Barcelona in December

UPDATED JULY 2024
By Robert Heaney
El Corte Ingles shopping mall adorned in Christmas lights

Barcelona in December sees the coming together of two different cities; the famous Catalan metropolis and a festive holiday wonderland. Experience all that Barcelona has to offer year-round matched with all the spectacle and warmth of the holiday season.

Winter in Barcelona

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With winter well and truly in swing, Barcelona has long since waved off the torrents of high-season tourists. While you can always expect plenty of visitors throughout the year, tourism rates are typically halved come December. What this means for you, should you choose to visit in this period, is a totally different side to Barcelona than you might see in summer.

Aside from the much more bearable weather averaging around a mild 60°F, you’ll find the city far less crowded than during its peak. Where you might have had to book long in advance to visit top sites like the Sagrada Familia and La Pedrera, quick and easy admission to just about any attraction should now be no difficult feat.

Due to the later sunrise in winter, typically taking place around 6:30 in December, a popular start to the day is to visit Park Güell to watch the sun come up. Naturally, this means that not getting there early enough will likely make it hard to find a good spot, so be sure to plan accordingly.

Barcelona Ski Season

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December also marks the early days of the Barcelona ski season, with avid skiers often passing through the city on their way to the Pyrenees. Should skiing be your thing, there are 14 fantastic alpine ski resorts within range of the city.

With most of these resorts reachable within four hours by car, they’re perfect for visiting for a day or two before returning to the city once again. Note that a number of these resorts cross over into Andorra and France, with Andorra only accessible by car.

Día de la Constitución

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Visiting Barcelona in December does come with one slight caveat, though. On December 6, Spain celebrates Día de la Constitución (Constitution Day), in commemoration of the approval of the Spanish Constitution in 1978 and the subsequent return of Spanish democracy. As a public holiday, most schools and workplaces will take the day off, and many will flock to Barcelona to celebrate.

Locals refer to this as a ‘mini high-season’, and for good reason. You can expect restaurants, bars and attractions to be crammed with visitors once again, perhaps even more so than during summer. Should Constitution Day fall either side of a weekend, the festivities are likely to last the full three days.

Christmas Markets

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We’d be remiss to discuss a trip to Barcelona in December without expanding on the city’s many holiday festivities.

From the final weeks of November, the city of Barcelona evolves into somewhat of a winter wonderland. The streets are adorned with all manner of festive decorations and lights, which are truly a sight to behold in the evening. But where the holiday spirit really shines through is the city’s many Christmas markets.

Europe is world famous for its holiday markets. While Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic are some of the most renowned destinations, Barcelona can more than hold a candle to them with its own spirited selection of merry merchants.

Throughout the city, you can explore a multitude of markets selling all manner of festive fare, from mulled wine to roasted chestnuts. Local artists also take the holiday season as an opportunity to sell their crafts, baked goods, artisan wines and spreads, homemade candies and Christmas ornaments, among a wide selection of other things.

You’ll find plenty of different markets dotted around the city, but the largest and most famous is Fira de Santa Llúcia. Found on Avinguda de la Catedral, this market dates back over 200 years to 1786. Given its history and popularity, it’s wise to give yourself plenty of time to visit should you want to pick up some souvenirs from your trip, as crowds are almost inevitable.

Caga Tió

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Neither Spain nor Catalonia in particular are shy about their traditions, and this is never more true than at Christmas.

Early in December, the Caga Tió makes an appearance in many Catalan homes. The Caga Tió or Tió de Nadal is a relatively small wooden log with two front legs and a jolly face, often adorned with a traditional Christmas hat.

Children are given the responsibility of taking care of the Tió throughout the season. This typically involves putting a blanket around the little log and feeding it fruit, nuts, bread and candy, much like kids elsewhere might leave out milk and cookies for Santa Claus.

Should you ever be fortunate enough to spend Christmas with a Catalan family, you’ll then get to see the true colors of the Tió. Translated literally as the ‘poop log’, children will beat (yes, beat) the Tió in hopes of having it ‘poop out’ gifts, which they should then find hidden beneath the blanket.

El Caganer

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The toilet-humor traditions don’t end with the Caga Tió, though. Wandering through the Christmas markets dotted throughout Barcelona in December, you’re likely to come across a common figure on display.

