Around the left-hand corner of the city hall's rather dull 18th-century neo-classical façade sits the old entrance, in a wonderfully flamboyant 15th-century Catalan Gothic...

An array of fabrics and accessories for traditional Spanish costumes is on display in this colourful, shambolic interior, dating all the way back to 1886. Making your way...

Elegant Catalan ladies have come to Alonso for those important finishing touches for their outfit for more than a century. Behind the Modernista façade lie soft gloves in...

Hurrah to local gallery owner and entrepreneur Emilio Álvarez for keeping the Barcelona contemporary art world alive and its various factions talking to one another. This smart...

Thanks in part to its location in front of the cathedral, this market charges prices that are targeted at tourists - be prepared to haggle. The set-up dates from the Middle...

Mornings see BBT filling with ancient locals who've been coming to this old bodega since 1951 to fill their jugs and bottles with wine from huge oak barrels. Night times are a...

Celta's unapologetically '60s interior is fiercely lit, noisy and not recommended for anyone feeling a bit rough. It is, however, one of the more authentic experiences to be...

This quintessentially Gallic bar once served pastis to visiting sailors and denizens of the Barrio Chino underworld. It still has a louche feel: floor-to-ceiling clippings and...

A converted flat on Plaça Reial, decorated with oak, velvet, Sherlock Holmes-style memorabilia and a bar that's often impossible to get anywhere near, despite the prices. For...

Bonic is painted in daisy-fresh colours with sunlight streaming through the windows and lots of meticulously restored original features, such as ornately tiled floors....

Spain's monks and nuns have a naughty sideline in traditional sweets including 'pets de monja' (little chocolate biscuits known as 'nuns' farts') candied saints' bones, and...

An assured approach to the classics of Catalan cuisine, combined with the sunny terrace tables on the pretty Plaça Sant Just, make this one of the best-value restaurants...

Cast-iron pillars, etched mirrors and bucolic murals create an air of fading grandeur at Café de l'Opera, which now seems incongruous among the fast-food joints and tawdry...

A cosy tearoom, where first flush Darjeeling is approached with the reverence afforded to a Château d'Yquem. A range of leaves comes with tasting notes describing not only the...