Barcelona : Love It or Hate It

Barcelona is often described as one of the most beautiful city in Europe with its fantastic architecture and cosmopolitan culture with different races all in one city.  Just like everything in life there are two sides to the coin.  There are often other problems in the city which tourists mainly hate and they are as follows:

1. Tourists, Barcelona and the surrounding outskirts house up to a million and a half people.  The same number of tourists take resident in the city each year, especially during the Summer.  Tourists seeking  a quiet location to visit during the summer should avoid Barcelona.  The queues for some of the touristic attractions spawn in hundreds such as popular architecture such as La Sagrada Familia or the local museums.  Thousands of people can be found walking along Las Ramblas the most popular street in Barcelona which can make it an unpleasant experience.

2. Pickpockets

Barcelona is famous for the many professional pickpockets who roam the streets looking for their next victims. They use several tricks such as asking for directions with a large map.  Whilst one person is asking for directions another is trying to steal money from bag packs or purses.  Another trick they use is on the metros.  They will stand by the doorway and you need to pass them in order to exit the metro.  The police do very little to help, so the best thing is to prevent it from happening, by carrying as little money as is needed each day and to avoid walking around with passports and other important documents.

There are fantastic reasons to love Barcelona.  They are as follows:

1. Beaches

There are different beach sections which stretch for kilometers to suit different type of needs.  There are gay beaches, nudist and family beaches.  All beach sections have a vast number of restaurants and bars along each beach.  Locals tend to go to beaches a bit further away from the city which is a train ride and can cost anything from five to twenty euros return per adult.

2. Nightlife

The nightlife is amazing in Barcelona, clubs open until the early hours of the morning and at times when others are going out to breakfast, others are returning from a night of partying and drinking at one of the clubs.  They tend to open at ten and shut at six in the morning.