Categorized | First Things First

Where to live in Barcelona

Posted on 20 March 2012 by American expat!

A run-down of Barcelona barrios (neighborhoods)

One question I get a lot is “Where should I live in Barcelona?” to which my answer is: It depends. It depends on your lifestyle, what you are willing to pay, and which conveniences you need and the inconveniences you are willing to put up with. Do you want cheap rent? A swanky pad? To be in the middle of the action? peace and quiet? Barcelona offers everything you are looking for and they are all in different areas.

Note: If you are looking for short term accommodation–a couple of weeks to a couple of months–check the short term accommodation resources. If you’d like to look immediately for long term accommodation, including shared flats or student housing, check the long term rentals map page.

So let’s begin our tour with the city center, AKA Ciutat Vella, which is probably where your first place will be, and is comprised of four barrios:

Barrio Gotico

All the great history of Barcelona is right here, complete with Roman ruins glassed off in the middle of markets, banks, parks or just incorporated into the stone of newer (though still plenty old) buildings. Winding, ancient streets to get lost in and charming, modernist era bakeries and cafes, this is where all the tourists go to experience the history of the old Roman city or to get lost in the “European experience”.

Most expats choose to make this their first home in Barcelona, electing to move out after a year or two to get away from the noise of too-close neighbors, non-stop construction, vomiting tourists and the stench of pee. Still, it remains charming and exceptionally convenient, and if you can score decent terrace, you may choose to stay.

Barceloneta

where to live in Barcelona - view from Barceloneta apartment

View from Barceloneta flat

An old fishing village on the beach, constructed as seasonal housing for fisherman, so they are tiny, one room affairs stacked high and featuring the tiniest of balconies. Renovation, however, has created some real gems–full of light and with terraces to die for–but you’ll have to pay for these. Plenty of expats and immigrants live in these rows of simple flats and spend a lot of time in the shared community plazas, indeed, the smallness of these pisos require most ground floor residents to dry their laundry on the sidewalk. It’s generally a higher (organized) petty crime area, though primarily with drug dealing as there is a nearly 0% violent crime rate in all of Barcelona. Barceloneta is  a party place and is great for singles who want to be near the beach.

El Borne

AKA The Born. This used to be everyone’s second favorite barrio because of the many bars, good restaurants, high end fashion bargains, chill cafes and indie atmosphere. But tourism and crime is making its mark and expats are moving out. It’s part of the ancient city, and still very vibrant.

El Raval

A seedy, though relatively safe, barrio in the shadow of Montjuic, Raval is the home of many middle Asian immigrants which makes it the best place in Barcelona to find delicious, cheap Middle Eastern food. Musicians love Raval, it is jammed with bars and music venues, mostly smaller in size, but all of them feel like you have discovered a new treasure when you wander into a new place you never noticed before. The neighborhood has hundreds of years of history with gangs, drugs and prostitution. Within the last decade or so, Raval has (to the dismay of some) cleaned itself up though but it still isn’t a tourist area, though the city is trying to promote it as such. The prostitutes at every crossroads (most of which cars cannot fit through) still scare the tourists away.

L’Eixample

The Expansion of Barcelona, known more commonly as L’Eixample in Catalan. Pronounced, “ey-sham-pla”, it’s a massive grid of a city enlargement carried out in the1890s, connecting the Gotic area to the nearby pueblo of Gracia. It has a downtown metropolitan feel as opposed to an ancient Roman city feel
because it was designed to be a modern neighborhood. This higher end area was built in the industrial revolution and the start of the Modernist era, so there are many beautiful, Art Nouveau doorways and façades. It is somewhat lacks a community feel that the much more intimate (sometimes too intimate) closeness of the older parts of the old city offer, and also lacks the great plazas and open areas that the rest of Barcelona has, but it does host some good shopping, upscale bars and great restaurants. Eixample is divided into the izquierda (left) and derecha (right), with izquierda considered the higher (and therefore more expensive) end.

