Barcelona in Winter: Festive Markets and Cozy Taverns

Barcelona in Winter: Festive Markets and Cozy Taverns
The most famous market in Barcelona, La Boqueria is known worldwide for its tapas restaurants and fresh gourmet food.Kiev.Victor/Shutterstock
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We weren’t lost exactly. We had no specific destination and no place to be—and didn’t really care.

We arrived in Barcelona, Spain, by train after spending a week in Valencia, and a short taxi ride carried us into the heart of the city. Our hotel, Seventy Barcelona, made a great base of operations by putting us nearly equidistant from the oldest parts of the city, the famous Sagrada Família cathedral, and the hilltop Park Güell overlooking it all—a 20- to 30-minute walk to about anywhere, and steps away from Passeig de Gràcia, a wide boulevard suitable for a promenade through the city’s business and shopping zone: the Barcelona version of Fifth Avenue. Forget the high season, I say; we came in December and it was perfect. Pack a jacket and your walking shoes.
Turrón, a Spanish sweet made of toasted almonds and nougat, has been revered on the Iberian Peninsula for over a thousand years. (nito/Shutterstock)
Turrón, a Spanish sweet made of toasted almonds and nougat, has been revered on the Iberian Peninsula for over a thousand years. nito/Shutterstock

Meandering the Markets

We hit the pavement in search of tapas along that big boulevard, and stop where flaming patio heaters along the sidewalk draws us to a table. Across the boulevard, Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí’s Casa Batlló phases through the colors of the rainbow like a dream, one of his seven UNESCO World Heritage constructions in Barcelona. Sated, we stroll another several blocks to the end of the boulevard: Catalunya Plaza, Barcelona’s central square surrounded by stately edifices of early 20th-century Neoclassical buildings.

But it’s here that the Gothic Quarter begins, sending us back in time down ever-narrowing, labyrinthine streets. Along its edge is La Rambla, the city’s most famous promenade. Known for its flower vendors, theaters, and cafés, it stretches three-quarters of a mile from the square to the port. In early December, its open-air restaurants are half full, hosts standing in wait as we pass, hoping to entice us to sit for some seafood. In summer, this whole street bustles with tourists.

(Giannis Papanikos/Shutterstock)
Giannis Papanikos/Shutterstock
We slip deeper into the Gothic Quarter, and pass between a couple of broken half arches, remnants of a Roman aqueduct; check your phone for a second and you’ll miss them. Nearby is the Barcelona Cathedral, constructed from the 13th to the 15th centuries, with an eye-catching façade added in the late 19th. The pedestrian street past the cathedral is lined with festive booths—a Christmas market, sporting crafts and decorations, and yule logs. A few of the vendors offer turrón, a nougat of honey, egg whites, and toasted nuts, typically almond but sometimes hazelnut, a traditional sweet for family gatherings, especially at Christmas. Crumbled pieces lie on plates for sampling. But a stone’s throw from the steps of the cathedral, we find Torrons Vicens, a family producer founded in 1775 that now has shops throughout Spain. We pop in to try some, and leave with several boxes and some of their gourmet chocolate.
La Rambla is a Barcelona boulevard famous for its architectural delights, flower stalls, and human statues. (StockBrunet/Shutterstock)
La Rambla is a Barcelona boulevard famous for its architectural delights, flower stalls, and human statues. StockBrunet/Shutterstock
The Passeig de Gràcia is Barcelona's most famous and expensive street, paved with a snowflake-shaped tile designed by Antoni Gaudí. (ColorMaker/Shutterstock)
The Passeig de Gràcia is Barcelona's most famous and expensive street, paved with a snowflake-shaped tile designed by Antoni Gaudí. ColorMaker/Shutterstock

We wander into La Boqueria Market and, other than a few other cellphone photographers, the patrons here are locals picking up food for home. A 15-minute wandering takes us back past the cathedral to the wavy-roofed Santa Caterina Market, which is also only modestly busy—which is great, as we don’t have the pressure of a dozen others waiting at our heels as we compose a veritable sampler of Things That Look Good at a deli counter (“What’s this? Oh. What’s that? Can we get 200 grams of it? No wait, 400?”).

