, but I didn’t see one. I did notice an Iranian restaurant, but I didn’t feel it was a good idea to hang out in front taking pictures.

Of course, the ethnic restaurants were only a fraction of the choices. Like any Barcelona neighborhood, there were plenty of the local cafes that bring life and community to every block. I never saw a tourist in this place, where I hunkered down for the menu de dia, featuring a first course of pasta with meat sauce, a nice piece of grilled salmon and a bread pudding for dessert, for about $16, including drink and coffee.

My neighborhood also featured the typical array of bakeries, butcher shops, vermouth bars, bodegas and wine shops. It was a residential area close to the university, which meant there were also several coffee bars, a “gluten-free lab,” a churro stand, takeaway kebab restaurants and an artisan cheesecake bakery…

… and one place specializing in corndogs.

In Barcelona, diversity isn’t simply about geographic hodgepodge. Beyond ethnic and cultural variety, the neighborhood present a full range of pricing and quality levels, including several high-end restaurants catering to obsessed foodies.

A few blocks from my apartment I ran into the Michelin-starred Fishology, where customers can “immerse themselves in a unique experience focused on the marine environment.” The restaurant’s chefs “study and develop ancestral preservation techniques (maturations, curing, sausages, smoking, preserves and salting),” and follow “ancestral techniques from the times of the Greeks and Romans,” to create aromatic artisanal vermouth.

I wasn’t in the mood for an immersive aquatic experience, but this fast-food Chinese place where I could get a €6.90 pork roujiamo, a form of Chinese hamburger, definitely caught my eye.

In a down-and-dirty, what-are-we-having-for-dinner sense, that’s what real cultural diversity means. There is an equation developed by your brain and stomach that is only satisfied by the ability to find something interesting to eat within easy walking distance. That is the promise of a great food city, where affordable street food and innovative, food art can live together.

Barcelona presents a high bar. Although, for the record, there is one thing you won’t find in a typical Barcelona neighborhood: American food chains. And their absence is one of the best parts about the city.

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Substack is hotbed of talented and engaged writers chronicling their travels and life in Spain. Each brings their own perspective and insights as they share stories of the culture, history and communities they are experiencing.

Here are a few that recently grabbed my attention. In typical Substackian fashion, they cover a wide range of topics, from a closed brothel to the power of urban design.

Spending Saturday in Jail in Segovia

Andrea Eschen / Snippets from Spain

“Thirty others also decided to pass a spring morning inside this prison, now called the Democratic Memorial of Segovia. It pays tribute to the men and women of this city, and of other places around Spain, who were locked up and tortured here for resisting Generalissimo Francisco Franco’s dictatorship and his Fascist regime. Usually, one doesn’t think of jail and democracy together.”

Snippets from Spain

Snippets from Spain

I spent last Saturday in jail in Segovia. Thirty others also decided to pass a spring morning inside this prison, now called the Democratic Memorial of Segovia. It pays tribute to the men and women of this city, and of other places around Spain, who were locked up and tortured here for resisting Generalissimo Francisco Franco’s dictatorship and his Fasc…

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4 months ago · 16 likes · 10 comments · Andrea Eschen

What the Mixing of Everything Tells You About a City

Rocco Pendola / How It Works (and Why It Doesn’t)

“Cities that work mix ages, not just buildings… In places like Valencia, nobody is pushed out of the public realm because of their age, their schedule, or their stage of life. Everyone simply occupies the city together.”

How It Works (and Why It Doesn’t)

What the Mixing of Everything Tells You About a City

When my wife’s 22-year-old daughter visited last year, she went outside to call her friend at like one in the morning…

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4 months ago · 12 likes · 3 comments · Rocco Pendola

King to Mexico: “We’re sorry” (Kind of)

Ian Mount and Adrian Bono / The Bubble

“King Felipe VI (aka F6) raised a few eyebrows this week after casually acknowledging that there was “a lot of abuse” and “ethical controversy” during the Spanish conquest of the Americas.”

The Bubble Newsletter

🌎 King to Mexico: "We're sorry" (Kind of)

Madrid | Issue #140…

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5 months ago · 6 likes · 4 comments · Ian Mount and Adrian Bono

Spain’s abandoned mermaid brothel: A Mediterranean roadside ruin

Melita Cameron-Wood / Unpack. Pack. Unpack.

A stop at an abandoned club is reminder of the power of getting off the road and exploring.

Unpack. Pack. Unpack.

Spain’s abandoned mermaid brothel: A Mediterranean roadside ruin

The motorbike screeched to an unexpected halt. A pair of pert-breasted mermaid statues greeted us with the hollow glare of spray-painted eyes. We’d been planning on driving back to Valencia after a long day out hiking. But something had caught my then-boyfriend’s eye. He had a thing for abandoned buildings — and the one in front of us was a real show-st…

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5 months ago · 17 likes · 11 comments · Unpack. Pack. Unpack.

The Scent and Flavor of Granada: Eight unmissable Places

Blanca Valencia / Gazpacho Chronicles

“An insider’s tour of Granada’s most aromatic corners, from tea shops to olive oil evangelists”

The Gazpacho Chronicles

The Scent and Flavor of Granada: Eight unmissable Places

Like writer Federico García Lorca’s work, Granada is a perfumed stage set alive with the scent of orange blossom and jasmine. These two particular scents are synonymous with El Albaicín, the hilly UNESCO neighborhood overlooking the Alhambra, where they naturally scent the narrow cobbled streets. Every traditional house or…

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5 months ago · 23 likes · 21 comments · Blanca Valencia

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If you really want to get a taste of the real Barcelona, don’t stay in the Gothic Quarter. It’s like visiting Disneyland and choosing to stay in Snow White’s castle. Nobody wants to be in the theme park 24 hours a day.

