WHERE THE ART IS

Barcelona is Spain’s wilfully independent city by the sea, shot through with dynamic creativity

- KATIE BOWMAN

EXPLORE

The capital of Catalonia may well be Europe's ultimate leisurely city. It’s balmy, beachy and beautiful to stroll through, from seafront Barceloneta to the Gothic centre and the grand late 19th-century Eixample district.

With the likes of Pablo Picasso on its roll-call of residents, the city has art in its DNA - take in the fantastical buildings of the art nouveau era bestowed by Antoni Gaudí, among them Casa Milà, an apartment block from 1906 built to resemble a cliff face, with balcony railings like seaweed. And queue if need be to see his Sagrada Família: Barcelona’s emblematic unfinished church, with its cigar-like spires.