5 Best Performing Arts in Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona’s cine-aficionados praise this 12-screen complex, which boasts one of the best sound systems in the city, and very comfortable seating designed to ensure no one's view is impeded. Screenings, which lean toward the latest Hollywood releases, are all in VOS.

Gràcia's movie center, with bars and restaurants in the immediate vicinity, unfailingly screens recent releases (with a preference for serious-minded cinema) in their original-language versions. Sister cinema Verdi Park is just around the corner, and also shows films in VOS (original version with Spanish subs).

The Filmoteca de Catalunya occupies a brutalist-style edifice designed by Josep Lluís Mateo. With plush seats, wide screens, and a state-of-the-art sound system, it’s a film buff's paradise. Most movies are screened in VOS (though the original language is not always English) and are programmed in "cycles." The program is always serious and approached academically, whether the focus is musicals, film noir, or documentaries. The colorful café is a great spot for a vermut or some tapas, and has tables out on the square.

On the lower level of a small neighborhood shopping mall, the Icaria Yelmo offers a solid mix of blockbusters, 3-D specials, and the latest releases in in their original language, though sometimes weeks after their general premieres.

A five-minute walk from the Plaça de la Universitat, this cinema is a good choice for current English-language features, primarily of the indie ilk.