Freaks of the world, Barcelona is your city. In recent years, the Catalan capital has been welcoming with pleasure and desire spaces in which to enjoy those hobbies related to fiction, fantasy or animation. There are more and more plans inspired by sagas such as Harry Potter, Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings and every so often new stores open where you can buy that Marvel or Disney Funkos that you are missing to complete your collection.
There are events such as the Salón del Manga, the Salón Internacional del Cómic or Bubble Pop, the Europe’s first festival dedicated to Korean music, which have start and end dates. However, Barcelona’s nerd offer goes beyond occasional activities: the city offers geeky plans from Monday to Sunday, 365 days a year, and a free day on leap years!
Geek stores for all tastes
From comics to badges and pins, board games, plastic figurines or costumes for cosplay. The variety in merchandising of the most beloved movies, series and video games is practically endless.
In Barcelona we can find many geek stores full of the most bizarre products, there is even a shopping center dedicated exclusively to these geeks!
Frikimania (Rambla de Poblenou, 47), Encantoos (Calle de Pérez Galdós, 8, Hospitalet) or Galeries Maldà (Carrer del Pi, 5), with establishments such as Carreró Maldragó, dedicated to the Harry Potter universe, or Super Friki Market, a supermarket full of knick-knacks and goodies made in Japan, are our favorites (and those of the Barcelona public).
Role-playing games and cold beer
Nothing feels better than a cold beer to refresh your mind while you think of the best strategy to win at Risk or Catan. That is why the bars with board games triumph in Barcelona and wherever they go.
You order the card and board of the game you like the most. You get together with friends and have a drink while you play a fun game. It’s a no-fail plan that, fortunately, can be done at several locations in Barcelona.
At Queimada Nivell Q (Carrer de la Independència, 323), one of the pioneers, you will find more than 600 games on its shelves and at La Iguana (Carrer de Rosés, 46), you can sign up for their Trivial Molón, one Thursday or another, to test your general culture.
Quidditch matches
If you thought, proudly, that you were the geekiest in your neighborhood, you come to this article and you realize that there are people in Barcelona who participate in quidditch championships the sport invented by J.K. Rowling to make Harry Potter a kind of flying Messi.
The Quidditch Association of Catalonia founded in 2014, has several quadball teams (its official name since 2022) that compete against each other with sticks between their legs as broomsticks and balls instead of golden snitches.
If Pokemon Go wasn’t enough, this quirky sport makes it clear that geeky plans don’t have to be sedentary.
Geek concerts by candlelight
You may find the idea of watching a classical music concert by candlelight sappy, cheesy or even cloying. We don’t blame you. It is true that it is a romantic plan and is attended by engaged couples who leave the evening engaged. But, in addition to an ideal place to propose marriage Candlelight is the perfect place to give free rein to your geeky side, don’t you believe us? Keep reading.
The Candlelight concert series pays tribute to great classic composers, immortal rock bands and current pop artists. But that’s not all. Among its many tributes you will also find some for movie buffs.
Enjoy a musical journey through the sets of your favorite movies –westerns, fiction or even anime– in a unique setting and with the most talented classically trained musicians. It will be unforgettable!
Escape rooms to bring out your geek side
If there are geeky stores that, set in your favorite series or video games, get you excited like when you were a kid, imagine an escape room. In Barcelona there are several escape rooms inspired by some of the biggest blockbusters of recent years whose sole purpose is to make you feel like you are trapped in your favorite movie.
For example, The street of magic, by the group Get Out it is set in a wizarding world that could very well be Hogwarts and is perfect for adults and teenagers. For the little ones, Alice in Wonderland, by Aventurico is the perfect approach to the work of Lewis Carroll and the films of Disney and Tim Burton.
Undoubtedly, a different (and very original) plan to have a great time with friends or family and bring out your geeky side.
Theme parties and restaurants
The negative connotation of “geek” is now a thing of the past. The term has evolved from its use in freak shows and now occupies descriptions on Tinder, prints on T-shirts and even describes the aesthetics of certain establishments. For a bar to be considered a geek bar is, in principle, quite a compliment.
In Barcelona, more and more people go to geek bars and restaurants whose decoration, ambience and even menu pay homage to some element of the underground culture or pop culture.
We are talking, for example, about El Bosc de les fades (Pasaje de la Banca, 7), a bar out of a fairy tale that leaves anyone captivated by its charm open-mouthed. O Mutenroshi Ramen (Carrer Sant Agustí, 10), a place to try (perhaps) the best ramen in Barcelona, which is also set in the Dragon Ball series.
Another ideal place if you like manga, anime and Japanese culture is Akihabar, the first otaku music bar in Barcelona. A space to dance without prejudice created by the organizers of the Atomic Pixel Party, which has been filling the Barcelona night with cosplays and fun for several seasons.
Bubble Planet or how to travel to another planet
There’s nothing geekier than living on another planet. And that’s exactly what Bubble Planet, Barcelona’s new immersive experience, proposes. You could inhabit for a few hours a planet full of bubbles and fantasy.
Here you will find giant balloons, huge soap bubbles and even a hot air balloon ride simulator, anything to do with air-filled spheres! An immersive journey through different themed rooms equipped with virtual reality technology that will make you disconnect from the real world and live in your own bubble for a while.