Gracia

This tends to be everyone’s favorite barrio. It’s full of hipsters, chic expats, artists, minimalists and even okupantes-the separatist squatters who sport dreadlocked mullets (girls included) and live off the government (or their parents). Originally a totally separate city from Barcelona until the Eixample connected the two cities, this ancient town has all the charm of the center without the smell. While you won’t find many ascensors (elevators/lifts) in any apartment block (there just isn’t space), the buildings rarely rise above three stories and many of them have been renovated or even made into lofts. It is relatively confusing for tourists to get to—the two metro stops are on the very outskirts of the barrio—but this helps Gracia remain unjaded and very much a locals haunt. Its main pedestrian street hosts a version original (original language version) cinema for those who can’t tolerate movies dubbed into Spanish (like me!) and the surrounding streets are full of quirky boutiques, ecological bakeries, cool cafes in beautiful plazas, wine bars and modern restaurants. The one and only drawback is its distance to the beaches, but the place is so charming you won’t care. And Barcelona is so small anyway, you can ride Bicing to the beach from there (it’s all downhill). This is the second place you will live, and when you move on to your third, you will think back on your year in Gracia with fondness.

where to live in barcelona-gracia

Plaça del Sol in Gracia

Poble Sec

Butting up against Montjuic, and actually partially up the mountain, is the barrio of Poble Sec, Raval’s next door neighbor. This is a well connected area via metro and roads that you can actually drive on, right in the Montjuic area which is great for jogging, museum visiting, events and all kinds of outdoor things. I love climbing up it with my mountain bike and then riding around the trails at the top. In recent years, this barrio is the new hot spot and now offers plenty of worthwhile restaurants and bars of all types. Just have a look at Yelp and make a decision. Poble Sec has plenty of green areas and is a quieter neighborhood than most city center barrios. It’s also a very “Spanish” barrio, in that there is plenty of chatting with the lady at the bakery, the man who runs the liquor store and the sellers at the market.

Sants

A slightly cheaper area that has an “industrial park” with a green concrete lake, though the park is used as a park, with people playing sports and old people sitting around on the benches. The main train station is also here, which does mean traffic. However, down the smaller streets you’ll find lovely plazas, older buildings and a community feel. This area has everything, and while in the past it fell into disrepair, the city seems to be dedicating more money and effort to parks and community areas. This has also recently become the new gay area, so it is slowly getting beautified. It sits right above Plaza España, which offers Fira Convention center in and the new 5 level shopping center that was once Barcelona’s bullring (bull fighting is illegal in Catalunya, hence their symbol is the donkey, not the bull like the rest of Spain).

Les Corts 

Just about Sant is les Corts. This is where the famous FGC Barcelona stadium, Camp Nou, is. This is a newer area, and thus has more car traffic than older areas: streets are wider, parking is more plentiful (though never outright plentiful) but lacking somewhat in charm in my opinion. This is one of the areas where wealthy Catalans come from their homes outside the city to shop. This also hosts the Polytechnic University just above a nice park, Parc de Pedralbes, which contains the former residence of the Spanish royal family.

Sarriå and Sant Gervasi

SarriĂĄ and Sant Gervasi are wealthy barrios heading up the hill from L’Eixample. There are plenty of green areas, wide streets, trees and parks and wide walking ramblas (the Spanish love their ramblas). SarriĂĄ used to be its own barrio, though not as old as Gracia, so it’s got a cool pueblo feel to it. They are both devoid of tourism as they are just nice, expensive, quiet areas. They do have the Ferro Carrils which are short distance trains that go downtown and connect to the metros. It is interesting to note that the further you get from the beach, the more expensive the areas get.

Poble Nou

All the way on the other side of town is Poble Nou, ‘new town’ in Catalan and pronounced “pob-la no,” is a study in contrasts. This is an old industrial district with brick warehouses and factories that have either been turned into trendy lofts, or left to crumble. Many an old factory are still waiting for reconstruction and plenty of gitanos (gypsies) make their homes in them, or in the places they used to stand- there are a grip of vacant lots around with a old brick wall left alone in the middle of them, next to a beautiful new construction of desirable flats. Smoke stacks, with the buildings they once supported completely torn down, stand alone in the middle of parks or plazas. Poble Nou has seen the most new construction of any barrio in Barcelona. The barrio is the hot new trendy place to live, with a great main street that goes from Diagonal directly to the beach, plenty of decent restaurants and zero tourism.

