☀️ Good Morning, Barcelona
Sixteen degrees, maybe some rain this afternoon, proper spring by Thursday. UV is already at 5 so the sunscreen conversation officially starts. Terrassa season is here. This might be the best week of the year so far.
📰 Top Stories
Your Visitors Are About to Pay More. A Lot More.
Starting April 1, Barcelona's tourist tax jumps 50%. Five-star hotels go from €3.5 to €7 per night. Everything else in Catalonia rises proportionally. Parliament approved the hike and there's no phase-in period. If you've got friends or family visiting this spring, now is the time to tell them. If you run anything in hospitality, you already know.
Barcelona Is Coming for Seasonal Rentals
Remember when the rent cap came in and suddenly every apartment was being listed as a "seasonal rental" instead? Collboni does too. Seasonal contracts in Barcelona jumped 60% in one year, and by mid-2025 they accounted for 28% of all signed contracts. The Catalan Parliament just approved new regulations and Barcelona says it will implement them "immediately."
The short version: the loophole that let landlords dodge rent caps by offering 11-month "coliving" contracts at inflated prices is now illegal. Whether enforcement keeps up is another question, but the law is on the books. If you're renting in Barcelona, this matters.
🔗 Ara.cat
American Student Found Dead in Barcelona Port
James Gracey, a 20-year-old University of Alabama student, went missing last Tuesday and was found dead in Barcelona waters near Port Olimpic on Thursday.
The story has been all over expat WhatsApp groups and it's now international news.
🔗 Catalan News
⚡ Quick Hits
Diesel hit €1.84/litre. That's up 30%. Spain announced a €5 billion relief package, though how much of it reaches Catalonia is anyone's guess.
Teachers' strike suspended, but don't call it over. 35,000 marched on Friday, the Generalitat cut a €2B deal with two unions, and the three that actually struck disagree. This is a pause, not a peace deal.
Barça scraped past Rayo 1–0. Araújo header, Joan García heroics, seven points clear of Madrid. Not pretty, but it counts. Next: Atlético away on April 4.
Vallcarca squatters moved into Casa Orsola. Yes, that Casa Orsola, the building the city bought to prevent tenant evictions. Now they're using it to rehouse people who occupied municipal buildings in Vallcarca.
Camp Nou just got its first occupancy licence. Capacity now at 62,652, up from 45,000. Target: 104,600 by end of year. Walk past it if you haven't recently. It's starting to look real.
Tourist flat ban spreading to the suburbs. The plan to close all 10,500 tourist apartments by 2028 is now extending to municipalities across the metro area. If you own one, the clock just got louder.
🎉 What's On This Week
The Last Days of Pompeii | Now through June 29 IDEAL, Poblenou (C/ Doctor Trueta 196) Immersive VR Pompeii. Won National Geographic's "Best Historical Exhibition 2024." After Madrid, London, Vienna, and Beijing, it's finally here.
Hans Zimmer Live | Thursday Palau Sant Jordi | 20:00 Inception, Interstellar, Dune, and roughly half the film scores you've ever loved. This is the big one.
Suede | Wednesday Razzmatazz | Doors 19:00 Britpop legends live.
Puppet Planet Festival | Saturday & Sunday Poble Espanyol | Family-friendly International puppet theatre. Great for kids, surprisingly good for adults.
OpenAI Codex Community Meetup | Thursday, March 26 EPITECH Barcelona | Waitlist now, but if you're into AI and building things, this is your crowd.
Women's Social Hike | Wednesday, March 25 Baixada de Briz | Coast & Climb BCN Free group hike.
📅 This Week in Barcelona History
March 28, 1939
Eighty-seven years ago this Friday, Franco's troops entered Madrid, ending the Civil War. Barcelona had already fallen two months earlier. What followed were four decades of dictatorship and the systematic suppression of Catalan language and culture. If you walk past any of the city's civil war memorials on Friday, now you know why they're there.
🍽️ Local Flavour
Mona de Pasqua season is here
Easter is April 5–6, which means bakery windows across the city are filling up with the Mona de Pasqua: the elaborate chocolate sculpture godparents give their godchildren on Easter Monday. Every year they get more absurd and more beautiful.
Where to go: La Pastisseria Barcelona is the top pick. Bubó on Caputxes does stunning artisan pieces. Natcha just won second place in this year's "La Millor Mona" competition. Foix de Sarria (Major de Sarria, 57) took the top prize last year. For something classic, any neighbourhood forn de pa in Gracia or Sant Antoni will have them in the window. Start looking now because the best ones sell out.
That's all for this week! Short, sharp, and back next Monday.
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Fins aviat,
Barcelona Brief