VIBRANT CULTURE

Experience Barcelona

Sights to See

Do the names Antoni Gaudí, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, and Sagrada Familia all ring a bell? Cubism, Surrealism, Modernism, Postmodernism, you name it, you’ll find it in this cultural enclave.

2023 Barcelona Public Holidays
6 January
Epiphany / Three Kings’ Day
National Holiday
7 April
Good Friday
National Holiday
10 April
Easter Monday
Catalan Holiday
1 May
Labor Day
National Holiday
5 June
Lunes de Pascua Granada
Barcelona Holiday
24 June
Sant Joan / Midsummer Solstice
Catalan Holiday
15 August
Assumption of Mary
National Holiday
11 September
Catalan National Day
Catalan Holiday
25 September
La Mercè
Barcelona Holiday
12 October
Spanish National Holiday
National Holiday
1 November
All Saint’s Day
National Holiday
6 December
National Day of Spain
National Holiday
8 December
Feast of the Immaculate Conception
National Holiday
25 December
Christmas
National Holiday
26 December
Boxing Day
Catalan Holiday

Cultural Scene

The peculiarity of Catalan culture, mixed with the Spanish proclivity for fiestas, transforms Barcelona into an especially fun city of character the whole year round.

The distinctive Catalan cuisine

Several Catalan cookbooks from the Middle Ages are known to modern scholars. Characteristic of Catalan gastronomy is its reliance on ingredients popular along the Mediterranean coast: fresh vegetables, wheat products for bread and pasta, Arbequina olive oil, wines, legumes, nuts, all sorts of pork preparations, cheese and poultry, and a great variety of fish.

In the pinnacle of Catalan gustatory treats is fideuà, paella’s noodle cousin, and the mandatory dessert crema catalana, the ancestor of the popular crème brulée elsewhere in the world.

When in Barcelona, welcome yourself with a drink of cava, the quality sparkling wine indigenous to Catalonia from its traditional grape varieties Macabeo, Parellada, and Xarel-lo. The village of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia in Catalonia is home to some of the biggest cava production houses.

Where to taste classic Catalan food in Barcelona

Barcelona’s top restaurants not only have distinguishing Catalan names but are known for their standards of haute cuisine in Europe. Get to know some of them: Nou Celler, Bar del Pla, Botafumeiro, L’Antic Magatzem, among a host of others.

Plaça Reial is a lovely square in Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter) that was originally the Capuchin convent of Santa Madrona. It is right along La Rambla and is a popular tourist attraction especially at night. The square’s lampposts were designed by Gaudi surrounding the central Fountain of Three Graces. The square has a nucleus of international restaurants offering Spanish, Italian, Asian cuisine and many Tapas restaurants, all of which have outdoor terrazas fitting for the spring and summer months.

When in Spain, tapas is ubiquitously indispensable. It is the Spanish version of canapés, from the word tapar (to cover, from tapa or pot cover). The essential aperitivo can be served with drinks and most restaurants come with a tapas bar where bartenders create a variety of culinary concoctions. Among the more famous tapas bars in Barcelona are Tapeo, Ciutat Comtal, Tabarlot, La Vinateria del Call, Mercè Vins.

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