The Best Meetups in Barcelona

If you’re familiar with Meetup and have recently arrived in Barcelona, you’re in for a treat. If you’re a Meetup newbie, fear not. Meetup, a mega network of localized groups, allows you to create, search, and join groups of other people hosting activities and events nearby; from hiking groups to knitting clubs, or anything else you might be into. We dug and found the best Meetups in Barcelona and took special care to include not only the biggest Meetup groups, but those hosting the most events as well.

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Barcelona International Meeting

Plenty of Meetups in Barcelona host getting-to-know-you mixers and parties, but these guys do it three times a week
and claim to be the oldest of its kind in Barcelona. Expats, travelers and anyone else from out of town are welcome to join its ranks of more than 5,400 members meeting at different bars around the city. They’re worth a peek, if nothing else for the free shots that are usually involved.

Barcelona Hiking & Outdoors Group

Very well established (they sell t-shirts with screen-printed logos) with 6,000 plus members, Barcelona Hiking & Outdoors is probably the best Meetup in Barcelona for those who tend to spend the majority of their time hiking, climbing, skiing or running. To date, they’ve put on more than 1,200 Meetups and in February alone, they’re organizing a grade-5 hike to Sitges for Carnival and a ski excursion in Andorra. If that sounds too intense, they also have an affiliated hiking and wine tasting page.

BCN Social and Musical Experience

This group focuses mostly on visiting live music venues where salsa, jazz, samba, flamenco and other global music reign supreme. Aside from concerts, they also sprinkle in dance classes, weekly karaoke and the occasional language exchange. Most of their Meetups are from Wednesday through the weekend and are free of charge.

Cinebar Barcelona

In a seriously cool take on the traditional movie night, Cinebar Barcelona has been hosting movie screenings at different bars in Barcelona since December of 2008. All movies are shown in their original language or with subtitles (one of which will be always be in English) and attendees are encouraged to have a drink and meet other visitors and locals in Barcelona. Attesting to their longevity, Cinebar’s Meetups are well organized with venue details, film synopses and all the free popcorn you can eat.

Barcelona Internet Starups

For the tech heads and business savvy, BIS might be the best Meetup for small business seminars, workshops and networking events in Barcelona—all aimed at internet entrepreneurs. These Meetups are geared toward those looking to take part in Barcelona’s thriving startup scene and BIS organizers do a good job putting together events that can help launch a new business or keep an existing one going. What’s more, their “pages” section is packed with resources for its members, including a job board and a list of popular startup blogs.

Barcelona Live Music and Jam Session Events

One of many young Meetups in Barcelona, this group blurs the line between concert and open-mic. Music acts are booked, but the audience is encouraged to take the stage as well. Events are “semi planned” and “semi organized,” but are always varied and centered upon the global language of music. They’re still growing, but we like their potential to become one of the better music Meetups in Barcelona. Of course if you don’t find a Meetup that sparks your interest, you can always start one yourself.