Air-conditioned malls, department stores, and one covered market where families duck out of the heat without giving up the day. Most have food halls, free play areas, or cinemas, so there is somewhere to sit, eat, and let the kids burn energy when the streets outside are too hot to walk.
On the map
9 spots on the map
What’s in this collection
A restored 1882 iron market that fills a whole Eixample block under a 28-meter octagonal dome. Inside are fresh-food stalls, a ring of clothing and bric-a-brac stands, and a basement section of the old Sant Antoni city wall. Every Sunday morning around a hundred stalls take over the perimeter selling secondhand books, comics, stickers, trading cards, postcards, and vintage video games.
An open-air shopping center in Sant Andreu with over 200 shops spread across three levels of walkways, planted terraces, and fountains. Kids get a 13-screen Cine Yelmo, fast-food and sit-down restaurants, and a driving-simulator arcade, while the air-conditioned stores make it a cool stop on a hot afternoon. Parking is free.
Maremagnum sits on its own island in Port Vell, reached by the Rambla de Mar wooden swing bridge from the Columbus Monument. Two floors of shops and a food court wrap around an indoor atrium, with a free children's play area, an information point, and a first-aid room. Waterside terraces look out over the marina, and L'Aquarium is next door.
One of the city's largest malls, right by the sea near the Fòrum, with more than 200 shops and the Ilusiona bowling and arcade complex, all fully air-conditioned. The standout for families is Un Mar de Jocs, a free supervised play room with Montessori-style sea-themed activities, plus the open-air Terrassa del Mar with a nautical play park and the lighthouse-shaped El Far climbing structure.
A big shopping center by Rafael Moneo, designed as a 'skyscraper lying on its side' that runs more than 300 meters along the Diagonal with over 170 shops. For families it is a reliable rainy-day or heat-escape outing: fully air-conditioned and stroller-friendly, with children's and maternity stores, a large Decathlon and a food court. The free Sant Joan de Déu playground sits right next door.
Westfield Glòries sits beside Torre Glòries (the old Agbar tower), a redesign by Javier Mariscal who scattered bright kinetic sculptures across its car-free plazas. More than 100 shops, a Carrefour and an El Mercat food court ring the pedestrian squares, which have trees, benches and water features. A VOSE cinema screens original-version films, and Glòries metro (L1) is a five-minute walk.
A 1900 Neo-Mudéjar bullring rebuilt by architect Richard Rogers into a six-floor shopping centre under the original brick ring. Kids can ride the escalators to the free 360° rooftop promenade for views over Plaça d'Espanya, the Magic Fountain and Montjuïc, play on the light-up floor in the central square, or catch a film at the 12-screen cinema.
The flagship El Corte Inglés fills a whole side of Plaça de Catalunya across nine floors, with a children's department for clothes and toys, a basement gourmet supermarket, and a top-floor food hall, La Plaça Gastro Mercat. Stalls there serve paella, sushi, pizza, and ice cream, and the dining room and outdoor terrace look out over the plaza toward the Sagrada Família and Tibidabo.
The flagship department store at the top of the Diagonal, and one of the most useful rainy-day or heatwave fallbacks in the area: a whole floor of children's clothing, shoes and toys, family bathrooms and strong air conditioning. The rooftop Gourmet Experience is a food court with a terrace and open views toward Tibidabo, an easy place to feed everyone without a reservation.