Often depicting various celebrities, public figures and fictional characters going number two, El Caganer is a staple of Catalan Christmas. Originally depicted between the 17th and 18th Centuries as a young peasant caught short between the three wise men in the nativity scene, many families now adorn their own scenes with their choice of Caganer.

Contrary to the apparent profane nature of the display, El Caganer is viewed as a sign of good luck to the people of Catalonia. Harking back to ancient pagan ideas, the Caganer’s ‘deposit’ is supposed to represent the fertilization of the soil and high productivity for the year ahead.

You’ll find both Caga Tió and El Caganer throughout Barcelona in December, and you can even pick up your own from just about every market stall. Why not bring both home and enjoy your very own Catalan Christmas?

Wrapping Up

Should you choose to visit Barcelona in December, you’re sure to be rewarded handsomely. Not only will you be able to see all that the city has to offer without all of the high-season crowds, but you’ll also be able to indulge in many of the region's winter festivals.

Explore the city at your leisure without having to plan too far ahead, and finish each day with a merry glass of mulled wine and a relaxing jaunt throughout the festively-lit streets and various Christmas markets stretching throughout.

Robert Heaney
Go City Travel Expert

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Barcelona in April

Springtime is thought by many to be the best time to visit Barcelona. With the city still slumbering somewhat in the absence of peak-season tourists, its streets and attractions are usually relatively quiet and uncrowded. Throw in temperatures averaging between 50°F and 65°F alongside near-constant sunlight, and you can be certain a trip to Barcelona in April is sure to be a pleasant one. Tourism in April April serves as somewhat of a transition month for Barcelona as far as tourism concerned. It marks the boundary between the low-season winter and early spring months and the shoulder-season months leading up to summer. With that, tourism rates tend to rise gradually throughout the month. This is what makes the spring season ideal for many visitors. While the city has yet to be bombarded by the waves of summer tourists, there are still plenty of people around to give Barcelona its trademark buzz. You’re sure to be able to visit your attractions and restaurants of choice without too much hassle, but you can also depend on the nightlife to be booming. Take this opportunity to take a casual tour of Gaudí’s masterpieces, not last of all the Sagrada Familia and Park Güell. Walk in the footsteps of soccer legends at Camp Nou. Take a quiet stroll through Barcelona’s many famous markets, or sit back and enjoy a whirlwind tour of the city’s best attractions atop a Bus Turístic. Easter Weekend While Easter Sunday may sometimes fall at the end of March, it’s typically considered an April celebration. And as such, it serves as one of the best reasons to visit Barcelona in April. Visitors are welcome to join the locals in celebrating the long weekend and attending the many processions and masses taking place throughout the city. Throughout Semana Santa, or Holy Week, the streets tend to be thriving with festivity. Alongside the religious processions, many retailers, chocolate stores and bakeries will be stocked up on festive treats and various types of Easter fare. Just be sure to note that the Friday and Monday either side of Easter Sunday are public holidays, meaning many stores, bars and restaurants are likely to be closed. However, businesses will still typically operate under regular weekend hours on Saturday and Sunday. Fira per la Terra (Earth Festival) Held in conjunction with Earth Day, celebrated globally on April 22, Barcelona hosts la Fira per la Terra, or the Earth Festival. Spread across two days, the event sees locals and visitors alike come together in Parc Central de Nou Barris in celebration of the little green planet we call our home The eco-fair typically offers an open market, live music and a host of environment-focused talks and events. Many stalls will showcase environmentally friendly products, whether locally produced, recycled, ecological or all of the above, in an effort to encourage attendees to live a more sustainable lifestyle. There’s often quite the atmosphere throughout the festival, with attendees all sharing in their common passion to fight climate change and protect the environment. For those more activism-oriented or any visitors simply interested in attending a very wholesome event, this is not a festival to be missed! Diada de Sant Jordi (Saint George’s Day) Spain loves both its saints and its feast days, so the calendar is packed full of religious holidays and festivals throughout the year. Barcelona is no stranger to its own celebrations and, in many ways, likes to take each event up a step. So it should come as no surprise that the patron saint of Catalonia, Sant Jordi, is honored in a very big way indeed. The Diada de Sant Jordi is not a public holiday, so the vast majority of stores and restaurants will remain open. And that’s just as well, because it’s also Catalonia’s answer to Valentine’s Day. Sometimes referred to as the Book and Rose Day, it’s customary for locals to gift each other – you guessed it – books and roses. While the exchange of roses is an internationally recognized gesture of love, the swapping of books serves as a celebration of culture. On this day, La Rambla and its adjoining streets can typically be found lined with stalls offering all manner of books and flowers. While the books at these stalls will typically be offered in a wide array of languages, the city takes this opportunity to encourage the protection and promotion of the Catalan language in particular. This annual festival continues to bring well-deserved international attention to Catalan authors and publishers, and typically sees a massive boost in their output. It’s no coincidence that April 23 is also host to World Book Day – it was this exact festival that led the UNESCO General Assembly to declare it so! When visiting Barcelona in April, book lovers and couples alike should make their way to La Rambla to share in the city’s celebration of love and culture. Feria de Abril (April Fair) While the more famous Feria de Abril is held each year in Seville, Barcelona’s own celebration can easily hold a candle to its bigger brother. Typically held in Parc del Forum for around a week at the end of April, the festival offers a range of activities for all ages, often alongside live music and performances. For younger visitors and families, the event offers a fairground area housing the obligatory Ferris wheel alongside various other rides, game stalls, food stands and similar amusements. The other side of the fair is composed of the casetas, a host of marquee tents housing various organizations, political parties, merchants and food stands. The largest caseta, Caseta de la Fecac, is run by the event’s organizers and offers a series of free events and concerts by top artists and performers from around the country. If you’re in Barcelona in April and enjoy the atmosphere of a classic fair, be sure to pencil the Feria de Abril into your itinerary. Wrapping Up For many, Barcelona in April is nothing short of idyllic. With just enough crowds to give the city its renowned bustling atmosphere without clogging up the top attractions, visitors can be sure they’ll be getting the very best of both worlds. And with such engaging events taking place throughout the month, there’s certainly no shortage of festivity. Whether you’re looking for a quieter time to explore the city’s famous architecture, an opportunity to stroll through its many famous parks in pleasant weather or simply the chance to let loose in the evening, April could be the perfect time to plan your trip to Barcelona.
Robert Heaney
The emblematic salamander at the entrance to Park Güell
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Gaudi Barcelona

