Welcome to Spain! All of it! This ‘Spanish Village’ is both a cheesy souvenir hunters’ haunt and an intriguing scrapbook of Spanish architecture built for the Spanish crafts section of the 1929 World Exhibition. You can meander from Andalucía to the Balearic Islands in the space of a couple of hours, visiting surprisingly good copies of Spain's characteristic buildings.
You enter from beneath a towered medieval gate from Ávila. Inside, to the right, is an information office with free maps. Straight ahead from the gate is the Plaza Mayor (Town Sq), surrounded with mainly Castilian and Aragonese buildings. It is sometimes the scene of summer concerts. Elsewhere you’ll find an Andalucian barrio, a Basque street, Galician and Catalan quarters, and even a Dominican monastery (at the eastern end). The buildings house dozens of restaurants, cafes, bars, craft shops and workshops (for glass artists and other artisans), and some souvenir stores.
Spare some time for the Fundació Fran Daurel , an eclectic collection of 300 works of art including sculptures, prints, ceramics and tapestries by modern artists ranging from Picasso and Miró to more contemporary figures, including Miquel Barceló. The foundation also has a sculpture garden, boasting 27 pieces, nearby within the grounds of Poble Espanyol (look for the Montblanc gate). Frequent temporary exhibitions broaden the offerings further.
At night the restaurants, bars and especially the discos become a lively corner of Barcelona’s nightlife.
Children’s groups can participate in the Joc del Sarró. Accompanied by adults, the kids go around the poble seeking the answers to various mysteries outlined in a kit distributed to each group. Languages catered for include English.
