Barcelona now has kilometers of well-maintained beaches. The ones that are closest to home (20m walk) are the ones called Sant Sebastià (our favourite) and La Barceloneta, but anyone is fine. In summer the beach is very crowded, it is best to go first thing or late in the afternoon.
But Barcelona only has beaches since the 1992 Olympic Games, which meant a big change for the city. During most of the 20th century what are now the beaches was occupied by factories.
Or for very poor houses without any kind of service.
The Olympic Games allowed to reform the entire coastline, many factories were destroyed and the Olympic Village where the athletes slept was built instead.
If you don’t fancy the beach, there’s a very nice outdoor pool in Club Natación Atletic Barceloneta, you can look for it in your google maps.
The traditional thing here is to eat a paella after going to the beach (here we tell you). Be careful because they advertise it in many places, but most of them are horrible. Google places like ‘La Mar Salada’, Kaiku or Ca La Nuri and choose one of those.
Another more adventurous option is to take the cable car that leaves from behind the beach of Sant Sebastià, you just have to look for a tall metal tower. It is expensive, but it has its charm because it was built for the universal exhibition of 1929 and it flies over the entire port until it reaches the mountain of Montjuic.
This part of Montjuic is called Miramar (literally look at the sea), and you can eat at the Martinez restaurant. It is expensive but has great views and one day is one day 🙂 The paella is good.