Barcelona Black Book

How to visit a city that’s a little too popular? Follow the locals to their favorite vermuterias, family-owned restaurants serving €15 menus, and beach chiringuitos with the freshest seafood. Not to mention their go-to espadrille shop, galleries showing Catalan artists, and Modernist masterpieces that aren’t all on the circuit. Plus day trips to charming coastal villages for when you want to take your shoes off.

OUR CONTRIBUTORS

Anna Mora is a Barcelona native and passionate traveler who runs communications for Anna Mora & Brunella, a Spanish fashion label founded by her mother.

Antonella Tiganelli is a chef, creative director and food artist who co-founded the Poblenou hotspot Masa Vins and the “gastro theater” concept Food Rituals, which has done culinary installations for Soho House Barcelona and Barcelona-based Muses of Now (known for their traveling dinner series for women in the arts). 

Carmen Riestra is a curator and founder of the VASTO, a Barcelona gallery dedicated to supporting and discovering emerging artists and designers.

Gregori Civera is a Barcelona-based photographer who works in long-term documentary projects around built environments as well as commercial/editorial for clients including Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura, Wallpaper*, and Monocle. He currently has a show at Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) documenting life and change in Barcelona’s suburbs.

Inés Miró-Sans was born in Barcelona and, after working for brands such as Hotel OMM and Ace New York, co-founded Casa Bonay in 2016 (which she had begun as her MBA project a decade earlier). The Barcelona boutique hotel has since won all sorts of awards and is beloved by many of our contributors, below.

Javier Llaudet is the founder of Arrels, Barcelona, a swimwear and clothing brand rooted in Spain. 

Júlia Juste, born and raised in Barcelona, is the founder of Outliers Guide, a website devoted to uncovering exceptional hotels and guesthouses worldwide. 

Jordi Luque is a storyteller with a focus on gastronomy. He is passionate about connecting people through good stories, food and drinks.

Siobhan Reid is a Canadian-born freelance writer based in Barcelona, who writes an excellent Spain-centric Substack. Previously, she was an editor at Travel + Leisure. Her writing can be found in Vogue, Departures, and The New York Times Style Magazine. And she was an enormous help to us in putting together this list, reaching out to a number of her creative contacts on our behalf!

Suzanne Wales is a Barcelona-based writer on design, architecture and lifestyle. When not at her desk, she is showing visitors the latest hot spots and off-the-radar gems through her company Barcelona Design Tours. Her latest book, Made in Spain, is a journey through Spain through local craft and artisan traditions. 

Thao Phuong is a fashion designer who grew up in Melbourne and is now based in Barcelona. After two decades in the fashion industry she founded TextileSeekers, which organizes sustainable textile-focused trips through Vietnam highlighting provenance, craftsmanship and artisanal community heritage. You can read more about TextileSeekers here. 

Tomer Botner was born in Tel-Aviv and has lived in Barcelona since 2015. He is the founder of Florentine Kitchen Knives, where he designs and makes exceptional bespoke cooking tools for some of the world’s most accomplished restaurants and professional and amateur cooks. He is also the co-founder of The Sharpening Shop, a holistic Poblenou-based sharpening service, and host of the Florentine Lunch Club, a monthly gathering of curious palates and minds who explore dishes and wines on Sundays on communal tables at the specious FKK workshop. 

Valeska Idarraga is the co-founder and CMO of Paladar y Tomar, a Spanish boutique DMC that specializes in crafting unique, innovative and inspiring food and wine journeys. They cover Barcelona and all of Catalonia with a special gourmet touch, and run small food and wine group tours in the region that they personally lead every year.

Xavier Franquesa is an interior designer and creative director turned gallerist. In 2010 he founded il·lacions, the first gallery in Barcelona dedicated exclusively to local 21st-century design, creating value and bringing visibility to its more than 60 collaborating creators, exhibiting their furniture and objects, unique pieces or limited series.