If you are in Barcelona for more than a quick day or two, you should try to stay in one of the surrounding neighborhoods, where you will truly experience the elements that make the city special. You’ll still be close to everything — it’s a compact city, easy to navigate — while immersing yourself in Barcelona’s active, vibrant daily life.

Finding the right neighborhood for you depends on your personal tastes and travel goals. What do you need to be close to? What are your priorities? Do you like hotels or short-term rentals?

In Barcelona, there are additional elements to consider. The city of Barcelona has announced plans to eliminate short-term rentals by 2028, which is already affecting availability. Some neighborhoods are best known as Airbnb destinations but won’t have many hotel options. You also need to consider if you’re close to a metro stop. And does that stop offer you a direct route to where you want to go? It may not be a great location if you need to transfer every time to get where you want to go.

Or, if you walk a lot, remember Barcelona is on a hill. It may look easy to walk from Placa Catalunya to Parc Guell, until you realize it’s all uphill. Where you choose to stay can have a big impact on the pain in your legs at the end of the day.

That said, here is a quick rundown of the best and worst neighborhood to stay, based on my extremely biased analysis:

**BEST OPTIONS

Eixample

You can’t go wrong. The Eixample is the product of the world’s most famous urban plan, with each block designed to promote sun, fresh air and walkability. The neighborhoods are safe and every street offers a distinct mix of bakeries, restaurants and local shops. Passeig de Gracia is Barcelona’s Fifth Avenue, and the closer you stay to it the better. The blocks to the north, including streets like Carrer de Bruc and Carrer de Roger de LLuria, are among the toniest in the city. The areas around Sagrada Familia are little busier and working class, but still OK.

To the south, Rambla de Catalunya runs parallel to Passeig de Gracia and is a wonderful tree-lined boulevard. Carrer d’Enric Granados and Carrer de Consell de Cent are pedestrian streets, which is nice. It gets rougher the further south you go toward Placa Espanya and Sants Estacio (the train station).

Gràcia

The medieval village of Gràcia is an island in the middle of the booming city. The narrow streets and old buildings are battling the forces of gentrification and tourism, but it is still one of the best places to stay in Barcelona. It’s close to Sagrada Familia and Parc Güell, and a short metro ride to the Gothic Quarter. But there’s a catch: There are only a few hotels within Gràcia; most of the options are Airbnbs, which may or may not exist (legally) in the future. Also, it’s important to read the fine print in the ads. Many of the old buildings may not have elevators, or the buildings are run down with few amenities. Check reviews and pictures. However, if you’re able to find the right place, Gràcia is a one-of-a-kind experience.

Arc de Triomf

The area around the Arc de Triomf is often overlooked, but it’s a great place to stay. There is a variety of hotels and apartments available. And you’re a short walk to El Born, without having to deal with the crowds of the hardcore tourist area. At the same time, you’re next to Parc de Ciutadella, Barcelona’s version of a central park. Bonus: if you’re looking to take a trip — say catch a bus to Tossa del Mar — the train station, Estacio del Nord, is a few blocks away.

**OUTLIERS

Sarria

This is a residential neighborhood, far removed from the tourist areas. There are few hotels, and the quality of the available apartments is all over the map. But the quaint streets and quiet neighborhoods with great restaurants and wonderful shops and markets allow you experience what life is like in Barcelona. You are a bit removed from the tourist attractions, but the tourist center is easily reached by metro or a short walk down the hill.

Lesseps

I’ve stayed in the area around the Lesseps metro stop several times. It’s a busy residential and commercial area, and there are several hotels and tourist-focused apartment buildings clustered around the busy boulevards. It may not have the glamour of some of the other neighborhoods, but it is a short walk into Gracia or Parc Guell. And it’s easy to access the city from the metro stop or a short taxi ride (and taxis are easy to flag in the area).

**AVOID

La Rambla

All the bad things you read about Barcelona — the crowds, the pickpockets, the over-priced tourist traps — all can be found on La Rambla. You might be tempted by some A-list hotels. It’s not worth it.

Raval

Sure, it looks quaint. It’s a labyrinth of narrow streets lined with old buildings and wrought iron balconies. Gosh, it looks like a Spanish dream. And so cheap! Don’t do it. Raval is great for backpackers and heroin addicts.

El Born

This is tough. Everybody loves El Born, with its old streets and great restaurants. But it’s a hard place to stay. It’s hard to get in and out. The crowds swarm the streets every day and night. And most of the buildings are old and don’t have elevators.

Barceloneta

You want to stay on the beach and Barceloneta is right there. But the buildings are old and dirty, and most of the short-term rentals are not great. The neighborhood typically attracts the frat boys and punters for the big party scene. The main hotel is W, the big blue sail-like structure on the waterfront, widely considered by locals as an abomination for ignoring coastal design regulations.

Port Olimpic

If you’re still looking for a spot close to the beach, the Port Olimpic area may look great. But the area was built for the 1992 Olympics and has the charm of a California shopping mall. You’re also far away from everything.

Sants

It’s the train station area. As a general rule, in most cities it’s rarely a good idea to stay near the train station. Barcelona is no different. And, yes, that’s why it’s a cheap alternative.

Placa de Espanya

This is where you stay if you’re attending a convention. If you’re attending a convention, there is little to do in the area, which sits on a busy intersection. You can always check out the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya or the fountain show without the need to stay in the area.

Planning a trip to Barcelona? Subscribe to Barcelona Travel Tips.

More tips:

A ‘Fusion’ Restaurant in Eixample

Seven Random Barcelona Tips

A Heavenly Spot for Flamenco Guitar

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