Alongside its rich cultural heritage, thriving nightlife and globally-celebrated football team, Barcelona is famous for its wealth of stunning architecture. Offering up a unique mix of baroque, Romanesque and modernist architecture, a walk through its streets is enough to know how much the city celebrates its architects. But very few architects can boast as prolific and accomplished a portfolio as Barcelona’s very own Antoni Gaudí. Known above all for his highly individual modernist style, Gaudí designed and oversaw the construction of a plethora of buildings throughout Barcelona. Drawing equal inspiration from nature, local tradition and often mysticism, many of his works now sit among the ranks of Barcelona’s best attractions for their often bizarre and mesmerizing designs. UNESCO has dubbed seven particular examples of his work as World Heritage Sites, which are referred to collectively as the Works of Antoni Gaudí. Sagrada Familia Location: Carrer de Mallorca, 401 A guide to Gaudí’s finest work would be woefully incomplete without first covering the architect’s magnum opus, Barcelona’s famous Basilica de la Sagrada Familia. One of the most famous religious sites in the world, the church began construction in 1882, when devotees of St. Joseph sought to build a place of worship in his honor. Gaudí took over as chief architect of the project in 1883, adapting the original plans of his predecessor and introducing Art Nouveau elements to merge with the intended Gothic style. He is credited for having designed and overseen the construction of the basilica’s famous nativity scene, interior apse and crypt during his time on the project. Intricate models of the church put together in his workshop allowed him to experiment with his plans, and would later form the blueprint for the remainder of the works. Gaudí would come to work on the project for the remainder of his life, and was buried in the crypt alongside its first architect. The Sagrada Familia now serves as Barcelona’s most visited attraction. While construction continues on the basilica, its planned total of eighteen spires are intended to represent the twelve apostles, the Virgin Mary and the four Evangelists, with Jesus Christ towering above them all. Park Güell Location: 08024 Barcelona Second only to the Sagrada Familia, Park Güell is another of Barcelona’s most visited attractions. While the majority of the park consists of tranquil green space, its main feature is the interior Monumental Zone. Commissioned by Spanish entrepreneur Eusebi Güell, the park was originally built to serve as a stylish social space for Barcelona’s aristocracy. Gaudí designed this space to serve as a tranquil area from which to enjoy the park’s surrounding beauty, ensuring its features were eccentric while still incorporating naturally into their environment. Much of the park’s symbolism draws inspiration from a combination Catalan nationalism, religious mysticism and ancient poetry. From the iconic mosaic salamander at its entrance to the sea serpent bench encircling the main terrace which offers panoramic views over the park, the Monumental Zone is best characterized by its somewhat surreal installations. La Pedrera / Casa Milà Location: Passeig de Gràcia, 92 Translated literally as the ‘stone quarry’, La Pedrera is best known for its rough-hewn limestone façade, somewhat resembling an open quarry. This titan of a residence was designed and built for the aristocrat Pere Milà i Camps and his wife Rosario Segimon between 1906 and 1912. Entrancing both inside and out, La Pedrera is composed of two apartment blocks spread across nine stories and constructed around two large, interconnected courtyards. Gaudí, together with his partner Josep Maria Jujol, designed everything from the exterior façade to the individual apartments and the furniture within to incorporate with one another in the duo’s iconic modernist