Guide to Barcelona

Parking in Barcelona

14.10.2010 14:51

Barcelona info

Barcelona is often visited by car, however finding a parking place in this city may cause some problems. It is difficult to find parking facilities in the city centre as there are relatively low open parking spaces, parking garages can be difficult to find and the spaces may be limited. Finding a parking space can be quite annoying and has proven to be a difficult task for a lot of people. Have you ever experienced this problem or do you have doubts for your future stay, do not worry. With the right information, visiting Barcelona by car should not be causing any problems.

Underground parking lots
Let´s take a look at how parking is arranged in Barcelona, what the best way for you to park your car is, and what you need to take into consideration. Instead of wasting time searching for the space in the street, it is advised to use one of the underground parking lots. They might be hard to find therefore this website from the City Council of Barcelona helps you to find all parking lots around the city centre: www.bcn.es/guia. At the car parks, it is indicated if there are free spaces with ´libre/lliure´ or if it is full with ´completo´.  The procedure is often so that the parking place needs to be paid before returning to the car and leaving.

Public transport
After parking your car close to your accommodation a tip is to experience the city with the use of public transport. Barcelona has a great public transport system; good clear underground connections that can bring you to your destination easy and fast. Parking troubles can be avoided and the travelling time will even be shortened due to this highly efficient system. Also above the ground there are a lot of busses and taxis willing to take you where you need to go for a relatively low price.

Parking zones
As there is limited parking space, parking in Barcelona is restricted and roadside parking must often be paid for. There are special blue zones which indicate that parking must be paid at a nearby located ticket machine. The paid period often lasts from Monday to Friday at 09.00-14.00 and 16.00-21.00, and at Saturdays from 09.00-14.00. The green zones are reserved for residents with only short stay intentions, with a maximum of two hours during the day.

Parking for 1 day

B:SM, Barcelona de Serveis Municipals is a parking provider that tries to improve Barcelona's infrastructure and is also rents out bicycles all over the city. They have 47 car parks with over 23,000 spaces to park, and this makes it the largest car parking network in Barcelona.

It offers a minute-by-minute charging system with a fixed rate of 0,044 €/min and 2.66 €/h. Also a prepaid card can be purchased which can be utilized for parking your car during your total stay. The amount of hours can be chosen differing from 25, 50 and 100 hours. For 25 hours, the price is set at 2.2 Euro per hour with a total price of €54.9. Also if you want to park your car for one night a good option is parking at estacio del nord night because it is relatively cheap, €15.90 for 24 hours.

Here you can see all the places where you can park your car with B:SM.

Parking per week

With the P-8 day’s card your car can be parked at the Barcelona Nord Station car park, c/ d'Alí Bei, 54, for up to 8 consecutive days. For 75 Euros the car is located near the Arc the Triomf from where the public transport can easily be accessed. With this card, the car can only be parked for one period, as the card will be cancelled when the car leaves the park. For tickets, the opening hours are from Monday till Friday from 8.00 am to 10.00pm.

Parking for a month

A P-month pass can be purchased for € 43,47 a month which allows to park for 30 calendar days. It gives you the opportunity to park 12 hours a day in 3 different carparks from Monday until Saturday. These are the following car parks:

• Plaça del Fòrum (Pl. d'Ernest Lluch i Martin)
• Rius i Taulet Fira (Av. de la Reina Maria Cristina, 16)
• Sant Genic Vall d´Hebron (Pg. de la Vall d'Hebron, 138-176)

It is recommended to use the public transport to go from A to B, as it is fast, normally priced and simple to use. However, when entering Barcelona by car, you can easily store the vehicle at one of the many underground parking lots. It must be kept in mind that the city is very crowded, with lots of traffic and that streets and parking places might be narrow.  Parking in the city centre is possible in one of the various car parks of B:SM. For more information on parking in Barcelona, prices and special offers have a look here.

Visiting Barcelona? Find holiday apartments in Barcelona, or take a look at Barcelona Real estate apartments if you are thinking of buying a property in the city.