Horta-GiunardĂł

In the North-Eastern corner of Barcelona is the Horta-Guinardo district. Not a popular place for expats, because it is far from the beach and is extremely hilly. Until the last decades of the last century the area was occupied by fields, quarries, pastures and farmhouses, including Mas GuinardĂł which gave the neighborhood its name. Housing on the hillsides was mostly built in the 1960s and 70s, when immigrant workers were encouraged to move to Spain by Franco. Rents are cheap, though there isn’t exactly a bustling nightlife as the population seems to still be those immigrants that moved there in the 60s and 70s. But I like this area for its old charm and total lack of tourism. There are several remarkable things in this area, including a velodrome and a hilltop that features a lookout where the remains of an anti-aircraft lookout (complete with gun) from the Spanish civil war sits on a site where a shanty village was later constructed and only recently razed. 

Outside Barcelona

The outskirts of Barcelona offers cities such as Sitges, a favorite for retired European gay couples with money and British families. Go figure. It’s a cute little beach town that was formerly a fishing village. It became a trendy place to live when the Catalan bourgeoisie began building their summer homes in Sitges in the 19th century. Great nightlife (though most of the clubs and bars are gay). As you can imagine, there is an amazing Mardi Gras parade here every year.

Finally, back to the other side of Barcelona, where the outskirts are Besos and further north, Badalona. This is where the Andalusian-Galician Spaniard immigrated in the 1960s and 70s: Now it’s a mix of Latin American, Pakistani, Chinese and Eastern Europe immigrants living alongside the adult children of the Southern Spanish immigrants. Badalona has also undergone a recent gentrification, on the beach fronts anyway, and you will generally fine cleaner, less crowded beaches that are still plenty lively. Everything is cheaper too: rent, restaurants, services. The major deterrent from living here–and most points north up to nearly Girona–are the train tracks that split the beach from the beach front property in most areas.

You likely won’t be looking to live beyond the metropolitan area, unless you want some land for animals, grapes, or an otherwise quiet rural life, which is likely not the reason you are moving here in the first place, though it may be where you end up ten years from now.

MapaBCN_Distritos01

23 Comments For This Post

  1. Eric Says:

    Any suggestions for a good deal of beachfront or oceanfront hotels?

  2. Eric Says:

    I don’t want a place full of old people either….

  3. Matt Coryell Says:

    Hi. Thanks for the tips.

    My girlfriend and I are teachers in the US and are looking to travel to Barcelona for June and July. We are both in out late 20’s and looking to experience Spain and all it has to offer for the summer. However, we need a place to stay that is affordable and all the apartments on the websites out there seem pretty pricey (a little too much for the two of us). We are not looking for anything fancy: a one bedroom flat or room with a private bath in a nice, safe, neighborhood. Know anybody that would be willing to rent something like that to two nice Americans?

    Thanks in advance for you help.

    Matt Coryell
    coryell@shg.org
    001-630-267-8049

  4. American expat! Says:

    Absolutely. I will send you an email shortly. 🙂

  5. Robert Says:

    Hello,
    My family (wife and 1-year old son) and I are moving to Barcelona in June. We need ro find a place and we are considering Sarria and Sant Gervasi, based also on the useful information on this blog. How hard is it to find a flat (3 bedrooms, 2 baths) in the area? How much would a nice place (110+ square meters) be? Do you know any Spanish website that have a comprehensive list of what is available? It seems as though all the sites in English have only a handful of options and they are never the same.
    Thanks in advance.

  6. American expat! Says:

    Sarria and Sant Gervasi are more affluent areas of the city, so a 3 bed, 2 bath will be easy to find. As for the price, that depends of if the gastos (utilities) are included, if a garage or parking space is included, if it is furnished or not (most will be), and which floor the apartment is on, if it has a balcony and/or terrace. The range is quite broad but I’d say from 1200 to 2500 is what you are going to find. Check idealista.com, loquo.com and easypiso.com – those three generally cover everything that is currently available, as agencies post there as well. Good luck!

  7. James C Says:

    Hey I’m staying in Barcelona for 4 weeks this Summer to do some University research. Where would you suggest to stay? I need to be fairly central and not overly expensive. Would you be able to help?
    Thanks!!

