Before and after the show
Around Plaça de Catalunya
What to do near City Hall Theatre: the square's fountains and statues, the lime trees of Rambla de Catalunya, La Rambla, and getting home at night.
Reserve your seat at City Hall ↗A square to start from
Plaça de Catalunya is the place where Barcelona's old city and its 19th-century extension meet. The square covers about 50,000 square metres and is best known for its fountains and statues, the compass rose set into the paving and the pigeons that gather in its centre. It is also where City Hall Theatre sits, so a walk here before the show costs nothing and puts you in the right place.
How the square came about
After the medieval city walls came down in the 19th century, planners designed new public spaces, and the plaza was conceived in 1859 as part of the Rovira plan. Formal permission only came with the 1888 Universal Exposition. The square was first laid out in 1902 and altered in 1929 for the International Exposition, which also brought a metro station. The architect Francesc de Paula Nebot designed the 1929 changes.
Statues and monuments
The square carries several public sculptures from the early 20th century. Among them are Josep Clarà's Deessa, Pablo Gargallo's Pastor de Pau and the Francesc Macià monument, whose inscription reads Catalunya a Francesc Macià. Josep Llimona's sculptures also stand here. You do not need a guide to enjoy them: they sit around the fountains and paths, and each is a reason to walk the square once before the show.
Walking Rambla de Catalunya
Rambla de Catalunya runs 1.3 kilometres from the square to Avinguda Diagonal, between Passeig de Gràcia and Carrer de Balmes. Wikipedia calls it one of the city's trendiest streets and an extension of La Rambla into the Eixample. It has a wide, tree-lined central walkway, flanked by service roads, and it has long been known for art galleries, theatres and cinemas. A stroll to the first cross street and back fits easily around an hour-long show.
Buildings and statues on the street
Wikipedia lists notable buildings along Rambla de Catalunya, among them Casa Fargas at number 47, by Enric Sagnier, a mature example of his Modernista period, and Casa Serra at number 126, built in 1903 to 1908 by Josep Puig i Cadafalch in a neo-Romanesque style. Two statues by Josep Granyer stand on the street: La girafa coqueta at the Diagonal end and El toro assegut where it crosses Gran Via. A slow look upwards is enough.
La Rambla and Passeig de Gràcia
Two other famous streets start at the square. La Rambla leads down towards the old city, and Passeig de Gràcia heads up through the Eixample. Rambla de Catalunya runs parallel to Passeig de Gràcia, which lies a block east of its midpoint, so you can walk out along one and back along the other. The streets are busy, and they reward a slow walk more than a quick one.
A café with history
Wikipedia notes that most of the cafés where writers and artists once met around the square have vanished, with Café Zurich the notable survivor. Whether or not you stop there, it is a reminder that this corner of Barcelona was a meeting place long before it became the city's transport hub. If you want a seat before or after the show, the cafés around the square are the obvious place to look.
Getting home late
The square is one of Barcelona's most important transport hubs, with metro lines, FGC lines and Rodalies trains below ground and many bus lines above. The NitBus night network serves it too, and the Aerobús runs from here to the airport. That makes it one of the easiest places in the city to leave late at night. Check the timetable for your own line before you set out, as hours differ by day.
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