Ah, Barcelona! It’s more than just a place on a map; it’s a city with layers of history, stunning architecture, and countless stories hiding down its alleys and behind grand facades.
If you want to feel the pulse of this incredible city, sometimes the best way is through the pages of a book. Here are nine novels where Barcelona isn’t just a setting, it’s practically a character itself.
This story just wraps you up in post-war Barcelona. It starts when a young boy, Daniel, finds a rare book in the secret Cemetery of Forgotten Books.
He becomes obsessed with the author, Julián Carax, and his search leads him through misty streets and forgotten corners of the city. You uncover a dark history full of secrets, lost love, and danger right alongside Daniel.
Zafón makes Barcelona feel incredibly mysterious and atmospheric.
Another trip back in time with Zafón, this time to the 1920s. We follow David Martín, a writer living in a crumbling tower house. He gets a strange, almost Faustian offer from a mysterious editor to write a book unlike any other.
As David gets deeper into the project, he gets tangled in a web connected to an eerie abandoned mansion and the city’s shadowy past. Barcelona here feels gothic, dangerous, and full of secrets.
This book takes you way back to 14th-century Barcelona. It follows Arnau Estanyol from his beginnings as a humble serf who escapes hardship to find freedom in the city.
His life unfolds against the backdrop of the actual construction of the beautiful Santa María del Mar church, built by the common people. You see Arnau navigate hardship, war, the fear of the Inquisition, love, and betrayal as he rises in society.
It gives a powerful sense of medieval Barcelona life.
Imagine Barcelona transforming rapidly between the 1888 and 1929 Universal Expositions. That’s the setting here. We follow Onofre Bouvila, who arrives as a poor country boy with nothing.
Through sheer determination and questionable schemes, he climbs his way up to become one of the city’s most powerful figures. The novel shows Barcelona’s explosive growth, the political games, and the sheer energy of a city reinventing itself.
Here we have a Barcelona crime story. The famous detective Pepe Carvalho investigates the murder of a star football player. His investigation goes beyond the pitch and reveals the corruption and power plays happening behind the scenes in professional sports.
Montalbán uses different Barcelona neighbourhoods effectively; the city’s atmosphere influences the gritty feel of the investigation.
This one is pure fun and completely unique. An alien lands in Barcelona just before the 1992 Olympics, searching for his lost friend, Gurb (who has taken the shape of the singer Marta Sánchez). The alien narrator logs his hilarious attempts to blend in.
He shapeshifts constantly, tries to understand human absurdity (like churros!), and offers sharp, funny observations about everyday life in the city. It’s an eccentric, satirical snapshot of Barcelona.
Set in 19th-century Barcelona, this novel focuses on the city’s rising industrialist class. Mariona is married to a wealthy textile factory owner.
Her story explores the social pressures, forbidden love, and political tensions of the time, including events like the Liceu opera house bombing. You get a real sense of the lives, ambitions, and tragedies of Barcelona’s bourgeoisie during a period of significant change.
This is a more intense read. Álvaro returns to Barcelona after years exiled in France during Franco’s dictatorship. The narrative moves through his memories and experiences. He confronts his past, the political oppression he fled, and his own sense of alienation.
The book paints a fragmented, sometimes painful picture of Barcelona and Spain under Franco, seen through the eyes of someone grappling with his identity.
Robert Langdon, the symbologist from The Da Vinci Code, finds himself in modern Barcelona. He attends an event at a Guggenheim-style museum where a tech billionaire promises to reveal a discovery that will change religion and science forever. Things go wrong, of course.
Langdon races around Barcelona, deciphering clues hidden in Gaudí’s masterpieces like Sagrada Família and Casa Milà, and explores questions about where we come from and where we are going. It’s a fast-paced hunt through some of the city’s most iconic landmarks.