Noche de San Juan 2025 in Barcelona: when is it, street parties, transport, firecracker stores and complete guide

Sant Joan is the festival that officially inaugurates the summer. The days before, the youngest throw firecrackers indiscriminately in the street and firecrackers and fire takes over the city on the shortest night of the year.

Although the tradition has been maintained, its essence has changed with the passage of time. Fifty years ago, hundreds of bonfires burned Barcelona during the Revetlla de Sant Joan compared to the twenty that are authorized this 2024. It was a festival of rebellion, fire and firecrackers, burning the old and celebrating the arrival of summer.

According to anthropologist Manuel Delgado, it was the kids who for weeks collected the wood and junk to make them. The gangs would go through the streets and, as if it were a game, would hide the material they found from the firemen and the Guardia Urbana in order to burn it during the Revetlla.

Although there is less and less of that spontaneous Barcelona with groups of grandmothers sitting on chairs in the middle of the street gossiping about the neighborhood gossip, we must not lose hope, because there are about 50 Revetlles de Sant Joan scheduled around the city, not counting the bonfires and the gresca i xerinola that is organized around them.

These Revetlles, or verbenas, are parties organized by different cultural and neighborhood organizations, such as casals, colles castelleres or neighborhood associations, and are open to anyone who wants to participate in this party, eat coca and drink wine.

So, in order not to lose the tradition and to continue claiming the popular festivities and the public space as a community meeting point, we tell you where you can still enjoy this festival that celebrates with fire the shortest day of the year.

The 50 bonfires and verbenas that will burn in Barcelona

Remember as the saying goes: qui encén foc per Sant Joan, no es crema en tot l’any. Therefore, nothing like a verbenas and dance around your fire to live as cal the Catalan Sant Joan, so we leave you almost 50 bonfires that will be on the streets of Barcelona this San Juan 2025 so you do not miss.

This is how the transport will be during the night of Sant Joan

During the verbena of Sant Joan, Barcelona’s public transport reinforces its services to facilitate travel during one of the busiest nights of the year. The Barcelona Metro will operate all night without interruptions, from June 23 to the early morning of June 24, with more frequent service on the most used lines and reinforced surveillance in key stations such as Barceloneta, Ciutadella-Vila Olímpica or Drassanes.

In addition,night buses (NitBus) will also increase their frequency, especially on lines connecting the center with the suburbs and municipalities of the metropolitan area. The Tram and some Rodalies lines will offer extended schedules, although with less coverage than the metro. TMB recommends planning journeys in advance, avoiding the car and being especially cautious with fireworks near stations or transport routes.

Sant Joan on the beaches of Barcelona

One of the most typical scenarios for the celebration of the Night of San Juan is and has always been the beach. However, in recent years,the beaches have become the space where most tourists who come to celebrate this night in Barcelona are concentrated, and that has led to the activities that can be carried out in these environments have been increasingly limited.

The City Council reminds that, if you decide to go to the beaches of the city to celebrate the shortest night of the year, keep in mind that these are natural areas of the coast and, therefore, it is important to keep in mind the value of these ecosystems and the negative effects that can generate the large human concentration.

In this framework, the City Council also recalls that on the beaches you can not make bonfires or throw firecrackers, smoking is prohibited and is not allowed to throw waste into the water or sand.

This year, after last year’s success, we celebrate in Barceloneta a Sustainable Midsummer’s Eve in a fun, relaxed, inclusive, alcohol-free and waste-free space, with a program of diverse activities for everyone.

No parties in the beach bars

Beyond the verbenas and neighborhood bonfires, one of the most common traditions is to celebrate Sant Joan on the beach. This year will be no different, but a rule that began during the pandemic will be maintained: the beach bars will not be able to mount their own parties, so any celebration of the festival of Sant Joan on the beach will have to take place outside them.

In addition, to ensure safety and cleanliness, the beaches of Barcelona will be vacated at 6:30 am.

All the firecracker stores in Barcelona

There is no San Juan without firecrackers, so surely you have already set aside a few euros to get your source, falleros and other explosive objects to put all the noise in the world for a night. So we tell you where to find all the firecracker stores in Barcelona for this Sant Joan 2025 in Barcelona.

The best Cokes of Sant Joan this 2025

The coca of the bakery Montserrat Forners of Barcelona, winner of the award in the category of Creative Coca.
The Sant Joan coca is, along with the fire and the verbenas, the protagonist of the shortest night of the year. After the firecrackers, the bridge, the Flama del Canigó and the (usually) uncontrolled party, nothing like a piece of coca de Sant Joan (if it is one of the winners of the year, all the better) to put the final touch to the night of San Juan and welcome the long-awaited summer.

Like everything else, cocas are becoming more and more sophisticated. Little is left of the simple flavored brioche we were used to. Now, from the Iberian ham coca to the delicate stuffed brioche, fantasy reigns to turn the experience into a small and sweet gastronomic journey.

As the offer is huge and selecting one is not an easy task, we have made a selection of our favorites so you have where to choose your perfect coca.

La Flama del Canigó, the origin of all flames

As explained by the Barcelona City Council, in 1955 Francesc Pujades, a resident of North Catalonia (France), inspired by the poem Canigó, by Jacint Verdaguer, had the idea of lighting the fires of San Juan at the top of the mountain and spread the flame everywhere.

Since then, every morning from June 22 to 23, the Flama del Canigó leaves the Castellet of Perpignan, climbs to the top of Canigó and lights a bonfire that serves to light a bonfire with which volunteers will light lanterns that will spread the flame throughout the Catalan territory. Walking, running, by bicycle, by boat, on horseback… the Flame travels in a thousand different ways to arrive on time to the squares of the different Catalan towns and light the bonfires of San Juan, thus mixing two traditions to celebrate the solstice and the union of the Catalan people.

This year the flame, coming from the Castellet de Perpinyà, will arrive at Plaça Sant Jaume at 6 pm on the evening of June 23, and from there it will spread to all the bonfires of the city and illuminate the festivals. Here you can see the schedules and the route of the Flama del Canigó 2024.

Low-noise firecrackers for a more inclusive San Juan.

Yes, as you hear, not all firecrackers are loud. The night of San Juan, which for many is full of joy and bangs, for others, such as autistic people, with high hearing sensitivity or simply who do not like loud noise, but also for some dogs, it can become a real hell.

This does not mean that they do not want to celebrate this holiday, but that the roar of some firecrackers is the element that limits their fun. Now, thanks to La Traca pyrotechnics, which last year inaugurated the first silent and low noise firecracker stand in Barcelona, this tradition is becoming more inclusive.

La Traca defends that although their pyrotechnics are silent and luminous, they are no less fun than traditional firecrackers and that is why their firecrackers are either silent or do not exceed 97 decibels.