See Sant Pau, the modernista hospital that rivals Gaudí

Barcelona is phasing out tourist flats: licences for around ten thousand of them are due to end in November 2028, and the city says it will not renew them. A legal flat must show a HUTB licence number in its listing and on the building. Ask the host for it before you pay, look it up in the Generalitat's public tourism…

Hotel España on Carrer de Sant Pau, near the Liceu, is a rare chance to sleep inside modernista decoration. Domènech i Montaner redecorated it in the early 1900s, with Eusebi Arnau's alabaster fireplace and Ramon Casas's marine sgraffito in the Mermaids Room. Even if you stay elsewhere, ask at reception about a guided…

Every summer the Grec Festival fills Barcelona with theatre, dance, music and circus, centred on the open-air Teatre Grec on Montjuïc, which seats about 1,950. Its 50th edition ran shows across dozens of venues and drew almost 145,000 spectators. Look at the programme in spring, book popular nights early, and check…

On 23 April, Barcelona celebrates Sant Jordi, the Catalan day of books and roses. It is not a public holiday, so the city works around the crowds. Stalls line the Rambla and Passeig de Gràcia, authors sign copies, and florists and street sellers sell roses, with red the favourite. Go in the morning to browse, and buy…

The Palau de la Música Catalana, designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner, is a working concert hall as well as a landmark, and hearing a performance is the best way to see it. The season runs with classical and opera dates, so look at the programme before you travel. The building also offers guided visits, and a premium…

Jamboree, a jazz club on Plaça Reial since 1960 and reopened in 1992, runs two concerts a day. Its Monday night, WTF, has gone since 2001: an opening concert in the early evening, then a jam where jazz players mix with hip-hop, funk and electronic artists. Book ahead through the club's website because sessions sell…

Mercat dels Encants, near Glòries, is Barcelona's big flea market, now under a modern roof, with clothes and fabrics on the upper floors and antiques, furniture and electronics below. It opens only Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and closes on public holidays. Go early on a market day to catch the auctions that…

The Mirador del Migdia on Montjuïc faces south, away from the usual postcard view, over the working port, the Mediterranean and the Llobregat delta, and on clear days the Garraf hills. It is a good sunset spot. Take the funicular, walk to the castle and follow the signed track down to the park. In the warm season La…