Park Güell is an impressive public park that sports buildings, sculptures, and tile work by Antoni Gaudí. (Andrii Lutsyk/Shutterstock)
Park Güell is an impressive public park that sports buildings, sculptures, and tile work by Antoni Gaudí. Andrii Lutsyk/Shutterstock

Toast of the Town

The next day, we take a bus up to Park Güell for the panoramic view and then walk back downhill toward the hotel. We find a tiny random square, not in any guidebook, and stop at a tavern offering toasted sandwiches. But first, we order a round of drinks. France has Champagne, and Italy prosecco, but Catalonia pops bottles of cava. While we intended to follow conventional wisdom to find a good cava bar, we end up falling in love with another regional sipper: vermouth. Served over ice and garnished with a slice of orange and an olive, vermouth is popular in Spain. But in Catalonia something is different about it; the botanical notes are more pronounced, perhaps. As the server takes our food order, I inquire. It’s the house vermouth, he tells me, a vermut negre—not red, but “black”—made from the regional macabeu grapes, one of the varieties used in cava. The server points back at a barrel behind the bar. Some places make their own mix and age it in a barrel. And I want to try every one of them. But it’s not bottled, so I may never have this one again.
The historic center of the old city of Barcelona, the Gothic Quarter has narrow medieval streets filled with trendy bars, clubs, and Catalan restaurants. (Sergey Dzyuba/Shutterstock)
The historic center of the old city of Barcelona, the Gothic Quarter has narrow medieval streets filled with trendy bars, clubs, and Catalan restaurants. Sergey Dzyuba/Shutterstock

Like moths to a light, we return to the Gothic Quarter and head off into smaller streets looking for the Palau de la Música, a beautiful Art Nouveau-style concert hall also on the UNESCO Heritage list. But we are turned around and are drawn into the open door of a corner tapas bar. A woman in her 70s comes around the bar to take our order. She brings out a plate of Spanish ham croquettes with our vermouths, and I ask about the practice of topping it off with seltzer.

She disappears and returns with a canister with a down-angled spout, the prop of vaudeville comedy made for spraying unsuspecting faces to comic effect. She squirts some into my glass and tells me, “It makes it softer. Some people find the flavor of vermouth too bold.”

She makes a face and shakes her head. “I don’t drink it this way.”

And after a sip of the diluted drink, neither will I. We purchase a bottle of the house vermut to take home.

Europe's largest metropolis on the Mediterranean coast, Barcelona was the first city to win a RIBA Royal Gold Medal for its architecture. (Catarina Belova/Shutterstock)
Europe's largest metropolis on the Mediterranean coast, Barcelona was the first city to win a RIBA Royal Gold Medal for its architecture. Catarina Belova/Shutterstock

Glowing Creations

Evening falls early as our footsteps echo along the shadowy cobblestone lanes, the smallest only wide enough for pedestrians. We stumble upon Empremtes de Catalunya, a boutique shop populated by traditional handicrafts from Catalonia. Like a cultural museum, the collection is curated to bring in truly local creations from towns and villages, artisan work that demands preservation. A half-hour later, we find an archway at the side of the street we’re on and follow the passage into a square lined with porticoes and outdoor café seating.

Two rows of palm trees stretch up from the paving stones, their fronds lit from below. A fountain, its waters alight with blue, shows three bronze figures in the middle: the Graces. We’ve found the 19th-century Plaça Reial (Royal Square), and pause to enjoy a refueling of tapas before leaving out the other side to find ourselves back at La Rambla.

We save the Sagrada Família for the last day. A city pass fast-tracks us inside and, despite all the things to see in the enormous place, we spent a long meditative moment simply seated in the nave beneath towering tree-like columns, awestruck by the morning sun lighting up the stained glass windows and infusing the space with color. A perfect moment in an unrushed Barcelona experience.

And this is what I love the most about being here: the relaxed, convivial spaces. Snugs in a side street, warm light spilling onto the paving stones, patrons lingering. A bottle of vermouth or cava. And tapas, of course, a parade of little items like a meandering conversation that leaves you sated and buzzing.

Considered one of the most beautiful concert venues in the world, Palau de la Música Catalana was built between 1905 and 1908 by architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner. (Rodrigo Garrido/Shutterstock)
Considered one of the most beautiful concert venues in the world, Palau de la Música Catalana was built between 1905 and 1908 by architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner. Rodrigo Garrido/Shutterstock

If You Go

Stay: We stayed at Seventy Barcelona Hotel, a modern gem with a lobby library, spa/sauna, and sleek modern room designs.
Getting Around: Compare the various city pass options that cater to travelers of varying interests—be it a skip-the-line option at Sagrada Família, a hop-on-hop-off bus, or a list of museum entries that aren’t meant to be squeezed into a 24- or 48-hour period.
Take Note: Only a few items on our visit required timeliness and advance tickets. Two of them are Gaudí-related: Casa Batlló and Sagrada Família, the cathedral he designed but which still isn’t quite completed. The Barcelona Cathedral also requires tickets, especially if you want to head up to the observation deck on the roof.
The author was a guest of Visit Barcelona and Visit Spain.
Kevin Revolinski
Kevin Revolinski
Author
Kevin Revolinski is an avid traveler, craft beer enthusiast, and home-cooking fan. He is the author of 15 books, including “The Yogurt Man Cometh: Tales of an American Teacher in Turkey” and his new collection of short stories, “Stealing Away.” He’s based in Madison, Wis., and his website is TheMadTraveler.com
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