Barcelona Tourist Lines during La Merce
 

Who has been to Barcelona during La Merce?

We'll be there from Sept. 19-25. We didn't know about the holiday until our air tickets and cruise were booked, and I started wondering why hotels were insanely expensive :( but now I'm taking it as a great opportunity to see something special!

However, we were originally thinking that the end of Sept. would mean shorter lines for main attractions (although we have prebooked for Sagrada Familia), and that we could wait to decide Casa Mila/Casa Batllo/both?? Judging by pictures, the city will be VERY busy, but will it be mainly foreign tourists, presumably visiting such sites, or people from the region, in town for the festivities?

The city will be busy, but Barcelona is busy in September anyway. As it is a typical 2-3 night weekend getaway destination for most Europeans, most tourists do not depend on their big summer vacations to go there. Actually, most would avoid BCN in August.
Many spectators for the Merce come from the surrounding region and are not necessarily interested in the usual tourist sights. Many would also come to visit the different festivals which take place during that week, like BAM.
Actually, it could be good idea to check the programme of the week to see if there is not something more interesting for you going on than lining up at the usual suspects ;-)
http://merce.bcn.cat/en/programa-per-dia

From my memory, the overall situation is more like the "usual large crowds" at the sights than "extremely large crowds".

It will be a typical mix of locals and tourist (from Spain and elsewhere), nothing unusual. Hotel prices are high in Barcelona most of the time, higher when there is a major conference going on. La Merce has little effect on hotel prices in and of itself.

Thanks for the info, Cowboy. The suggestion to look for something "more interesting" would work if I wasn't hooked on Art Nouveau architecture from way back--wandered Vienna with a guidebook looking for obscure houses, nearly swooned over an exhibit at the Arts & Crafts Museum in Zagreb--so I'm seeing at least one of those houses, lines or not.
And Robert, there must be a BIG conference on the same weekend as La Merce. Here are std double rooms at four 4* hotels, for four nights, La Merce weekend and the following weekend:
Hotel 1898 $2592 $1317
Hotel PUlitzer $1686 $1252
Catalonia Catedral $1612 $1057
Grupotel GranVia $1087 $940
I checked over 25 hotels before resigning myself to upping the budget.

Understood.. as an Art Nouveau/ Modernisme fan, you have a very good reason to get in line :-)
Just in case you do not already know this yourself..
There is a nice Modernisme museum in Eixample - more or less in the same neighborhood as the two most famous mansions.
In addition, you can also see many buildings from the outside. This list on Wikipedia gives you an idea, but also other guides when you google Modernisme Barcelona
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernisme

Also the private mansions along Avinguda Tibidabo are fine examples of Modernisme.

If you want to visit La Pedrera and Casa Batllo I would book the tickets ahead. I wouldn't imagine that the end of September would be slow and there would be no lines. I went in mid April and there were lines to buy tickets for both houses. There were so many people lined up that it was difficult to find the entrance for ticket holders.

I was in Barcelona two years ago, also during Merce. It was also an international Fair (ITMA) where I participated.
I did not have any special troubles because of crowds. I visited Casa Batllo without any previous reservation; there were only 5 people in line; it was in a morning, around 10:00.

I was going to go once but did avoid it due to hotel prices. They do indeed have a very noticeable effect on hotel prices, you can see them higher during it and drop immediately afterwards (which is when I went, the week after). I mean they changed by a lot, at least 50-75 euro a night.

Waiting until the last minute to book your hotels has as much to do with the price of the rooms as does a conference and festival. The least expensive rooms always go first, leaving you with what's left.

The Hotel 1898 is typically on the expensive side, but €460/night is fairly normal for this property, one of the best and most popular 4-star deluxe hotels in the city. The price this past July, booking 6 weeks in advance, was an average of €372/night for a deluxe room on the 5th floor, breakfast not included.

Right now the Hotel 1898 is showing no availability from 22-27 September. Not a room to be had. But there are Privilege Rooms available from the 19-21 September for and average price of €420/night and the Deluxe Rooms for €473/night.

The 5-star GL Majestic Hotel and Spa Barcelona has a Junior Suite available on your dates for €467,38/night, prepaid, which is not a bad deal for one of the top hotels in the city.

If you want to save some money, and stay a little further out from the Plaça Catalunya, then check out the HOTEL AC VICTORIA SUITES in Pedralbes (www.victoriabcn.com), part of the Marriott Group. A Junior Suite will set you back less than €200/night.

Robert, our hotel was booked 2 months ago, thank you. I was merely illustrating what I learned then, as Christina also found, that prices are higher during La Merce.
Cowboy, I am noting Avinguda Tibidabo as another street for strolling, thank you.