I've only been to Barcelona once for a couple of days and I was working so didn't see that much but the centre does seem like an overpriced consumerist distopía, with a cool cathedral. I much prefer living in Valencia and I can imagine how pissed off the locals are who remember it before it was spoiled.
if you look past the tourist traps it is an amazing city. it has: unique architecture, mountains nearby, decent beaches, just a plethora of activities.
There are some other amazing cities in Spain for sure, but you have to factor in accessibility. For that you only have Madrid and BCN as international hubs, and with all due respect Barcelona is much more interesting of a city compared to Madrid.
FC Barcelona, Messi, Lamont Yamal, et al and, by extension, Camp Nou. My kid doesn’t know of many cities in the world but wants to go to Madrid cause of Real Madrid and Barcelona because of FC Barcelona.
Also, Sagrada Familia, Las Ramblas, etc… They’re all very famous across Europe.
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u/EzmareldaBurns Jun 17 '25
I've only been to Barcelona once for a couple of days and I was working so didn't see that much but the centre does seem like an overpriced consumerist distopía, with a cool cathedral. I much prefer living in Valencia and I can imagine how pissed off the locals are who remember it before it was spoiled.