Expat Entertainment Guide
It’s easy to have fun in Barcelona. There are colorful local fiestas (holidays and festivals) throughout the year along with plenty of national and international cinema, theater, music, and dance festivals and performances. The city’s nightclubs offer great music and atmosphere every night of the week and are especially busy from Thursday to Sunday.
Museums & Galleries
Art lovers should head straight for MNAC (Catalonia’s National Art Museum), with its exhibits of Catalan Romanesque art, and MACBA (Barcelona’s Museum of Contemporary Art). Nearby, you’ll find galleries devoted to individual local artists, including the world-famous Museu Picasso, Fundació Miró, and Fundació Antoni Tàpies.
Architecture
To see the best examples of Catalunya’s unique Gothic architecture, you should check out Basílica de Santa María del Mar and Basílica de Santa María del Pi. For the best in modernist architecture, check out anything and everything by Antoni Gaudi – head for Pedrera, Casa Batlló, Sagrada Familia, and Parc Güell.
Nightlife
Barcelona’s nightclubs are evenly dispersed throughout the city (Eixample, Ramblas, Sant Gervasi, to name a few areas) with some of the most popular ones being within walking distance of each other down by the harbor area, in Port Olímpic (like Shoko and Opium Mar). The variety of nightclubs in Barcelona is endless and you can find good places that cater to techno, salsa, rock, Spanish pop music, and more.
Live Music
The L’Eixample district has many live music venues, including the famous Luz de Gas. Bikini, a popular nightclub, also hosts concerts during the evenings. To enjoy alternative and Spanish local bands, take the metro to Sidecar. You’ll also find live shows in the Gòtic district. And we should not fail to mention that the Palau de la Musica, one of the most famous buildings in Barcelona and a UNESCO World Heritage site, also hosts some of the city’s best concerts.
- http://www.luzdegas.com/
- http://www.bikinibcn.com
- http://www.sidecarfactoryclub.com
- http://www.palaumusica.org/
Jazz and Opera
Barcelona also hosts an annual jazz-fest sponsored by Vol-Damm beer. The festival takes place in the fall, and attracts some of the world’s best artists, to a number of different venues. If you are an Opera-lover, you are also in luck as the Liceu Theater has a wonderful opera season that also begins in the second half of the year.
