When to go to Barcelona

In collaboration 
with Rough Guides

Best time to visit Barcelona

Barcelona, bustling with life in every season, offers a diverse array of attractions, from lively spring music festivals to enchanting Christmas markets. This dynamic city ensures there's always something exciting to explore, making every visit an unforgettable part of your Barcelona holidays.

In terms of weather, Barcelona’s mild Mediterranean climate assures sunshine most of the year and makes freezing temperatures rare even in the depths of winter. Spring and autumn are the most agreeable seasons for visiting, when the temperatures are comfortably warm. Midsummer can be hot and humid at times, as you’d expect, while August sees many shops, bars and restaurants close as the locals head out of the city in droves.

It’s worth considering a winter break, as long as you don’t mind the prospect of occasional rain. It’s generally still warm enough to sit outside at a café, for example, even in December or January.

In collaboration 
with Rough Guides

Spring events

Carnaval/Carnestoltes (week before Lent, February or March)
Costumed parades and other carnival events across every city neighbourhood. Sitges, down the coast, has the most outrageous celebrations.

Dia de Sant Jordi (April 23)
St George’s Day celebrates Catalunya’s patron saint, with hundreds of book and flower stalls down the Ramblas and elsewhere.

Primavera Sound (late May)
The city’s hottest music festival attracts top names in the rock, indie and electronica world.

  

Weather in spring
March: Average high 17° / low 10°
April: Average high 20° / low 13°
May: Average high 23° / low 16°


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Summer events

Sónar (June)
Europe’s biggest, most cutting-edge electronic music, multimedia and urban art festival presents three days of brilliant noise and spectacle.

Verbena/Dia de Sant Joan (June 23/24)
The “eve” and “day” of St John herald a “night of fire”, involving bonfires and fireworks (particularly on Montjuïc) and watching the sun come up on the beach.

Festival de Barcelona Grec (end June to August)
This is the city’s main performing arts festival, with many events staged at Montjuïc’s Teatre Grec.


  

Weather in summer
June: Average high 27° / low 20°
July: Average high 29° / low 23°
August: Average high 29° / low 23°

Autumn events

Festes de la Mercè (end September)
The city’s main festival is celebrated for a week around September 24, with costumed giants, firework displays and human tower competitions.

Festival Internacional de Jazz (October/November) 
The annual jazz festival attracts big-name artists to the clubs, as well as smaller-scale street concerts.


Weather in autumn
September: Average high 26° / low 20°
October: Average high 23° / low 17°
November: Average high 18° / low 12°

Winter events

Santa Llùcia Fair (1–23 December)
Santa Llùcia Fair selling Nativity figurines, art, crafts and Christmas trees in front of the cathedral.

Festes de Santa Eulàlia (mid-February)
Winter festival around February 12 in honour of the young Barcelona girl who suffered a beastly martyrdom at the hands of the Romans. There are parades, concerts, fireworks and sardana dancing.



Weather in winter
December: Average high 15° / low 9°
January: Average high 15° / low 9°
February: Average high 15° / low 8°

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