Hotels in Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, is the second-most populous city in Spain, with about 1.7 million inhabitants on the Mediterranean between the rivers Llobregat and Besòs and the Collserola hills. The city is divided into ten districts, from the medieval Ciutat Vella around La Rambla and the Gothic Quarter to Ildefons Cerdà's 19th-century grid of the Eixample. Antoni Gaudí left the Sagrada Família, the tallest church in the world, Park Güell, Casa Batlló and La Pedrera, and Lluís Domènech i Montaner the Palau de la Música Catalana and the Sant Pau hospital complex, several of them UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Barcelona hosted the 1929 International Exposition on Montjuïc and the 1992 Summer Olympics, which opened the city to the sea with the Port Olímpic marina and the Vila Olímpica. The city beaches stretch from Barceloneta, built in the 18th century, north-east to Diagonal Mar, renovated for the 2004 Forum of Cultures. FC Barcelona plays at the Spotify Camp Nou in Les Corts, which reopened in November 2025 and is being expanded to about 105,000 seats, the largest stadium in Europe. Barcelona-El Prat Airport (BCN) lies 15 km south-west of the centre, and Barcelona Sants is the main railway station for long-distance and international trains. Rodalies suburban and regional trains from Sants connect the city with the towns of its metropolitan area. Hotels are concentrated in the Old Town and the Eixample, with beach and conference hotels in Poblenou, business hotels around Plaça d'Espanya and the upper Diagonal, and smaller hotels in Gràcia. Barcelona is a year-round destination for culture, food, football and city life, with a Mediterranean beach within the city itself.