Jane Austen, football culture, and historic trains: what's on this weekend

From concerts to cultural festivals, events and nightlife, there are countless things to do in Barcelona and around Catalonia this weekend. 

Here's a selection of some of the best plans and what's on this weekend.

DAU Barcelona | November 13-16 | Board games festival | Fabra i Coats, Barcelona

The fourteenth edition of Barcelona's major board games festival brings together over a hundred activities for families, enthusiasts, professionals and schools. New features this year include a giant pavilion with 107 games tables, a Fan Zone with meet-and-greets and signings from more than 25 game designers, and a dedicated tournament area. The festival also debuts DAU Tranquil, a calm, inclusive space for highly sensitive players, and the Ludoteca Expert space, aimed at those who enjoy more complex games. Admission is free.

Celebrate Jane Austen | November 16 | Reading festival & talk | Hivernacle, Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona

A special event marking the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth, organized by Austral and PlanetadeLibros. Starting at 12 noon, the event features a conversation between Helena Sotoca and Alba Lafarga on the enduring relevance of Austen's work, followed by a lettering workshop and activities inspired by the author's world. Members of the Jane Austen Reading Club of Biblioteques de Barcelona will also take part. Attendance is free.

World Press Photo | November 7 - December 14 | Exhibition | CCCB, Barcelona

The twenty-first edition of the most renowned exhibition in the field of photojournalism worldwide. The display brings together the winning photographs of the World Press Photo 2025 competition. The conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine, the environmental crisis, migration, and political polarization are some of the main themes. Tickets are €8, concessionary €6. Visits on Sundays from 3 pm to 8 pm are free of charge and must be pre-booked.

Act x Palestine | November 14 - December 23 | Various events | Barcelona and beyond

A global mobilization campaign promoted by the main Palestinian human rights, peacebuilding, humanitarian aid and cultural organizations, together with a broad network of European organizations. Featuring a launch event on Saturday, 15 November at La Paloma, Barcelona, The Unsilence Forum from November 14 to 16, Catalonia v Palestine friendly football match on November 18, and series of concerts from November 15 to December 23.

Casa Vicens anniversary | November 16 | Museum discount | Barcelona

Casa Vicens Gaudí marks its eighth anniversary with 800 tickets on sale for €8 from Sunday, 16 November at 10 am. The first house designed by Gaudí celebrates eight years open to the public with a special promotion, one of the first events of the Gaudí Year. Tickets are available via casavicens.org by selecting the "8th Anniversary Tickets" option. Visits may be booked up to 31 December 2025.

PanenkaFest | November 15-16 | Football culture festival | Antiga Fàbrica Estrella Damm, Barcelona

The inaugural edition of Spain's first football-culture festival, organised by Panenka magazine. Two full days of talks, music, humour, collectibles, a football-fashion market, games, and a family-friendly zone with board games and arcade-style football activities. Tickets are €5 per day or €8 for the weekend. Children under 12 enter free if accompanied by an adult.

Historic metro trains | November 15 - January 6, 2026 | Exhibition | El Clot, Barcelona

An outdoor exhibition at La Farinera del Clot Cultural Center showcasing five historic train series – 100, 300, 400, 1100 and 3000 – restored for the centenary of Barcelona's metro system. Visitors can explore the carriages both from the outside and inside, with full accessibility for people with reduced mobility. Free admission.

Berlin Wall: A Divided World | November 7 - March 2026 | Exhibition | Espai Inmersa, Poblenou

An international exhibition on the Berlin Wall was launched on Friday at Espai Inmersa, in Barcelona's Poblenou district. After stops in Paris and Madrid, 'Berlin Wall: A Divided World' has now arrived in the Catalan capital, where it will remain open until March 2026. The exhibition features over 200 original artefacts and six authentic sections of the Berlin Wall, each measuring 3.6 metres high and weighing over three tonnes.

Library of Fantastic Beasts | November 4 - January 11 | Exhibition | Casa Amatller 

The Library of Fantastic Beasts, a new exhibition in the Art Centre of the Casa Amatller modernist building, located beside Casa Batlló on Passeig de Gràcia, is now open. In it, dragons, unicorns, basilisks, and many more fantastic beasts come to life. The exhibit combines interactive fun with historical rigor to create an unbeatable experience for the whole family to learn about the creatures, both real and imagined, that were used in the Middle Ages to explain the physical and spiritual world.

Miramiralls for free | Every Sunday in November | Amusement Park | Tibidabo, Barcelona  

Tibidabo, Barcelona’s iconic amusement park perched atop the Collserola mountains, is opening the doors of its famous Miramiralls attraction for free and without prior booking every Sunday in November. Historically known as the Hall of Mirrors, the space features original visual effects, playful light displays, and optical illusions that create magical experiences for visitors of all ages.

Visit 50,000-year-old Siberian mammoth | Every day | Museum | CosmoCaixa, Barcelona 

Barcelona's CosmoCaixa Science Museum unveiled the latest addition to its exhibition: a large six-meter-long and 3.5-meter-tall Siberian mammoth. The mammoth is between 40,000 and 50,000 years old and will now be part of the permanent exposition. 

