The Best Barcelona Books and Where To Read Them

Barcelona has a rich and complex cultural history, defined by its great figures and achievements, traumas and recoveries. Understanding this past offers visitors another way to enjoy the vibrant city of today.  The team at Waytostay, your expert guides to apartments in Barcelona, have suggested some of their favorite tales of the city and where best to read them – stories interwoven with the complex and characterful culture of Catalonia.

The Shadow of the Wind

Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Steeped in both the love of books and Barcelona, The Shadow of the Wind follows the life of young boy Daniel Sempere, as his father brings him inadvertently into a world of literature, love and distinctively Catalonian mystery. As with many of the city’s best stories, war plays an integral part; here, it’s a recent trauma, haunting many of the characters that Daniel meets. However, there’s also much to celebrate from the novel – Zafón uses the architecture and atmosphere of Barcelona as a character in its own right, dictating the mood and leading Daniel increasingly into a maze-like mystery.

If you enjoy it, good news – the success of this book spawned both a prequel and a sequel.

Read it at: Montjuic

The Shadow of the Wind is a sprawling tale, covering much of the city. For the perfect vantage point, the many delightful lookouts atop Montjuic provide the perfect view of the city that Zafón brings to life so brilliantly.

The Time of the Doves (In Diamond Square)

Mercè Rodoreda

Barcelona is a city teeming with history, both beautiful and tragic. The Time of the Doves charts one of Barcelona’s most chaotic eras – following the story of Natalia, a young woman living in the city before, during and after the Spanish Civil War. The book’s style and attention to detail provide an evocative account of the city at a time of great crisis and change, and Natalia’s story continues to be widely read today by people of all ages as one of the definitive articles of modern Catalan literature.

Read it at: Placa de la Virreina

Only minutes from the Casa Vicens, one of Gaudi’s lesser known but most unique works, the Placa de la Virreina is a peaceful square typical of Natalia’s Barcelona, overlooked by a beautiful church. The Diamond Square of the Spanish title remains – and is just a few minutes walk away.

Don Quixote

Miguel de Cervantes

One of the most influential tomes of not just the Spanish language, but of European literature as a whole, Don Quixote is an early 17th century tale, published in two volumes – and one of the first truly internationally successful novels. It charts the adventures of a romantic soul who, having read one-too-many chivalrous romances, sets out to resurrect a culture of courtly love, gallant honour and swift justice. The story visits the city when our nameless hero is vanquished in a duel on a Barcelona beach.

Read it at: Caldetes Beach

Unlikely to be the beach mentioned in the book, but still a perfectly peaceful spot just 30 minutes north of the city centre – Caldetes is ideal for a sun-kissed afternoon of swashbuckling literary adventure.

Homage to Catalonia

George Orwell

A heartfelt and vibrant account of Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War, Orwell arrives in December 1936, finding a city in the grip of anarchist and revolutionary fervour, with red banners in courtyards and the working class in control. He signs up to fight for the anti-Stalinist communist militia, spending six months battling Nationalist forces throughout Catalonia and Aragon. When he is forced to flee Spain, Orwell returns to Barcelona to find a city living under a new political terror – but maintains that the “strange and moving” city he first discovered will never be forgotten.

Read it at: Parc de l’Espanya Industrial

An elegant modern park with brutalist influences, it’s a unique example of how Barcelona survived its conflicts and changed throughout the 20th century. For a spot of history, pop down the road to Carrer de Tarragona – home of the Lenin Barracks, where Orwell trained with the militia before heading out to war.

Michael Salverda is very passionate about traveling and all that comes with it, music, good and honest food, local places, people and their culture. He started Waytostay to take care of travellers whilst offering a quality experience.

photo credit: Casa Museu Gaudí, Park Güell, Barcelona via photopin (license)