Barcelona City Guide

When to visit Barcelona

The combination of tourists and business travellers visiting Barcelona means hotels are busy for most of the year. Spring and early summer is the best time to be in the city. The weather is usually pleasant, the number of tourists manageable and the city humming. High summer (mid-July to late August) is asphyxiating - many locals get the hell out and leave it to the guiris (foreigners). September isn't bad; the city recovers its normal rhythms, the heat eases and tourist numbers drop, but the weather can be dodgy. For real rain, hang about in October. Winter isn't especially distressing, but you will want a room with heating.

Weather

Weather in Barcelona

Barcelona enjoys a Mediterranean climate, with cool winters and hot summers. If it's sun you're after, the best months to go are May, June and September. The heat is at its harshest in July and August, with highs sometimes reaching the mid-30°s C (90°F).

Events in Barcelona

Barcelona is perhaps less chronically addicted to partying than cities in the south of Spain, but it puts in a fair effort, with some wild occasions dotting the calendar year-round. There's plenty of dancing and a few fancy-dress parades during the 10-day Carnaval in February/March.

Barcelona celebrates 15 official holidays a year, including all the major Catholic festivals, as well as New Year's Day (1 January), Labour Day (1 May) and Spanish National Day (12 October).

On 23 April, the Dia de Sant Jordi, also the Day of the Book, is a local festival celebrating Catalonia's patron saint. The Berbena de Sant Joan (also known as La Nit del Foc, or Fire Night) kicks off midsummer celebrations on 23 June with drinking, dancing and fireworks. Barcelona brims with music, dance and theatre during Festival del Grec, held from late June to August, and around 15 August the Festa Major de Gràcia sees the streets of Gràcia decorated and full of dancing and music.

The last huge hoorah of the summer is the Festes de la Mercè, celebrated around 24 September, which includes concerts, dancing, a swimming race across the harbour, and a correfoc (fire race). During the International Jazz Festival from late October through to the end of November, the city finally cools with some jazz and blues.