On Passeig de Sant Joan in the Eixample, behind an unassuming facade, one of the most extraordinary libraries in Spain operates in quiet obscurity. Biblioteca Arús was founded in 1895 by Rossend Arús, a journalist, Freemason, and passionate bibliophile who left his entire collection — and a substantial endowment — to the city of Barcelona on condition that it remain freely accessible to all.

A Masonic Legacy

Arús was a prominent Freemason, and his library reflects his wide-ranging intellectual interests: the collection includes one of the largest archives of Masonic documents in Europe, alongside books on republicanism, workers’ rights, esoteric philosophy, and 19th-century Catalan politics. The library also holds important collections related to the First International, anarchism, and the early labour movement — a remarkable window into the radical intellectual life of 19th-century Barcelona.

The Statue of Liberty Connection

The library’s most surprising possession is a small-scale model of the Statue of Liberty that predates the completion of the full-size statue in New York. It is one of only a handful of such models in existence, and its presence in a Barcelona library is a testament to the transatlantic connections of the liberal and Masonic networks in which Arús moved.

Visiting the Library

The Biblioteca Arús is at Passeig de Sant Joan, 26. It functions as a working research library and is open to the public during library hours, usually Monday through Friday mornings. Guided tours are occasionally available — check the library website for the current programme. Entry is free.

At the edge of the Port Vell, where the old harbour meets the sea, L’Aquàrium de Barcelona is one of the most visited attractions in the city and one of the largest aquariums in Europe. Its 80-metre transparent tunnel through a shark tank — with sharks, rays, and large pelagic fish gliding overhead — remains one of the most viscerally impressive experiences Barcelona has to offer.

The Mediterranean Focus

The aquarium’s permanent collection focuses primarily on Mediterranean marine ecosystems — the sea that surrounds Barcelona and that has shaped Catalan culture for millennia. The 35 tanks cover everything from the rock pools of the Catalan coast to the deep waters of the continental shelf, presenting the extraordinary biodiversity of a sea that is often underestimated. Seahorses, octopuses, moray eels, groupers, and enormous schools of anchovies are among the highlights.

The Oceanarium and Shark Tunnel

The centrepiece is the 36-metre-diameter Oceanarium — a circular tank holding 4 million litres of water and housing sand tiger sharks, large rays, and hundreds of other species. The 80-metre walkway passes through the tank via a transparent tunnel, giving visitors a 360-degree view of the sharks swimming overhead. It’s an experience that never quite loses its ability to impress, regardless of age.

Practical Information

L’Aquàrium is at Moll d’Espanya in Port Vell, a short walk from the Barceloneta metro station (L4) or Drassanes (L3). Open daily from 10am; closing times vary by season. Book tickets online to avoid queues, especially during school holidays and summer months.

Inside Barcelona’s finest example of 19th-century iron market architecture, something unexpected lies beneath your feet: the excavated remains of an entire neighbourhood demolished in 1714. The El Born Centre de Cultura i Memòria is one of the most emotionally and historically resonant spaces in Barcelona — and one that is still not as widely visited as it deserves to be.

The Story of 1714

After the Siege of Barcelona ended on September 11, 1714 — the date now commemorated as Catalonia’s national day — Philip V ordered the demolition of the Ribera neighbourhood to build a military citadel to control the city. Thousands of residents were displaced overnight. The ruins of their homes were buried and forgotten for nearly three centuries.

When the old Born market building was being converted into a library in 2001, workers discovered the ruins. The find was so significant that the library plans were scrapped and the ruins were preserved in situ, visible through the glass floor of the converted market space. The result is extraordinary: you walk above the streets, doorways, wells, and hearths of a neighbourhood frozen at the moment of its destruction.

The Market Building

The iron and glass structure above — the Mercat del Born, completed in 1876 — is itself an architectural masterpiece: one of the largest iron structures in Europe at the time of its construction, with soaring vaults and elegant cast-iron columns. It now hosts cultural events, exhibitions, and a café alongside the archaeological site.

Visiting El Born CCM

El Born CCM is at Plaça Comercial, 12 in the Born district. The nearest metro is Barceloneta (L4) or Arc de Triomf (L1). Access to the ruins from the building’s walkways is free. Guided tours of the archaeological site are available and highly recommended.

Positioned directly on La Rambla, the Museu de l’Eròtica de Barcelona is easy to walk past with a sideways glance and a smirk — which would be a mistake. Behind the provocative exterior lies a surprisingly serious and wide-ranging collection that traces the representation of human sexuality through art and culture from ancient civilisations to the 20th century.

