El Castell de Montjuïc
Bearing testimony to the darkest side of the city's history, Montjuïc Castle is now a space open to memory and one of the coastline's best miradors.
Visit and love it
Barcelona and the identity
An attractive city
Barcelona has a combination of attributes that make it unique. The city’s culture and cuisine, the beauty of its streets, its Mediterranean climate and welcoming cosmopolitan character make Barcelona a very attractive place to visit and to live in.
Human dimension
Despite being a metropolis, recognised and admired the world over for its innovation ecosystem and creativity, as well as a model of urban transformation, Barcelona stands out for having smaller dimensions than other global capitals. It’s a city people can cover on foot, where everything is nearby and within reach. The human scale is a key factor in its quality of life.
Own language
Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, one of the autonomous regions in the Spanish state. It has its own language, Catalan, which evolved from Latin, like Spanish, French and Italian. Catalan is the official language, along with Spanish, and is used in all spheres of daily life.
Discover some of our hallmarks
- The Festival of Sant Jordi
There is a spring day in Barcelona when the streets are crowded with stalls selling books and roses and people buying them as gifts for their other half and loved ones. "Sant Jordi" or St George, as he is known in English, is the patron saint of Catalonia and his saint's day on 23 April is devoted to the celebration of love and literature. It is a magical day you need to experience at least once in your life.
- BCN Design
Barcelona is an international benchmark for design in a variety of fields, as can be seen from the Barcelona Design Festival, the Barcelona Design Centre, a cluster of design-sector companies and, above all, the avant-garde Barcelona Design Hub building, which houses the Design Museum.
- Catalan cuisine
Being good Catalans, Barcelonians love to eat well, as reflected in their city's markets - packed as they are with fresh, local produce - and in its numerous Catalan-cuisine restaurants, which range from the traditional to the avant-garde. And institutions such as the Catalan Cookery Institute maintain the country's cultural culinary identity.
- Modernisme
If there is one architectural style that bears the Barcelona stamp it has to be Modernisme - the Catalan Art Nouveau - whose dreamily shaped buildings have left their mark on a good many of the city's neighbourhoods. The Modernisme Route invites you to discover them!
- Reaching for the sky with the human towers
Castells are human towers and one of the most exciting forms of street entertainment to be seen. They can go up to as many as ten levels and are a marvel of balance and beauty as well as an example of teamwork. The Castellers de Barcelona put them up on the city's main festival days.
- Fire runs, a fascination for fire and gunpowder
Being a Mediterranean city, Barcelona has been captivated by fire since time immemorial. So one of the most popular festival events is the correfoc, literally a "fire run", where groups of devils light bangers and shower sparks over the people surrounding them. It is a very intense experience, but a safe one at that, so long as you follow some basic advice.
- Acrobatic human towers, the art of human figures
Performing something halfway between gymnastics and art, the Falcons - an acrobatic-sports human towers group - amaze their spectators with the figures they are capable of creating as they combine their bodies. Their origins can be found in the nineteenth-century Czech Sokol movement, which combined physical exercise with national cultural values. The Falcons de Barcelona offer a 21st-century Catalan version.
- The traditional festival centre
The Casa dels Entremesos offers a chance to discover some of the main figures - giants, "big-heads" and traditional fantastic beasts - that feature in the festivals held not just in Barcelona but in the whole of Catalonia. They are usually taken out to dance for traditional festivals such as the saint's days of Barcelona's co-patron saints: La Mercè (24 September) and Santa Eulàlia (12 February).
- Dancing eggs
During the Feast of Corpus Christi, a few Gothic building courtyards open up to the public to show a curious tradition that is unique in the world: l'ou com balla, getting an egg to “dances” on a jet of water - from a fountain decorated with flowers and fruit - without its falling to the ground. The tradition goes back to the 15th century and offers a lovely occasion for going round the city's historical buildings.
Don’t miss out on our cultural and architectural heritage
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Museu Nacional d'Art de CatalunyaThe Palau Nacional that dominates Montjuïc is the seat of the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC) which, among other things, keeps an impressive collection of Romanesque paintings.
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El Park GüellPark Güell, the hill that Gaudí turned into a truly fantastic and original garden, is one of Barcelona's best-known and most spectacular icons.
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The Museu Picasso de BarcelonaLocated in the El Born i la Ribera neighbourhood, where Picasso had his first workshops, the Museu Picasso offers the fullest repertoire of the painter's works during his youth.
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Palau de la Música CatalanaWith a voluptuous Modernista architecture that erupts in the middle of two small streets, the spectacular Palau de la Música is a privileged setting and a true symbol of the city.
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Magic FountainAn iconic symbol of the Universal Exposition held in Barcelona in 1929, the Font Màgica, or Magic Fountain, continues to offer an innovative show combining water, music, light and colour.
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Plaça de CatalunyaSituated right in the city centre, Plaça de Catalunya is one of Barcelona's most iconic meeting points, a vast artery with its own life where everyone comes together.
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Passeig de GràciaBoasting tiles designed by Gaudí, bench-street lamps covered in trencadís ceramic fragments and some fantastic Modernista façades, Passeig de Gràcia is a symbol of elegance
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Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada FamíliaRising towards the sky, the Sagrada Família is Barcelona's most famous silhouette, and each of its forms is a symbol conscientiously created by the genius of Gaudí.
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La Torre GlòriesThe 144 metre high building that the French architect Jean Nouvel designed for Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes is one of the most modern icons in Barcelona.
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Fundació Joan MiróSet among Montjuïc's gardens and in a magnificent rationalist building, the Fundació Joan Miró has an impressive collection of works by the Catalan painter on display.
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La PedreraWith its undulating façade and terrace roof full of chimneys resembling ferocious warriors, the Pedrera is one of the masterpieces designed by the brilliant architect Antoni Gaudí.