The 5 best art museums in Barcelona

The Catalan National Art Museum is the imposing building that tops the Montjuïc Fountains. It has a rather stunning collection of Catalan art, from the medieval period up to modern art and photography. The Romanesque Art, which in Catalonia is much more vivid than in other European countries, is a particularly beautiful treasure.

Originally the only reason for putting a Museum of Modern Art in Raval, was to upgrade the then derelict neighbourhood. The strategy worked. Now Raval boasts an interesting building (by Richard Meier) and a museum with ample space for today’s top artists – and the eternal skateboarders in front of the museum prevent it from getting stuffy.

A minute away from MACBA, the Centre for Contemporary Culture is a slightly more modest space (although the underground entrance and the staircases can compete with MACBA’s design) for thematic exhibitions about science, culture, design, photography, technology and more. It also hosts seminars and has a bookstore with an interesting collection.

Catalan artist Joan Miró has his own museum on Montjuïc hill. The collection used to be the artist’s: 10.000 works, mostly by Miró himself, but also items made by Alexander Calder, Mark Rothko and Marcel Duchamp. This is a major tourist attraction; so expect Mona Lisa-style throngs.

Modesty commands us to say that the Museu Picasso certainly has a fine collection, with works from every single one of Picasso’s periods, but that the best-known works are not here: those are in other museums around the world. Still worth a visit though.