A Survey of Erotic Art Across Cultures

The museum’s collection spans a remarkable range of cultures and periods: Ancient Greek ceramics with explicit scenes, Indian temple carvings, Japanese shunga woodblock prints, Peruvian Moche pottery, medieval European illuminated manuscripts, and 19th and 20th-century European erotic photography and art. The curatorial approach is genuinely anthropological — contextualising each tradition within its cultural moment rather than presenting the material purely for shock value.

What to Expect

The museum is adults-only (18+) and makes no apologies for the explicit nature of some of the material. However, visitors who approach it with curiosity and an open mind will find it an intellectually stimulating experience. The history of how different cultures have represented, regulated, and celebrated sexuality is genuinely fascinating — and rarely explored in mainstream museum contexts.

Practical Information

The Museu de l’Eròtica is at La Rambla, 96, accessible from the Liceu metro station (L3). It is open daily. Entry is ticketed; adults only. The visit takes around 45–60 minutes. The gift shop, predictably, has some memorable options for souvenir hunters.

Whatever your relationship with football, the FC Barcelona Museum at Camp Nou is hard to ignore. It is the most visited museum in Spain — more popular than the Prado, the Reina Sofía, and the Guggenheim Bilbao — and it offers an insight into one of the most globally recognised sports institutions in the world. But it’s also, unexpectedly, a window into Catalan history and identity.

More Than Football

FC Barcelona was founded in 1899 and became, during the Franco dictatorship, a focal point of Catalan cultural and political resistance. The famous slogan Més que un club — More than a club — reflects the way in which Barcelona’s identity, language, and self-determination became intertwined with the football club. Understanding this context transforms the museum visit from a trophy tour into something more meaningful.

What’s Included

The museum’s permanent collection covers the club’s entire history through trophies, memorabilia, photographs, and audiovisual installations. The Camp Nou Experience ticket includes a self-guided tour of the stadium itself — the players’ tunnel, the changing rooms, the press room, and pitchside access — giving a behind-the-scenes view of one of the largest football stadiums in the world.

Visiting Camp Nou

Camp Nou is in the Les Corts district, accessible via the Palau Reial metro station (L3). Note that the stadium and museum have been undergoing renovation as part of the Espai Barça project — check the official FC Barcelona website before your visit for current access arrangements and ticket availability. Book online in advance, especially during peak season.

On Carrer d’Aragó in the Eixample, look for the building crowned with a tangle of wire, tubing, and a cloth figure — the unmistakable sculptural installation Núvol i Cadira (Cloud and Chair) by Antoni Tàpies himself. That rooftop statement sets the tone for what’s inside the Fundació Antoni Tàpies: one of the most important single-artist foundations in Spain.

Antoni Tàpies: Artist and Philosopher

Antoni Tàpies (1923–2012) was the towering figure of postwar Catalan art. His paintings and mixed-media works — dense surfaces layered with sand, paint, rags, wire, and found objects — are meditations on matter, memory, and the human condition. Rooted in the Catalan Informalism movement and inflected by Zen Buddhism and Eastern philosophy, Tàpies created a body of work that is simultaneously visceral and profoundly intellectual.

The Building: Montaner i Simon Publishing House

The foundation occupies the former headquarters of the Montaner i Simon publishing house, designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner in 1880 — one of the earliest examples of modernista architecture in Barcelona. The brick facade, iron structure, and large windows give the building an industrial elegance that complements Tàpies’s aesthetic perfectly.

Visiting the Foundation

The foundation holds the largest collection of Tàpies’s work in the world, supplemented by a changing programme of temporary exhibitions by artists who share his interests or have been influenced by his practice. The library and archive are also significant resources for researchers. Located at Carrer d’Aragó, 255; nearest metro Passeig de Gràcia (L2/L3/L4). Open Tuesday through Sunday.

At the foot of La Rambla, in a neoclassical palace dating from 1867, the Museu de Cera de Barcelona has recently undergone a major renovation that transformed it from a slightly tired tourist trap into a genuinely engaging attraction. The combination of spectacular architecture, high-quality wax figures, and an immersive presentation makes it well worth a visit, especially for families.

The Building

The Palau March de Reus, which houses the museum, is a remarkable piece of 19th-century Barcelona. The grand staircase, ornate salons, and period details create an atmosphere that enhances the experience of moving through the historical and cultural tableaux. Even visitors who aren’t particularly interested in wax figures will find the building itself worth exploring.

The Figures and Exhibitions

Following the renovation, the museum’s collection now includes an updated range of figures covering history, culture, sport, entertainment, and politics. Catalan and Spanish figures feature prominently alongside international icons. The presentation has moved away from the traditional row-of-figures format toward more theatrical, immersive settings that tell stories rather than simply displaying likenesses.

