In 2024, 94 million international visitors hit the shores of Spain. That figure is staggering especially when you realise the actual population of Spain is approximately 48 million people. It was facts like this along with the notorious water pistol shooting tourist hating protesters who decided to air their anti tourism grievances in the summer of 2024 that made my trip to Barcelona a little hot and cold from the outset.
Barcelona has been a bucket list destination for me but when we locked in our trip I was also feeling a little trepidation about the old adage of “don’t meet your heroes”. And to be honest this contrast between excitement and frustration has characterised the experience since we landed. Below are my “hot and cold” moments.
Hot: the weather. Literally. The weather is splendid. The sweet spot of mid to high 20s every day with a fairly constant cooling sea breeze, bright blue skies, sunsets after 9pm. What is not to love about the late May balmy nights. Our final week in Wales and England where it was below 10 degrees, raining and downright miserable makes me realise why so many British come here. How else would you cope with the endless grey if you couldn’t get a dose of Spanish sunshine every year?
Cold: La Rambla. This was supposed to be some amazing wide pedestrian boulevard that everyone flocks to so they can sit in curbside restaurants drinking buckets of sangria and gin, wiling away the afternoon under the green swaying plane trees. Instead the entire length of La Rambla is a giant construction zone as they undertake renovation works that will last until 2027. So now everyone flocks to La Rambla only to find a way through the masses without falling into a pot hole, tripping over scaffolding or having serious eardrum damage from the jackhammers. It is the absolute pits and also really hard to avoid as it is the main way to get from one side of the town to the other. I can’t even imagine how bad it will be by July when tourist numbers triple from what they are right now. Uggh.
Hot: Tapas. We are staying in a hotel just off the Plaça Reial and it is simply magnificent to be able to walk out the door into this stunning plaza which is ringed by restaurants and bars then take a turn up any of the seemingly hundreds of narrow carrers which are home to equally great tapas restaurants, small bodegas and bars. On our first night we randomly picked Nix Tapas and Drinks and had the most delicious squid ink paella and jamón along with a vermut cocktail. Every other place we have randomly walked into has been just as atmospheric and had an array of delicious Spanish dishes. I have become rather addicted to Patatas Bravas with their tasty paprika creamy sauce drizzled over a pile of steaming hot roasted potatoes. The best! Grill Room and Gran Viana are two other great spots in the Gothic Quarter we just walked into. We have noticed there are two restaurants that have ridiculously long queues waiting to go in – I assume they have great ratings or some influencer has recommended them but is it really worth waiting two hours to eat somewhere when these restaurants are all essentially offering the same kind of food? Not sure and also know I’m not going to find out because I definitely can’t be bothered queuing for my dinner.
Cold: La Boqueria. This is the world renowned covered market just off La Rambla. It is an unbearable, necessary visit when in Barcelona. What I’m sure was once an authentic marketplace for the locals has now turned into stall after stall selling pre-prepared foods that they must think tourists want to eat to get a taste of authentic Catalonian cuisine. As far as I could tell the stalls alternated between selling lukewarm, deep fried fish of unknown origin, double deep fried then microwaved empanadas, cups of cheese and jamón baking in the sun and rows and rows of brightly coloured fresh fruit juice that may or may not actually have any real juice in it. Everyone shuffled past the stalls like a herd of sheep and after a few laps everything becomes indistinguishable so you can’t remember if you’ve done that aisle or not. Go to Mercat de Santa Caterina instead; it is small, uncrowded and selling food that you would actually eat and enjoy.
Hot: The carrers of The Gothic Quarter and El Born. The most charming part of Barcelona is wandering the narrow streets of the old town quarters. You can turn a corner and see another alleyway filled with bodegas, shops and restaurants or suddenly find yourself emerging into a wonderful open plaza. There is something very captivating about getting lost in these streets and never knowing if you will be able to find the same one again.
