Wouldn’t it be great to have the beach option coupled with the culture and sightseeing that a big European city could offer?
Before the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992, it was often said that Barcelona had “turned its back” on the sea. All that changed when new beaches and a long new beach-front was constructed for the 1992 Barcelona Olympic games. Since then Barcelona has become a top beach city to the joy of both tourists and residents who can choose from 9 beaches on a stretch of 5 km. The nearest beaches are 15 to 25 minutes on foot or by metro train from the city center.
The beach swimming season is from mid-April to early October. All Barcelona beaches have the EU blue flag of excellence awarded for water quality and services. A few years ago Barcelona was named the best beach city in the world by the famous National Geographic magazine.
Barcelona city council makes a big effort to keep the sand clean and the seawater clear with more than 200 people cleaning the beaches and special beach police patrols to keep the beaches safe. Whichever beach you visit in Barcelona it is important to understand that the Barcelona beaches are urban. They are visited by 3.5 million of people every year. The water and sand are very clear and clean in the morning, but both get a bit littered at the end of a busy beach day.
Each Barcelona beach section has small beach bars on the sand which are called “chiringuitos”. There are also a number of night clubs on the Barcelona beachfront. There is a nudist or naturist beach on a section of La Mar Bella beach in Barcelona. A new law was passed in 2011 banning nudity and semi-nudity on the streets of Barcelona. This means that you can be fined 300 to 500 euros for being naked or wearing a bathing suits in public places. The reason for this new law is that Barcelona is a city and wants to avoid having an image as a seaside resort as well as respect those people who prefer not to see semi-nude people on the streets.
Here you have an overview of all Barcelona beaches with weather and water temperature:
Sant Sebastià beach
Sant Miquel beach
Somorrostro beach
La Barceloneta beach
La Nova Icària beach
Bogatell beach
La Mar Bella beach
La Nova Mar Bella beach
Llevant beach
Banys Forum – bathing area Parc del Forum
The goal of Barcelona is to offer visitors the best city beaches in the world!
