Once again, Barcelona's most architectural weekend is here. This Saturday and Sunday, October 21st and 22nd, see the celebration in the Catalan capital and 6 surrounding cities of a new edition of 48h Open House Barcelona, which offers open doors to hundreds of varied emblematic buildings that are not usually open to the public. Across Barcelona, as well as in Hospitalet de Llobregat, Badalona, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Sant Joan Despí, Vilassar de Dalt and Sitges, from Saturday morning until Sunday evening, you'll find guided tours, buildings you can freely stroll through, as well as some guided city itineraries, and most of the visits don't require pre-booking.
This year, the event celebrates its 14th edition, and is dedicated to the Catalan modernista architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, designer of the Palau de la Música, the Hospital de Sant Pau and the Casa Morera i Lleó, three spaces that can be seen for free this weekend. In total, Open House Barcelona 2023 offers 195 activities, with the visit to 128 buildings in Barcelona completely free and open to everyone. And in fact, 150 of the activities are without prior registration or ticket sales.
How does 48h Open House Barcelona work?
Aside from a small number of visits and proposals that require pre-booking - 12% of the total, which as we head into the weekend, have mostly been sold out - the essence of the festival is that it offers a wide variety of architectural and urban exploration options, and a well-organized website which allows you to follow your interests, link visits together, and, hopefully, avoid the crowds. You should expect waiting time to access many of the buildings, but this varies according to the size of each space and the number of people who want to enter. For this reason, the organization has made available to the public a map that shows, in real time, the spaces with the most and least influx of people. You can consult it by clicking here.
Open House Barcelona: list of buildings
The 2023 edition of 48h Open House Barcelona is very broad and those who have taken part in previous years will find a lot of new features. In fact, 40% of the proposals in this year's programme are new, as is the case of the Palau de la Música Catalana (one of those requiring prior registration) and the Castell dels Tres Dragons. This 2023 it will also be possible to visit the old modernista Hospital Sant Pau complex, with all its pavilions, the Palau Muntaner (currently the delegation of the Spanish government) and the social rental housing located on Carrer Ulldecona.
Among the proposals, spaces such as the Mas Guinardó air raid shelter, the Antoni Tàpies Foundation, the Palau Macaya, the Arús public library - opened in March 1895 - and the interior of the Arc de Triomf stand out. These are just some of the hundreds of activities offered by Open House Barcelona this 2023. In the PDF below you can check all of them and whether they require prior registration. Or go to the website where you can browse the options building by building by opening time, area, style or current building usage. Website languages are Catalan and Spanish. Enjoy!