Cold (and Hot): Sagrada La Familia. This will be a controversial opinion but there was something deeply disappointing about seeing the Sagrada up close for the first time. I’ll call this the “Mona Lisa” problem. It is such an iconic building that I’ve read so much about and seen countless pictures of. So when we turned the corner on our hunt for this cathedral I was simultaneously awestruck and underwhelmed. The first thing I saw were the glittering brightly coloured pineapples and bunches of grapes that sit atop the lower pillars. They were so unexpectedly quirky and organic for a religious building that I could only think what genius in such a design from Gaudi. The shapes of the pillars seem like the dripping sandcastles I used to make as a child on the beach – it seemed impossible. Then as you get a little closer you realise that most of the structure is still very much a construction site with high black metal hoardings surrounding the bottom sections and most of the taller pillars shrouded in gauze protective sheeting and scaffolding. All the thousands of tourists are crammed onto the footpaths that border the four busy streets that surround the building so everyone is hustling for a better view and you stand on the edge hoping you won’t be sideswiped by a car whizzing past. I also regretfully decided not to spend the €45 entry fee to go inside. I say regretfully because it may have reversed my slight disappointment as everyone tells me it is strikingly beautiful inside yet at the same time the long snaking, jostling lines of tourists waiting for their 15minute slot to go inside were really off putting. The story behind this building is fascinating and sad given Gaudi never lived long enough to see much of his crazy genius vision come to fruition. I found the distinctive views of La Sagrada standing so high above every other building in Barcelona on our many trips to viewpoints around the city much more compelling and it will be incredible to see the final central pillar complete by 2026 when hopefully all the hoarding and scaffolding will come down to reveal the true glory of this architectural phenomenon.
Hot: Museo de Picasso. This museum which chronicles Picasso’s artistic career and diverse phases was very special. The museum releases free admission tickets once a month so we were lucky to get some of these for a Saturday evening session. The ticket included an audio guide which gave greater context for key works in each room and aspects of his personal and professional life. The initial rooms showcase Picasso’s paintings from when he was just 14 and 15 years old. He really was a gifted protege and won many prestigious art prizes from such an incredibly young age under the encouragement from his art teacher father. Seeing all of these earlier works in very traditional styles made what he did later in his life even more fascinating as he began to play with the form and structure of people and objects. I am really looking forward to seeing more of his work in the Prado in Madrid.
Hot: Montjuic and Bunquers del Carmel. These areas are two high points on opposite edges of the city. You have to hike up both for around an hour to get to the top but the views are absolutely worth it. Montjuic has the 1992 Olympic diving pool and a castle at the top. The bunkers were air raid defence shelter during the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s then became a shanty town for around 900 residents until they were cleared out in the 1990s and retained as a historic site. The view from the bunkers are definitely the best in the city and they had a grungy rustic vibe with lots of graffiti and hip hop dancers testing their moves among the concrete structures. They also turned out to be a great rest stop before we headed down and across to Park Güell, Gaudi’s other most famous and crazy busy site in Barcelona.
Hot: Barceloneta. As you can see the longer we stayed in Barcelona the more I loved it. More hot than cold by the end! We went to Barceloneta a couple of times. This is the beachside zone about 30 minutes walk from the Gothic Quarter. You stroll past millions of dollars worth of super yachts at the marina (Below Deck style) and then head into the boardwalk which goes on for miles in both directions along the seafront. The beach itself is quite narrow and waveless but you can sit and people watch for hours. The water is cool but refreshing and seems pretty clean (?). There is constant stream of vendors wanting to sell you fresh mojitos, fake designer sunglasses or rent you an umbrella. We rented Lime e-bikes to make the return journey which was fun as there are dedicated bike paths all along the area which means you are not dodging traffic or too many pedestrians. It is worth venturing out to no matter where you are staying in the city.
Our eight days in Barcelona were just right. Some cold moments offset by hot. The city is riding the Gaudi dollar everywhere you go but there is just as many other special architectural glories scattered across the town. It is dusty, dirty and noisy in parts but also magical and fun in others. The Goldilocks of Spain perhaps?
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