Practical Information

The Museu de Cera is at Passatge de la Banca, 7, at the end of La Rambla near the port. The nearest metro is Drassanes (L3). It’s open daily; check the official website for current hours and ticket prices. The museum is particularly well suited for visits with children and for rainy afternoons when outdoor sightseeing isn’t practical.

Tucked into a former convent in the El Born neighbourhood, the Museu de la Xocolata is one of Barcelona’s most delicious surprises. It traces the history of chocolate from its origins in Mesoamerica, through its arrival in Spain via the colonial trade routes, to the golden age of Catalan confectionery — and yes, there are tastings involved.

Chocolate and Catalonia: A Deep History

Catalonia has a particularly rich connection to chocolate. Barcelona was one of the first European cities where chocolate was produced industrially, and Catalan chocolatiers became renowned across Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries. The museum tells this story with genuine enthusiasm, tracing the journey from Aztec xocolatl to the bar chocolate we know today.

A highlight of every visit is the gallery of monas de Pasqua — elaborate chocolate sculptures traditionally given as Easter gifts in Catalonia. These range from football stadiums to movie characters to Barcelona landmarks, all rendered in extraordinary detail in chocolate. The craftsmanship is genuinely astonishing.

Workshops and Tastings

The museum runs chocolate-making workshops for children and adults — a popular activity that lets you create your own bar to take home. The shop at the entrance sells an excellent selection of artisan chocolate from the associated Barcelona chocolatiers, making it a good stop for gifts.

Finding the Museum

The Museu de la Xocolata is at Carrer del Comerç, 36, in El Born. The nearest metro is Jaume I (L4) or Arc de Triomf (L1). Open Monday through Saturday from 10am, and Sunday mornings. Book workshops in advance during busy periods.

Long before the Eixample was built, long before the Olympic Village existed, Barcelona’s relationship with the sea was defined by the Reials Drassanes — the Royal Shipyards. Built in the 13th century and expanded over the following two hundred years, they are the largest and best-preserved medieval shipbuilding facilities in the world. Today they house the Museu Marítim, one of Barcelona’s most underrated attractions.

The Building: Gothic on an Industrial Scale

The drassanes (shipyards) themselves are extraordinary. Eight parallel naves, each around 30 metres wide, stretch back from the waterfront — Gothic vaulted ceilings at an almost industrial scale. Walking through the space, it’s possible to imagine the galleys and warships that were constructed here, the workers who built them, and the naval power they represented. The building was recently restored and is a masterpiece of medieval civil architecture.

The Collections and the Galera Reial

The museum’s highlight is the Galera Reial — a full-scale replica of the flagship of Don John of Austria at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, the decisive naval victory that halted Ottoman expansion into the Western Mediterranean. The original galley was built in these very shipyards. At 60 metres long and elaborately gilded, it dominates the main nave and is one of the most dramatic museum exhibits in Spain.

Beyond the galley, the museum covers Catalan and Mediterranean maritime history from ancient times through the age of sail and into the 20th century, with extensive collections of navigation instruments, ship models, charts, and documents.

Getting There

The Museu Marítim is at Avinguda de les Drassanes, next to the Columbus Monument. The nearest metro is Drassanes (L3). Open daily from 10am. Check the website for current prices and temporary exhibitions.

Housed in the grand 19th-century Palau de Mar warehouse at the edge of Barceloneta, the Museu d’Història de Catalunya tells the story of Catalonia from prehistoric times through to the present day. It’s one of the most comprehensive and accessible history museums in the city — and its rooftop terrace alone is worth the visit.

2,000 Years of Catalan History

The permanent exhibition spans multiple floors and covers the full sweep of Catalan history: Iberian and Roman settlements, the medieval County of Barcelona, the golden age of the Crown of Aragon, the 18th-century War of Succession and the loss of Catalan autonomy, the industrial revolution, the modernista era, the Civil War and Franco dictatorship, and the recovery of self-government after 1975. The displays combine artifacts, documents, audiovisual material, and interactive elements in a way that works for visitors of all ages.

The section on the siege of Barcelona in 1714 — the event that ended Catalan political autonomy for centuries and is still commemorated every September 11 — is particularly powerful and provides essential context for understanding contemporary Catalan politics.

The Rooftop Views

One of the museum’s best-kept secrets is its rooftop terrace. From here, you get a panoramic view over the port, the Barceloneta beach, the Columbus Monument, and the city skyline. It’s a spectacular vantage point that few tourists know about.

Visiting Information

The museum is at Plaça de Pau Vila, 3, in the Port Vell area near Barceloneta. The nearest metro is Barceloneta (L4). Open Tuesday through Sunday; closed Mondays. Entry is free on the first Sunday of each month. The museum café on the ground floor is a pleasant spot for lunch with harbour views.