The cold is here. Or what in Barcelona we call cold and that in other cities would call ‘mild weather’. In any case, for us Barcelonians, December is synonymous with lower temperatures, bundling up and catching colds. Yes, the latter too.
Even so, not even colds can stop us from making plans. Many things can be done indoors, avoiding the outdoors and taking advantage of everything the city has to offer. Let’s see.
Llums de Sant Pau
After two successful editions, Els llums de Sant Pau return to Barcelona to bring a touch of color to Christmas. It is a family initiative but generally enjoyed by people of all ages. It is held outdoors in the beautiful modernist site of Sant Pau. There, the lights are the protagonists making the visitor travel through a sensory experience.
Along the route, the public can enjoy an amazing videomapping and the spectacle of the 16-meter Christmas tree, with more than 50,000 lights that will move to the rhythm of Christmas carols and a musical choir.
📍 Sant Antoni Maria Claret, 167
Festivalet at Fabra i Coats
Since 2009, Festivalet brings together at Fabra i Coats a selection of the best national and international designers and artisans. An initiative that promotes Christmas shopping by encouraging the circular economy and local products.
In addition, there will be an outdoor area with gastronomy where you can have breakfast, vermouth, lunch and snacks with local and homemade food. There will also be vegetarian and vegan options.
Some of the participants are Casa Atlântica, Clarina Ceramics, Coco Books, Editorial GG, Fitocosmètica del Montseny, jeje.things and Mamita Botanical Skincare.
📍 Sant Adrià, 20
Merry Days’: magic returns to CASA SEAT
Casa SEAT transforms the last month of the year into a Christmas village full of toys and fantasy characters. The creations of master confectioner Christian Escribà will transport all visitors to a Christmas full of colors, aromas and illusion. A magical journey to stop at the chocolate house and merry-go-round, greet the reindeer and elves and deliver our letter of wishes, among other surprises like a friendly penguin.
The little ones will be able to make their wish on the Wishing Tree, create their own virtual fir tree or have their picture taken with the collection of mini SEAT pedals. There will also be an advent calendar on the façade of the building, where every day a window will open with illustrations of emblematic buildings of Barcelona designed by the graphic artist PeBe. The experience is completed with a breakfast or snack of churros with chocolate in the restaurant CASA SEAT by Ametller Origen.
Merry Days: from December 1 to January 7
📍Passeig de Gràcia, 109
Taste the two best panettones in the country.
A short hour’s drive away, at the foot of the Montseny natural park, a pastry shop bakes what is already the best artisan panettone in Spain in 2023.
The pastry chef hidden in the mountain of Lluís Costa, from Vallflorida Xocolaters, a pastry shop in Sant Esteve de Palautordera that has won a historic award: for the first time a pastry shop wins in the traditional category (the classic fruit panettone) and in the chocolate category, something that had never happened until now.
📍 Sant Esteve de Palautordera
America’s Cup Experience
At the America’s Cup Experience we can enjoy an interactive and immersive experience on a large 128 m² LED screen with videos projecting the history of the competition and broadcasting live races. But there is more: two AC75 foils in match racing, a life-size replica of the America’s Cup trophy, interactive totems, content projected on different media and models with audiovisuals. Although the jewel of the exhibition are the sailing simulators.
📍 Moll d’Espanya
Dragons and Modernism at Centre d’Art Amatller
After several months in this emblematic building in Passeig de Gràcia, Casa Amatller, Dragons and Modernism: the immersive experience comes to an end. Specifically, next January 7 will say goodbye to the city. But you can still get your ticket and come to visit it.
The exhibition offers us almost 2,000 square meters of tour. We will find an immersive 360º room, a virtual reality room, digital and interactive installations in a family room, scenographies and other technological resources. All of them, combined with a traditional museography that features personal objects of the Amatller family, their travels and their intimate life.
📍 Passeig de Gràcia, 41
Seek refuge in one of the chocolate shops on Carrer Petritxol.
It is known for being the street of chocolate and churros, which gives it even more charm to the one that already has this network of streets of the Gothic Quarter. And warming up in this way is not a bad plan at all.
Beyond Dulcinea and the chocolate shops of this street, we invite you to discover 10 curiosities about it.
Doing yoga on the rooftop of the luxurious El Palace hotel.
Every Saturday, the yoga and wellness center Frizzant organizes a yoga session in a privileged space in the city: the rooftop of El Palace. It is a session of about an hour that adapts to all levels of yoga.
Located in this haven of peace among trees and with spectacular views, Frizzant’s class offers a new way to face the weekend in a healthy, conscious and connected way with yourself.
📍 Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 668
Listen to a special Christmas Candlelight concert at the W Hotel (December 29).
We will agree that there is nothing that can compare to the feeling of listening to traditional carols and your favorite Christmas songs during this season… Or is there? With Candlelight, the worldwide phenomenon that lights up Barcelona season after season, you can enjoy the best Christmas music by candlelight!
📍 Plaça de la Rosa dels Vents, 1
Dart 2023
Dart always comes as a small but great breath of fresh air: it brings us proposals that contribute their bit to local culture from a different perspective, away from those offered by movie theaters. This documentary film festival on contemporary art has already been held for 6 editions, and in the current edition it will program more than 30 activities including screenings, workshops and conferences.
The venues where the documentaries will be shown are Sala Phenomena, Cinemes Girona, Disseny Hub Barcelona and The Social Hub. On the other hand, Filmin will host a special online selection of titles from November 29 to December 31.
