Rooftop Pools & Splash Spots

The Fòrum's enclosed saltwater bathing zone sits right on the seafront esplanade, a calm, wave-free stretch of sea penned off from the open water. You get in by steps and ladders into water that is deep from the edge, so it suits kids who already swim rather than paddling toddlers. Lifeguards watch the zone through the summer, and the flat decking makes it easy to lay out towels, though there is almost no natural shade, so bring your own cover, water, and sandals for hot ground. It is a few minutes from the L4 metro at El Maresme | Fòrum, and easy to fold into a day that takes in the adventure forest and playground on the same esplanade.

A day pass to the Hotel Arts beachfront resort that lets non-guests use its outdoor pools without booking a room. The main freshwater pool has slides and a shallow children's section, with sunbeds and Balinese loungers around the terraces and gardens. The pass adds free parking and a food-and-drink credit to spend at the poolside Marina Coastal Food. A second pool is adults-only.

The Picornell pools sit in Montjuic's Olympic Ring and hosted the 1992 Olympic swimming and water polo finals. The complex has two 50m pools, one open-air and one indoor, plus a separate diving pool. A day pass covers the pools, gym, sauna, and Jacuzzi. The outdoor pool runs April to October; the indoor pool stays open year round and requires a swim cap.

Built into a former quarry up in El Coll, this park wraps around a wide crescent pool with Eduardo Chillida's giant suspended concrete sculpture, Elogi de l'aigua, hanging on cables above the water. In summer the shallow pool opens as a public bathing area, not deep and so good for children, with palm trees, a sandy edge and a café terrace looking over it. The rest of the year it is a calm spot with a playground, ping-pong tables, picnic areas and some of the best uncrowded city views in Barcelona.

A municipal indoor swimming center on the Escola Industrial grounds, built in 1966 as the first covered Olympic-size pool in Spain. The 10-lane, 50-meter pool sits under a tall window wall, and the center runs swim school courses for kids from age 3, plus diving and artistic swimming groups. A gym and wellness area round out the building.

Two outdoor pools sit on the Sant Sebastià seafront at the end of Barceloneta beach: a 25-meter lap pool and a shallower recreational pool for kids and cooling off. A wide sun deck with loungers runs alongside, the cable-car tower rises overhead, and the sand and sea are a few steps away. There are also indoor pools, a learning pool, and a poolside restaurant.

Barcelona's second-largest park spreads 14 hectares around a big lake, with looping steel tubes that hold mosaic plant pots and spray a fine mist over the water. The headline draw for kids is the Muntanya Màgica, a hill of wide stainless-steel slides you ride two at a time, plus two playgrounds, a skate area, and basketball courts. Paths run all the way down to the beach.