The Sagrada Família overtakes the beaches among Barcelona tourists in July

The most striking change appears when comparing the figure with July 2025. At that time, the seafront and beaches clearly held first place, at 87.7%. In one year, their share among the places visited has fallen by 8.1 percentage points and the Sagrada Família has moved into first place.

The figures come from the Observatori del Turisme a Barcelona’s monitoring and should be understood as the percentage of tourists who say they visited each place during their stay. In the case of the Sagrada Família, for example, this does not mean that eight out of ten travellers bought a ticket to enter the church: it also includes those who add its surroundings to their route through the city.

Looking at the first seven months of 2026, the Sagrada Família also holds first place, with 79.2%. It is followed by plaza de Catalunya and paseo de Gràcia, with 77.6%, and la Rambla, with 75.6%. The seafront, Barceloneta and beaches come next, with 73.6%.

The concentration remains high even in areas affected by urban transformations. la Rambla remains among the most travelled-through spaces while redevelopment works continue. Further down are the Gothic Quarter, visited by 63.7% of tourists, and Park Güell, with 48.8%.

July brings some shifts of its own in summer. La Boqueria falls to 54%, while plaza de Espanya and the Font Màgica gain presence among the places included in routes. Park Güell, the Gothic Quarter and Turó de la Rovira also record a smaller share than in July 2025.

However, the data do not on their own allow these changes to be attributed to the heat, the works or a specific change in travellers’ habits. They do show a clear difference from last summer: beaches have lost some of the advantage they had and the major icons of the centre once again concentrate a very high proportion of visits.

The next update will make it possible to check whether this shift is specific to July or continues during the rest of the high season.