We will be able to see, among others, Pussy Riot. Rage Against Putin, Soviet Barbara: the story of Ragnar Kjartansson in Moscow, HOMAS SCHÜTTE. I Am Not Alone and Fragments of Paradise about Jonas Mekas.
📍 Various venues in the city and online
Going up to the snow (now that it’s finally time)
How many times have you heard that “I’ve done a quick up and down to the snow”? It’s very much us Barcelonians. Like any son of a neighbor, we may sometimes complain about our habitat, but the truth is that we have the privilege of having everything nearby: sea, mountains and snow. Now that the cold season is starting to appear, we want to tell you about these 5 places where you can enjoy skiing or just spending a day in the snow with your colleagues.
📍 Various locations
Discover Real Self: the first immersive experience under total anonymity
A large room. Two hundred people in it. Each one, dressed in a white suit and a mask. In absolute anonymity. Each one of these people feels and moves freely in the space, letting their body speak for itself. Under this individual and at the same time collective climate ‘Real Self’ arises , the first immersive experience in total anonymity. And watch out because now it has become a reality: ‘Real Self’ has already premiered and from Barcelona Secreta we want to tell you all the details.
75 minutes in which about two hundred participants will feel all kinds of emotions. An experience difficult to describe since each person lives it in a totally different way. Perhaps the best way to discover it is to experience it.
📍 Espacio Inmersa (Badajoz, 72)
Enter the scene of a murder (almost real) with Murder Mystery.
We don’t want to talk about a horror movie, but about an immersive game that will test our tolerance to fear and our investigative skills. It’s called Murder Mystery and after its success last year it has returned to Barcelona.
Murder Mystery is a good example of how to feel that kind of fear that has nothing to do with terror, but with the psychic. Surely it is not easy to put yourself in the shoes of a criminal to find out, one by one, all the clues that led him to commit such an act. And that is precisely our mission in this immersive experience: to unravel a very complex knot.
📍 Casa de la Seda (Sant Pere Més Alt, 1)
Yerma: a classic at the Teatre Lliure
María Hervás stars in this carnal piece that transcends our senses. Yerma is the title of one of Federico García Lorca’s most acclaimed works. A tragic poem divided into three acts that makes us reflect on the internal conflict of a woman who fails to become a mother. She lives this frustration in an environment that makes motherhood indispensable for a married woman. Within her, the maternal instinct fights against the repression and obligation imposed by the society of the moment.
Yerma is directed by Juan Carlos Martel Bayod, with scenic space by Frederic Amat and music by Raül Refree.
📍 Plaça de Margarida Xirgu, 1
Visit an exhibition about Banksy
The new Banksy Museum brings us closer to his committed look through a permanent immersive exhibition. Undoubtedly, one of the plans with which to welcome the rentrée.
It all started in Paris about a year ago, when the success of the exhibition The World of Banksy hatched in the French capital. That echo of recognition transcended and arrived in Barcelona to show us the work of this enigmatic artist to whom no one puts a face and who has managed to keep his identity under anonymity.
📍 Trafalgar, 34
Eating the best ramen in Barcelona
Now that the cold weather has arrived, few things are more appealing than a good warm broth in your mouth. Whether it’s escudella, vegetable soup or… ramen!
Ramen is one of the titans of Asian gastronomy (in Japan you can have it on every corner) and one of the best ways to warm up when the cold weather hits. Today’s ramen is heir to a tradition that has taken care of its gastronomy to the maximum and here are some samples from the city of Barcelona.
📍 Several locations
Try our selection of the best cannelloni
Cannelloni is practically an annexed arm of the Catalan territory. Eating cannelloni for Sant Esteve is synonymous with Christmas, celebration and tradition. Three things that are usually liked, regardless of the city or country you come from.
There are many recipes, and all of them have become so popular that it is possible to draw up a list of the best cannelloni in Barcelona (of course, without leaving out your grandmother’s). A list that, as it could not be otherwise, includes from the most classic versions of this dish to the most innovative ones.
📍 Several locations
Soundit (December 16)
On Saturday, December 16, from 14:00 to 22:00, the last Soundit session of the year takes place at La Monumental. This festival, which fuses national and international DJ proposals with gastronomic offerings, presents in its lineup outstanding artists such as Avalon Emerson, Teki Latex, DJ Marcelle and Alvva.
📍 Barcelona’s Plaza Monumental
Sagrada Família Christmas Fair
The Sagrada Família Christmas Fair is the most established Christmas market in L’Eixample. With more than 150 stalls, you can buy everything you need for your Christmas decorations such as fir trees, ornaments, nativity scenes, gifts, crafts, clothing and jewelry or also nougat, cheese, sausages, sweets, chestnuts and churros. This year, Plaça Sagrada Família will have light installations representing the arrival of the Three Wise Men, allowing visitors to walk among them and observe them from different perspectives.
Plaça Sagrada Família
Santa Llúcia Fair
The Santa Llúcia Fair is the oldest fair of cribs and Christmas ornamentation in Barcelona, will be present again throughout the month of December in the Cathedral Avenue. With more than 160 stalls dedicated exclusively to Christmas products, such as cribs, figurines, moss, Christmas trees and home accessories. In addition, more than thirty spaces are dedicated to crafts and gift items, including textiles, ceramics, jewelry, jewelry or leather.
Around the Barcelona Cathedral