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Springtime in Barcelona: cultural activities
Barcelona is the perfect place to visit all year round thanks to its warm Mediterranean climate. Springtime is particularly good to visit when the weather is pleasant and warm, but without the busyness and high temperatures of the Summer.
Enjoy the warm weather with a step out into nature of one of Barcelona’s many famous parks, or get your adrenaline racing as a spectator for some of the world’s largest sporting events. Simply enjoy the sunshine with a vermouth sat on a rooftop terrassa or experience the cultural traditions of Barcelona as the locals do. Spring holds so much promise, and it’s a truly exciting time to experience the Catalonian capital.
These are our best recommendations for how to spend the beautiful springtime in Barcelona.
Traditions
Semana Santa – Holy Week
Semana Santa is a very important religious holiday celebrated throughout Spain, both in large cities and in towns. In towns such as Seville, the celebrations are much more traditional, where large processions and ceremonies will flood the streets. Barcelona holds a more modern celebration, but there are still Easter parades, processions, and lots of delicious foods to enjoy.
Parades can be seen in the Gothic Quarter, as well as on the famous Las Ramblas. The procession of the Virgin de la Macarena takes place on Good Friday at the Barcelona Cathedral, where you can also find lots of activities and stalls to explore. Gifts such as ‘Las Monas de Pascua’, meaning Easter Monkeys, are small cakes typically given to children by their godparents on Easter, and are a delicious treat to get stuck into the festivities.
Sant Jordi
La Diada de Sant Jordi, meaning St.George’s Day, is Barcelona’s own special version of Valentine’s Day. Sant Jordi is the patron saint of Catalonia, and every April 23rd his death is commemorated with this romantic day.
Sant Jordi is a celebration of culture and love, represented by books and roses. La Rambla street is filled from end to end with book and flower stalls, as it is custom to exchange them between your loved ones. This day is seen as a time for promoting and defending the Catalan language and culture, and many of the books you can find will either discuss Catalonia or be written in the Catalan language.
Temps de Flors Girona
The Girona Temps de Flors (flower season) show is held every year in Girona’s Barri Vell neighbourhood. The city comes to life with plants and spectacular floral displays for the week, converting Girona’s monuments and courtyards into unique ornamental gardens.
Each spring, during the second week of May, visitors can enjoy over 100 exhibits. The most impressive exhibits are held at the Cathedral Steps, the Arab baths, Saint Nicholas’ Chapel and Les Sarraïnes. There are also flower, photography, and film competitions and plenty of other things worth getting involved in.
Events
Primavera Sound Festival
One of the biggest music festivals of the Barcelona calendar is the fantastic Primavera Sound Festival. It is a five-day fiesta of an eclectic mix of pop, rock, and underground music, that can satisfy the taste buds of any music lover. It is held at Poblenou’s Parc del Fòrum, just by the waterfront.
Each year the Primavera Sound Festival attracts some of the biggest names in the industry to the stage. In the past the festival has hosted artists such as Pulp, Primal Scream, A$AP Rocky, Blur, Kendrick Lamar, Erykah Badu, and Lorde, to name only a few!
Sónar Festival
Sónar is another unmissable festival in the Catalonian capital during springtime. It is an art, design, electronic and experimental music festival founded in Barcelona in 1994. Since its inception, it has been divided into two parts: Sónar by Day and Sónar by Night, with a three-day congress dedicated to creativity, technology and business.
Artists that have performed at Sónar include: Björk, Duran Duran, Grace Jones, Gorillaz, Stormzy, and thousands more!
City Flamenco Festival
This annual flamenco festival is a four-day celebration featuring singing, dancing and guitar recitals of flamenco’s new and established stars in Barcelona. It has been presented by the Taller de Músics and the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) since 1993.
All types of flamenco have a place at the festival, including Catalan rumba, and music from a range of different countries. The festival is committed to presenting flamenco as an evolutionary style, capable of attracting new generations of the public and integrating into modern Barcelona life.