style. Crowning the residence is the ‘garden of warriors’ rooftop terrace, named after the 28 imposing chimneys that resemble twisted, standing soldiers. The terrace is decorated in a mosaic of marble, broken Valencian tiles and shards of broken champagne bottles and offers almost unparalleled views over the city. Casa Batlló Location: Passeig de Gràcia, 43 Famous for its somewhat visceral, skeletal exterior, Casa Batlló is known locally as la casa dels ossos, or the ‘house of bones’. While not originally built by Antoni Gaudí, the property’s owner, Joseph Batlló, commissioned the architect to redesign the home in 1904. While only broadly identifiable as a modernist structure, the residence joins Casa Amatller and Casa Lleó to make up the Illa de la Discòrdia, or ‘Block of Discord’, which stands as a celebration of Barcelona’s most prolific modernist architects. Palau Güell Location: Carrer Nou de la Rambla, 3-5 Palau Güell was the first of what would come to be many works commissioned by tycoon Eusebi Güell. Designed as both a residence and a venue at which to host high society guests, the urban palace served to offer every conceivable luxury possible of a building. Its opulent interior appears in stark contrast to its relatively undecorated exterior façade. The mansion is constructed around a central hall and its accompanying receiving rooms. Incorporating towering, ornate walls and pillars, this party hall served as somewhat of an interior courtyard, offering a source of natural light during the day. In the evening, lanterns would be hung from small holes in the domed ceiling to mimic a starry sky. Casa Vicens Location: Carrer de les Carolines, 20-26 Considered Gaudí’s first significant masterpiece, Casa Vicens was the first building in Catalonia to stray entirely from standard architectural norms and practices. With inspiration drawn from the orientalist and Neo-Mudéjar architectural styles, Gaudí’s design incorporated a mixture of Catalan, Islamic, Japanese and English techniques and symbolism. Commissioned by the Vicens family to serve as a summer residence, Gaudí designed the home to provide a balance of private quarters, social spaces and areas for quiet reflection. Much of the interior furniture was also by his own design in order to compliment the surrounding architecture. Church of Colonia Güell / Gaudí Crypt Location: Carrer Claudi Güell, 08690 La Colònia Güell Sitting a short distance outside Barcelona, the Church of Colònia Güell was designed to serve as a place of worship for the workers of Eusebi Güell’s industrial colony. Although Gaudí had drawn up plans for the construction of a full church, various complications meant that the structure was ultimately left unfinished. The church’s crypt stands as the only completed section of the project. Built partially below ground due to its hillside location, Gaudí designed the crypt to incorporate with its natural surroundings. His use of basalt, brick and stone gives the crypt a more muted, earthy appearance. Between the use of natural-looking colors and the rough-hewn pillars holding up the ceiling, the crypt has been likened more to a forest grotto or cave. A number of stained glass windows help to provide some vibrancy to the otherwise dim, almost ancient-looking interior space. Other Works Although UNESCO dubs these the collective works of Gaudí, they certainly weren’t his only projects. Throughout his professional career, the architect worked on over a dozen major sites throughout Catalonia. His most celebrated works are those that employed the extent of his skills, often straying largely from architectural norms. For those looking for the full Gaudí experience, some other notable examples of his work throughout Barcelona include Pavellons Güell, the Teresian College, Celler Güell, Casa Calvet and Bellesguard.
Robert Heaney

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