La Central

El Raval


Built into what was originally a chapel, La Central stocks an impressive range of titles in various languages (including Barcelona guides) and a smart stationery line. It also has a fabulous garden cafe-bar out the back.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby El Raval attractions

2. MACBA

0.12 MILES

An extraordinary all-white, glass-fronted creation by American architect Richard Meier, opened in 1995, the MACBA has become the city's foremost…

3. Font de Canaletes

0.13 MILES

The section of La Rambla immediately south of Plaça de Catalunya is named after this inconspicuous turn-of-the-20th-century drinking fountain and lamppost…

4. Església de Betlem

0.14 MILES

On La Rambla with Carrer del Carme, this church was constructed in baroque style for the Jesuits in the late 17th and early 18th centuries to replace a…

5. Institut d’Estudis Catalans

0.16 MILES

The Institute for Catalan Studies sits in the 17th-century Casa de Convalescència, once part of the Antic Hospital de la Santa Creu. The building,…

6. Centre de la Imatge

0.16 MILES

The Centre de la Imatge is an exhibition space that forms part of the Palau de la Virreina. It hosts mainly – but not exclusively – photography shows.

7. Palau de la Virreina

0.16 MILES

A rare example of post-baroque building in Barcelona, the Palau de la Virreina is a grand 18th-century rococo mansion (with some neoclassical elements)…

8. Palau Moja

0.16 MILES

After extensive renovation, Palau Moja – a neoclassical building dating from the second half of the 18th century, which previously housed the Generalitat…