La Nit de Museus
The Night of the Museums is an annual event that takes place in over 120 countries all over the world, in celebration of International Museum Day. On the 18th of May, museums in Barcelona open their doors from 19:00 to 01:00 to host a special night of exhibitions, concerts, performances, workshops, guided tours and activities, and all for free!
Over 100 museums in Barcelona dedicated to art, design, fashion, archaeology, music and more, take part in the night. We recommend planning your route to get in the maximum number of museums in possible.
Sports
Spanish Foruma One Grand Prix
The Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit has been the home of the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix since 1991. Formula One comes every year to the city, usually in May time, to test its top racers on Catalan soil. Purchase a day ticket for the final race, or a full weekend ticket for 3 days of adrenaline!
It is also possible to book a Formula 1 driving experience, to have your own experience of driving the track in a real F1 car. The perfect day out for any petrolhead!
Barcelona Tennis Open
The Barcelona Open is another spectacular sporting event not to be missed on a Springtime visit. It is the annual tennis tournament for professionals on the ATP tour, that usually takes place in the last week of April. Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal has won the singles title at this event a record-breaking 11 times.
The event is played on the clay courts at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona. With average temperatures at the end of April being around 19/20 degrees, it’s the perfect day out to enjoy the sunshine.
Terraces
When the good weather arrives in Barcelona, the unofficial terrace season commences. Around 40 hotels in Barcelona are open not only for hotel guests, but for anyone that wants a bite to eat and a drink while admiring the breathtaking scenery of Barcelona from the skies.
Our top recommendations include:
- Terraza Ayre at Ayre Rosellón Hotel
- Terraza Colón at Colón Hotel
- La Dolce Vitae at Majestic Hotel
- Sky Bar at Grand Hotel Central
- La Isabela at Hotel 1898
- Terrat at Mandarin Oriental Hotel
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One year I was in Barcelona for Easter and I got to watch some of the Easter parades. There’s a very different feel to Easter in Spain, it means much more to the people than Easter does back home.
Hi Beth,
Thank you for your comment we appreciate it!
I totally agree with your statement, at home in the UK for me, Easter is simply an Easter egg hunt for the kids and a nice roast dinner with the family. In Spain, there are far more large celebrations (pre-covid), that bring the entire community to life.
Spain in the past practiced religion very commonly, whereas now only around 60% of people consider themselves Catholic, and only around 10% of people go to mass every week. The traditions had religious origins, but now it feels to be more to do with enjoying time spent with family and friends.
Perhaps it would be nice to incorporate aspects of Spanish Easter celebrations into ours at home!
Best wishes,
Emily
On behalf of Sandra and the AB Apartment Barcelona team.
The thing that I most want to do in Barcelona is to go to a service at the Familia Sagrada when it is finally finished. I first saw the building site in the early 1980s and despaired that it would not be finished in my lifetime. From what I’ve seen lately things have really speeded up.
Hi Michael,
Thank you so much for your comment!
The Sagrada Familia has been under construction since 1882, with the aimed completion date to be 2026. Unfortunately due to covid this date has been pushed back indefinitely, but fingers crossed within the next 10 years you will be able to experience it in its entirety.
Best wishes,
Emily
On behalf of Sandra and the AB Apartment Barcelona team
Much as I love my visits to Barcelona there are times when I need a quiet moment, especially in the heat of summer. That’s the time to escape to Montjuïc. You are right it is the city’s green lung.
Hi Valerie,
Thanks so much for your comment we really appreciate it!
We couldn’t agree more. On a hot day in Barcelona, sometimes all you want is a nice shady area to relax. Montjuïc can certainly provide this, with all of its beautiful foliage.
To us Montjuïc truly does feel like a breath of fresh air from city life. It is the perfect place to take a moment to relax and reflect, and to admire the far-reaching views of Barcelona.
Best wishes,
Emily
On behalf of Sandra and the AB Apartment Barcelona Team.