Miró and the United States | October 10 - February 22 | Art | Miró Foundation 

The links between Joan Miró and America take center stage in the Joan Miró Foundation's newest exhibition, 'Miró and the United States.' From October 10 to February 22, the museum will showcase 150 artworks by Miró and other influential artists who shaped or were shaped by this artistic dialogue. Icons such as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Louise Bourgeois, and even Salvador Dalí will appear in conversation with Miró’s works.

Ink against Hitler | October 8 - January 11 | Exhibition | MNAC, Barcelona

The exhibition Ink against Hitler is the presentation in Barcelona of the discovery of the only Catalan and Spanish artist who worked for British and Allied propaganda during the Second World War. From 1941 to 1945, the Catalan Mario Armengol Torrella drew around 2,000 cartoons and caricatures in the service of the British Ministry of Information against the Third Reich and the Axis to publish them in newspapers and magazines in London's allied and neutral countries, from New Zealand to Haiti.

Escena | October 10 - December 20 | Performing arts | Various locations across Barcelona

Live Arts. A program of 31 theater, circus, music, and dance performances on 34 stages in the city's civic and cultural centers. From October 10 to December 20, Escena will schedule 173 theater and circus performances, concerts, and dance shows, always free of charge and with advance reservation. 

Festival Jazz Barcelona | October 10 - March 1, 2026 | Music | Various venues

A lineup packed with international artists, including Snarky Puppy, Laurie Anderson, Tigran Hamasyan, Chucho Valdés Royal Quartet, Chris Thile, and Janis Siegel. From October 10, 2025, to March 1, 2026, the Barcelona Jazz Festival celebrates its 57th edition, offering a lineup that combines major international names, emerging voices, and special projects that celebrate the history and diversity of jazz. The program consists of 48 concerts spread across 10 venues, including Palau de la Música Catalana, Jamboree, Conservatori Liceu, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Paral·l 62, L'Auditori, Teatre Auditori Emma Vilarasau de Sant Cugat, and La Paloma. 

Leonardo versus Michelangelo | From September 17 | IDEAL Digital Arts Centre, Barcelona

The Mona Lisa, or The Sistine Chapel? The Last Supper, or Pietà? Vitruvian Man, or David? Impossible choices? Well, at IDEAL Digital Arts Centre in Barcelona, visitors are going to have to decide which Renaissance Man takes the crown. Leonardo versus Michelangelo takes a look at the lives, legacies, and rivalry between these two historic greats of art. These pair lived at the same time in Florence in the 15th and 16th centuries, and although they initially respected each other, they quickly developed a bitter rivalry.

Phantom of the Opera | September 23 - February 1 | Opera | Tivoli Theatre

The Phantom of the Opera is coming to Barcelona for the very first time. Andrew Lloyd Webber's iconic musical runs at Teatre Tívoli from September 23 to February 1 as part of a Spain-wide tour. Based on the novel by Gaston Leroux, and with lyrics by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe, this production in Spanish is directed by Federico Bellone, with musical direction by Julio Awad.

Soundit | October 18, November 8, 22, December 13 | Live music | Monumental, Barcelona

One of Barcelona's best day festivals returns for its autumn lineup. This year's program features five Saturdays of live electronic music, featuring huge names in dance music, from 2manydjs, Ben UFO, Jayda G, Ben Klock, and plenty more. 

‘How to Design a Revolution: The Chilean Road to Design’ | July 2 - November 16 | Exhibition | Disseny Hub building, Barcelona

How to Design a Revolution: The Chilean Road to Design is a comprehensive exhibition on graphic and industrial design during Salvador Allende’s government in Chile (1970-1973). An exceptional case in the history of design, where the unprecedented act of choosing a revolution through the ballot box led to the first instance of a country to collectively designing through socialism and democracy.

The exhibition, which was on display in Santiago de Chile as part of the programme commemorating the 50th anniversary of the civilian-military coup, featured original pieces and design reproductions aimed at the democratisation of reading and music, the reduction of technological dependence and addressing child malnutrition, among other goals.

‘Extraterrestrials. Is there life beyond Earth?’ | February 26 - August 30, 2026 | Science exhibition | CosmoCaixa science museum

'Extraterrestrials - Is There Life Outside Earth?' delves into topics such as our place in the cosmos, the meaning of the concept of life, and how literature and cinema have shaped the collective imagination about what form alien life could take. Visitors begin by discovering Earth's place in the cosmos. The exhibition then explores, from a historical perspective, the great philosophical debate between those who argue that life is unique to our planet, and those who believe in the existence of other inhabited worlds.

Antoni Tàpies: The Imagination of the World | February 13 – January 25, 2026 | Art exhibition | Tàpies Museum

The solo exhibition The Imagination of the World proposes a revision of the work of Antoni Tàpies based on ideas found in his earliest period of production. With Tàpies as the centre of the project, the exhibition seeks to map out a network of relationships between active agents, discourses and practices, as related to two key areas: on the one hand, the complex assimilation of artistic tendencies—such as dada and surrealism—and currents of thought—psychoanalysis, Marxism—in Barcelona in that period; on the other hand, the dialogue of these movements with various forms of the vernacular tradition of popular culture.