Poble Espanyol

Lonely Planet review

Something of an impostor, the Spanish Village was put together for the 1929 World Exhibition. It comprises replicas of famous buildings and examples of traditional architecture from all over Spain. For a tourist trap, it's quite engaging, but its craft shops, restaurants and bars share the unfortunate distinction of being overpriced.

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 a Plaza Mayor, or town square, surrounded with mainly Castilian and Aragonese buildings. Elsewhere you'll find an Andalucian barrio (town quarter), a Basque street, Galician and Catalan quarters and even - at the eastern end - a Dominican monastery. The buildings house dozens of moderately priced to expensive restaurants, cafés, bars, craft shops and workshops (such as glass-makers), and a few souvenir stores. Worth popping into is the Fundació Fran Daurel, an eclectic collection of 200 works of art including sculptures, prints, ceramics and tapestries by modern artists ranging from Picasso and Miró to more contemporary figures such as Miquel Barceló. At night, the restaurants, bars and discos become a lively corner of Barcelona's nightlife. If you want more information or a guided tour, call the village.