During the summer in Barcelona, drinking a cocktail or cold glass of beer or wine in one of the cities many beach bars is one of the greatest pleasures. The change to feel the cool breeze the sea brings in the heat of the day and enjoy the chilled out Ibiza-esque ambiance.
Chiringuitos are an essential feature of Spanish culture, in essence they are simple beach shacks where the main attraction is their simplicity and informality – nothing more than shade from the sun, chairs and tables, and a fridge full of cold beer.
Since the 90’s and the popularity of Ibiza with clubbers the Chiringuito concept has been taken up market, fused with the lounge and post-club chill out concept, boosted by the global fame of the Café del Mar in Ibiza and the CD’s it spawned. So as well as the traditional beach shacks nowadays one can find designer upmarket takes on the Chiringuito.
Barcelona beaches offer a bit of the old and a bit of the new. Among the most popular beach bars are the Chiringuito Bogatell, the Chiringuito Inercia ,the Chiringuito Mochima, and the Chiringuito Marbella, the latter is particularly popular with the gay community. Shoko and Opium are more upmarket bars set back from the sand but with the laid back beach vibe.
All Chiringuitos offer full meals, snacks, soft drinks, beers, wines and cocktails. At night time Barcelona’s beach bars shake off their horizontally inclined day time feel and become the focus of a night time scene with music, dancing and drinks.
See our selection of Barcelona beach apartments to see where to stay to take full advantage of Barcelona’s beach bars.
The sound of the soft drinks, music and dancing makes me want to pack my bags and travel to Barcelona at once. I am pretty sure I will travel there some day. I love Barcelona but you are making me love it even more.
We visited Barcelona last year and these beach bars are a fantastic place to kick back and have a quiet one.
Sounds really a cool place to hang out with friends. I love going to bars, clubbing and go to the beach once in a while. This place got all I want in one single place. I can’t wait for another long weekend to visit Barcelona and find out this beach bars. I’m planning to visit Sagrada Familia also, it looks very interesting for me.
It looks wonderful and relaxing. It seems like an ideal holiday destination and especially for those people who love wine.
I love Barcelona. We visited Barcelona last year it’s really cool place. Thanks for sharing this blog.
Thanks Pamela, we are very proud of our city.
Would love to visit Barcelona and hit the bars on the beach. How do the actually beaches compare to the rest of Spain though? I have family in Marbella and the beaches are lovely, the bars are always busy but you just don’t get the Barcelona feel. Probably booking a trip for this summer…
Nice, this will be on my list when I visit Barcelona this year
The much-loved chiringuito is every bit a part of Spanish culture as flamenco, Cervantes and staying up all night partying.
Staying in the beach bars during the dawn is really cool and very relaxing. And Barcelona is a great place to relax and enjoy.