  8. American expat! Says:

    Hi James, I suggest checking out this post regarding areas: http://www.spainexpatblog.com/live-in-barcelona/

    and then this one regarding prices: http://www.spainexpatblog.com/cost-of-living-spain/

    Barcelona isn’t so big, so it comes down to preference. I would suggest Poble Sec or Sants for inexpensive but central locations.

  9. Heather Says:

    I am moving to Barcelona in the summer to teach I have a great dane and am looking for a flat that has a small garden/yard…preferably on the ground floor on with an elevator. Is it difficult to find a place that allows dogs?
    Thanks!
    Heather

  10. American expat! Says:

    Most places allow dogs – its really dog friendly here – so that won’t be a problem. Finding a garden or yard is going to be the hard part. I suggest looking for an atico or sobre-atico flat with a terrace. You won’t have grass but you’ll have some space for your big dog.

  11. Eliza Says:

    Hello,

    I need some advice on areas of barcelona that would be suitable for a family with a young kid to live in. We’ll be moving there in September and i don’t really know where to start looking. We re looking for a safe neighborhood with an easy-quick commute to universidad autonoma de Barcelona (Sabadell campus) . any ideas ??? Thanks

  12. LOLZ Says:

    LOL, why do you want a ground floor place with an elevator? So you can ride the elevator for fun if you are bored?

  13. Satyadhrik Says:

    Most student friendly neighbourhood in Barcelona?

  14. American expat! Says:

    Which level of study? The Eixample has plenty of private university students who share flats etc.

  15. Ron Says:

    Good review but…

    Raval…I bought and lived there in the mid 2000s. It is not in the “shadow of Monthuic”. It is part of the “cas antic” or old city. It is run-down and dirty. Some positives the modern art museum, the opera house and the Filmteca on the renovated Rambla de Raval.

    LOFTS in Gracia?? Lofts in Barcelona had an odd idea of what a “loft” should be. A New Yorker certainly would never recognize a 200-500 sq ft space as a loft. It had to be 150 sq meters or more!

    And why did the reviewer totally omit the gay presence which is huge. Granted BCN does not have a “Chueca” like Madrid but it does have elements in different parts. Gayxaimple?

  16. American expat! Says:

    You are right, Eixample has a big gay population, though nothing compared to Sitges. Sants is also an up and coming gay area, which will bring some personality to what is a very ordinary area with a large older population.

  17. Cece Says:

    Hello,
    I’m moving to Barcelona in the fall and I’m looking for a place to live.
    I’ve found a place that is close to the Sagrada familia. I know the monument is a very popular one but what about the area? Is it a good place to live in?

    Thanks

  18. American expat! Says:

    Hi CeCe, yeah it’s a great area actually.

  19. Azadeh Says:

    Hello!
    I and my husband are moving to Barcelona in March for 5 mounts . We need some advice on areas of Barcelona that would be suitable for a couple to live in. I don’t really know where to start looking. We re looking for a safe and quit neighborhood with an easy-quick access to public transportation.
    I will be great full to any suggestion.
    Thanking you.

  20. American expat! Says:

    I’d check this post first…
    http://www.spainexpatblog.com/barrios/
    Most areas are suitable with easy public transport access, just depends on how much you want to pay, if you want to be near/far from the beach and/or tourist areas.

  21. Prem Says:

    Hello,
    I am relocating to Barcelona, Spain from India along with my family ( Wife, daughter and Mother). Can any one suggest good residential place where i can take rented flat(1/2 BHK). I would prefer where Indian community peoples are staying and also it should be near by good international school. Also it should be safe at any time for me and my family.

    Thanks in advance for your support here.

  22. Sandra Says:

    Hi, we are 2 esl teachers hoping to move to Barcelona in the future. We are having difficulty finding a suitable place to live. Most of our work will be done from home (teaching online). Therefore we don’t mind living 30-40 mins outside the city centre so long as there is a good public transport connection to the area. Our budget is from €600-€800 per month and we are hoping to get good value for money. We would like a 2 bed modern apartment in a safe area, possibly near the beach and not too far from supermarkets, restaurants etc. Any recommendations for areas to live or websites to use are much appreciated. TIA

  23. American expat! Says:

    Check the Badalona area, use idealista.es to view places. I will tell you that you likely will not be able to find nor contract a place until you are here. Just keep that in mind so plan for a one month temp place to stay.

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