Plaça d’Espanya stop
Plaça d’Espanya is a major hub that connects the Sants, Sant Antoni and Poble-sec districts to Montjuïc Mountain, home to Olympic facilities, large parks and museums.
Climb Montjuïc Mountain
From the Plaça d’Espanya stop on the Red Route of Barcelona Bus Turístic you can stroll along Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina to Montjuïc Mountain, where there are numerous museums, parks and gardens and the Olympic Ring of Barcelona ’92. You can also visit the District of Sant Antoni to see Barcelona’s largest market and enjoy the shops and leisure establishments that have made the zone into one of the liveliest in the city, or take your time exploring the Poble-sec District, which is full of bars and theatres.
The points of interest around the square, designed by Puig i Cadafalch for the 1929 Universal Exposition to link the city to Montjuïc Mountain, include Les Arenes shopping centre, built within the original structure of a neo-Mudejar bullring that has a lookout point on the top floor to observe the square and its surrounding area. Behind the shopping centre, on Carrer de Llança, you will find a good example of popular Modernisme on the facade of Casa Fajol. The roof of the building is in the form of a colourful butterfly in the trencadís broken-tile mosaic style.
What to see
- Magic Fountain of Montjuïc
The Magic Fountain of Montjuïc is a spectacle of music, light and colour that has become a symbol of Barcelona. Built for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition by Carles Buïgas, the fountain added music in the 1980s and was fully restored for the 1992 Olympic Games.
- Barcelona Pavilion
The Barcelona Pavilion is an exact replica of the pavilion that represented the progressive and democratic Germany of the Weimar Republic at the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition.
- CaixaForum Barcelona
A major cultural and educational centre in an old Modernista factory designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch. CaixaForum Barcelona is a cultural centre created on Montjuïc Mountain by the La Caixa Foundation.
- El Poble-sec
Poble-sec, the neighbourhood between El Raval and Montjuïc that was home to factory workers and artisans is now a multicultural district that is full of recreational facilities and terrace bars and boasts an extensive gastronomic and cultural offering in an excellent location.
- Plaça d'Espanya
This square designed by Puig i Cadafalch is where Montjuïc mountain meets the Sants and Poble-sec districts.
- Casa Fajol - Casa de la Papallona
Between Joan Miró Park and Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes there is a Modernista house crowned by a butterfly in the trencadís broken tile mosaic style.
- Sant Antoni District and Market
A popular shopping district and home to Barcelona’s largest market, which was designed by Antoni Rovira i Trias and built by the Barcelona metalworking company Maquinista Terrestre i Marítima.