Going to the cinemas in the fresh air is perhaps one of the best plans for the summer. The pleasure of watching a movie is combined with the pleasure of doing it outdoors, with the warm summer breeze of Barcelona caressing our faces. If we add to that the fact that many of the cinemas in the city allow you to have a picnic, bring your own food or enjoy a beer while watching the movie, the experience is round.
From screens in Gaudí works to cinemas in castle moats. The outdoor cinema cycles are a great opportunity to discover corners of the city in a different way, enjoying both the film in front of us and the environment in which we have sat down to watch it.
Open air roof-top cinema at El Palace in Barcelona
From Wednesday to Saturday and with sun lounger included, you can watch some of the biggest contemporary hits (very varied) such as Casablanca, E.T, Shrek, The Untouchables or Shakespeare in Love at the Palace Hotel.
And if you liked the rooftops, we leave here a list of some of the best in Barcelona for you to visit them all in these summer evenings.
📍 Palace Hotel Barcelona. Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 668 (Urquinaona).
Until September 10.
Sala Montjuïc, cinema in the castle’s moat.
Summer nights in Barcelona are synonymous with outdoor cinema, and few are more mythical than Sala Montjuïc, the outdoor cinema that has been offering films in an idyllic setting to the locals for years. This year, however, the pit of the Castell de Montjuïc is under construction, so the Sala Montjuïc has had to move to an even better place, les Tres Xemeneies de Sant Adrià.
This year 2024 Sala’s cinema a la fresca will be held from June 27 to August 6, and will feature films such as Blade Runner, All About My Mother, Old Boy, The Apartment, Bitelchus Bitelchus or Forrest Gump, forming a program that is always preceded by a musical performance such as Magalí Datzira, a bassist and singer from Barcelona who offers an original repertoire, with touches of funk, electronic pop and jazz on the opening day. The complete program can be consulted here.
📍 Three Xemeneies of Sant Adrià
📅 From June 27 to August 6
Cinema fora de lloc, an open-air film festival through the squares of Barcelona.
Every summer throughout the months of May, June and July will take place several screenings of feminist projects outdoors in different squares of the districts of Ciutat Vella, Gràcia and Nou Barris.
In this outdoor program will be screened the winning films of Cortos en femenino 2025, an annual call for short films directed by women organized by TRAMA – Coordinadora de muestras y festivales de cine, vídeo y multimedia realizados por mujeres (Coordinator of film, video and multimedia exhibitions and festivals made by women). You can check the complete program here.
📍 Plaça Virreina, Plaça Salvador Seguí, Plaça Sant Pere and Pati de la seu del Districte de Nou Barris.
📅 Until July 1st.
Cinema lliure a la Platja, films with sand between your toes.
The dream of many. Any better plan than closing a day at the beach watching a movie without having to move from the sarong? The Cinema Lliure a la Platja already makes this dream possible on the beach of Sant Sebastià, in Barceloneta, giving the opportunity to watch outdoor movies as classic as Pulp Fiction or Star Wars and rest when you want the look at the moon and the sea.
But not only you have this option, the initiative to enjoy the air of Barcelona does not stop growing. The cycle of cinema a la fresca on the beach already extends to beaches all over Catalonia: Tarragona, Sitges, Tossa de Mar and even Mallorca, with sessions in Palma, Andratx and Pollença. The six independent and classic films that will be rotating through the screens can be found on the event’s website.
📍 Platja de Sant Sebastià in Barcelona and other beaches in Catalonia and Mallorca.
📅 From July 7 to August 7
Barcelona Plató, screenings in Park Güell
Perhaps one of the most beautiful outdoor cinemas in Barcelona. Park Güell becomes during the summer in a screening room to show films that have our city as the main stage.
It is thanks to Cinema en Moviment, the film series with a woman’s point of view that is projected in the Gaudí Park. Access will be free, but you have to reserve a seat, sooner rather than later, on the MUHBA website.
📍 Main entrance of Park Güell
📅 From June 24 to July 11
Pavelló Screen, architecture and cinema at the Pavelló Mies Van der Rohe.
‘Pantalla Pavelló’ is the cycle of cinema a la fresca projected directly onto the travertine of the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion that delves into the relationship between built space, its limits and boundaries, and the inhabitants who reside in them, and how this relationship is accentuated and revealed in its fullest expression. Cinema and cities, and urbanism, and architecture…
As every year, the aim of the cycle is to challenge the field of architecture and promote critical thinking, inspiring, involving and raising public awareness.
You can consult the program on the Pavelló’s website.
📍 Mies Van der Rohe Pavilion
📅 From July 7 to September 1
Cinema at the civic centers
In its fourteenth edition of Pantalla BDC, and from June 25 to July 24, the city is filled with outdoor screens and civic centers that host free screenings without reservation, bringing current cinema to all corners. Eight recent titles and a varied billboard with films such as Casa en llamas, El maestro que prometió el mar or Saben aquel invite you to discover local talent and enjoy magical nights under the stars.
The proposal goes beyond the projection: twelve screens distributed throughout the ten districts of the city, from the mysterious Plaza de Sant Felip Neri to the gardens of Vil-la Florida, through the Aqueduct Park or Plaza del Rey. Accessibility is another key, with all films subtitled and, in most cases, the option of audio description through the AudescMobile app. Civic centers such as Pati Llimona, Cotxeres de Sants or Can Basté also join this cinematic journey. Check the full program here.
📍 Several locations
📅 From June 15 to July 24
Finestrelles Shopping Centre, family cinema
The Cinema a la Fresca cycle at Finestrelles Shopping Centre, the Esplugues shopping center, programs films every Saturday at 21:15h. from May 20 to September 23 on the center’s Restaurant floor.
In total 18 films of title . Along the way family cinema as Tadeo Jones, Top Gun Maverick or Uncharted. The cycle is free of charge and you can check all the films and dates on the event’s website.
📍 Finestrelles Shopping Centre
📅 From June 7 to September 13 every Saturday
