Barcelona after Christmas
 

Thinking of visiting Barcelona directly after Christmas and being there for New Years Eve. Any comments? Good time to visit, bad time? Actually, after reading the pickpocket post, I am a little more hesitant to visit Barcelona at all . . . but only a little.

Hi richnindy,
Please don't be hesitant to visit Barcelona. We just returned from a fabulous vacation to Barcelona & we did not have any problems at all with pickpockets, nor did we witness any pickpocket attempts. We did have a problem at our hotel, which I will write about more in my trip report, but our issue had nothing to do with pickpocketing. And what happened to us could happen anywhere. I am from the U.S., and pickpocketing, theft, crime, etc. can happen to us here as well. In fact, many, many years ago my wallet was stolen several times in Boston but that didn't make me move from Boston or never visit there. You just have to be careful regardless of where you are.

Yeah, I got the same warnings before visiting Rome and Mexico City as well and had a great time in both places.

Basically, I just wanted to know if the city was "alive" during the week between Christmas and New Years. Had seen a posting about Barcelona having one of the world's best New Years celebrations, which is what piqued my interest.

Barcelona is a really fantastic city with loads to see and do and although pickpockets and bag/purse theft are an issue don't let that put you off, you just need to carry/wear a minimum and be aware. Violence and other crime is very low, and only the police have guns!

However for a city that often feels like a year long party and normally does celebrations amazingly well, Xmas is the exception and the dullest time! [I've spent the last 3 here] Many people leave the city to go and spend Xmas with families elsewhere, or they go on holiday to the sun, or they head off to nearby ski resorts. They have a 4 day holiday at the start of December too so folks aren't quite so in need of excitement! The Christmas lights are very poor - not anything like Paris or London, there are no impressive window displays like New York, Sydney or London and the cute Christmas markets that sell the advent figures finish on the 24th.

New Years Eve is for family meals and counting down with the TV. There are no fireworks as in many other worldwide cities. Younger people do start celebrating and going out after midnight but usually inside clubs or private parties with high entrance fees - they are usually expected back at a family lunch on the 1st too! Las Ramblas (the famous major street) is just full of tourists wondering what to do and lots of police. The weather may be a bright 70F day but that is not guaranteed and can be very stormy, at night it will drop to 50F or less - warmer than Northern Europe but definitely still scarf whether! The smoking ban will hopefully come into force on Jan 2nd so expect everywhere to be very thickly smoky as people have their last indoor puffs! The metro is open all night on NYE and you'll find random bands and lots of weed being smoked on it!

There's a home Barcelona Soccer game at their Camp Nou ground on 2nd Jan - playing a much lesser side called Levante. As Barca are currently the best in Europe, and possibly the world, that's worth going to see!

The 5th January is good as that is when everyone returns as the 3 Kings (the Santa Claus equivalent) arrive with the presents, and there is a carnival type procession. The sales don't start until after that - usually on the 7th or the week after - shops don't open on Sundays.

If you can reschedule, the absolute best times in Barce are around 23 April for St Jordi - romance and open public buildings, 23 June for St Juan - millions on the beach all night, 15 August for Gracia Festival - great street parties with outstanding decorations, or 24th September for Merce - 4 days of amazing fireworks and live bands! Or really anytime from mid June to mid October for nice bright days to enjoy a vibrant city with unique architecture, great history, 4miles of beach, and an amazing wine region just 40 mins away by train [September is harvest time].

Thanks so much for that response, Samantha.