Ideas re change of itinerary - Barcelona trip

We are actually in Catalonia now. We elected not to change our plans.

Since you've already made the cancelations, I would suggest the Amalfi Coast. It's still very warm and lovely.

Are you seeing any potential issues at this time? We still have air available but unfortunately canceled lodging since it was quite a lot to risk. We are still trying to recover and deal with the effects of Hurricane Irma and can't be sure that Barcelona will be calming after next Monday's possible independence declaration which is what we have read about.

I had placed all my research into Barcelona and now need to punt. Thanks for any information you might provide.

We are going to Amalfi Coast on the 15th. I was looking to gap the time between Rome and Amalfi. Heartbroken about Barcelona.

lauried, you can salvage your airfare. Just because you don't want to be in Barcelona (me neither), you can depart from BCN to Valencia and then other cities. Trains and buses leave right from the airport. Now, some aren't happy with the rest of Spain either, so then my suggestions don't work, but you can go elsewhere in Spain if you want to use your flight.
The short term activities is that Oc 10th, Catalan government is going to decide whether to declare autonomy or not. If they decide to declare, well that could be problematic. No one knows for sure, but do you want the stress of not knowing what is happening day to day? If they decide to not pursue it, there still might be some protests, but things should return to normal more quickly - one hopes.
If you are on the ground in Spain, then maybe you can still salvage a few days in Barcelona as well. I expect hotel availability has been growing over these days as others cancel.

Thank you Maria,
Those are great points and I have considered that as well. My only concern is what if there are problems at the airport? Luggage handler strikes, etc. I am not familiar with the details of what type of strikes and closures there will be. I will monitor from Rome. I had my heart set on Barcelona but am just collecting ideas so I can investigate all options once we are there. The thing on Monday makes it impossible to know if things will be calmed down or not since our flight is Sunday.

Yes, stressful decisions. It happens that there have been airport strikes recently - Tuesday, and there were security worker strikes in Spain prior to the Barcelona terrorist attack. It was recommended to arrive earlier than normal, but things still happened, luggage was checked, and planes flew. I guess for luggage handlers, this is the time to think 'carry on only' :-) There was also a recent call for intent to strike throughout Spain for all ground workers but the unions came to an agreement so all were called off.
If key workers are on strike on your departure day and it is unsafe to move people - your airline will cancel the flight - so that raises the question of when you can be rescheduled.

Good luck with your thoughts and plans. I am sure none of it is easy.

Laurie,
It's not not easy situation but you can still enjoy your trip despite skipping Barcelona (for now).

Have you considered visiting Umbria?

I just visited Orvieto, Assisi and Spello and truly enjoyed my time there.

You could travel by train to Orvieto (from Rome), spend 2 nights there, then travel to Assisi for 3N, prior to traveling to Naples.

Please send me a PM if you need hotel recommendations, or any other information, regarding above mentioned places.

We are scheduled to fly into Barcelona from US on 16th and return from Barcelona to US on 27th. My concern is that we could be stranded in Barcelona. I plan to check with airline to see if we can change flignt destination without penalty.

@johnnienguest

Let's all calm down, this is the fourth most visited city in Europe, capital-city of Catalonia, one of the oldest nations on this continent, not a resort on a banana republic.

Regardless how the situation evolves, no one is going to be left "stranded" or "put in any danger". Firstly because there's no violence here whatsoever, neither on the pro-indy camp nor in the (smallest) anti-indy camp. The only violence we've seen so far has been brutally exercised by the stormtroopers of the Spanish government over innocent civilians trying to exercise a vote on a polling station. It's very unlikely a repetition of those barbaric acts will be tolerated by our partners in Europe -despite the rhetoric in yesterday's session in the EU Parliament. This is not to say there can't be scuffles if the Spanish government tries to intervene Catalonia's autonomy, but those thinking on chaos and mayhem can simply forget it, that's not gonna happen, that's not how do things here (as we've abundantly demonstrated). Period. Secondly, because, as mentioned before, this is a civilised country and commitments are honoured, among these is to ensure the safeguard and safe passage of our visitors.

This, of course, is not to say you couldn't be caught in a stoppage (a day in which everybody is called to stop working as measure of protest) and that could indeed affect flights and cruises, but this is not really much different than getting caught say in very bad weather or an industrial strike elsewhere: facts of life that are always possible.

Does this mean one should avoid visiting? well, that's a very personal decision but, objectively, there's no reason at present to do so as, despite being a very politically tense situation, life goes on and -except for the stoppage of last Oct 3rd- people go to work, shops and restaurants are opened, trains and planes land and take off, kids go to school and the streets are full of people going about their business. Aren't there demonstrations? yes, and massive, but those are called at certain moments and/or on certain days as the situation require it.

How will this evolve? uncertain at present. I could venture to present the most probable scenarios on the next Catalan government steps, but the Spanish government agenda, well that's an unpredictable mystery.

Lauried, we landed in BCN to a very calm and normal airport, rented a car and drove to Llafranc on the Costa Brava. All here is calm, relaxing and no one has even mentioned what is going on. It was 77 yesterday. Perfect beach weather. It's very relaxing and just what we needed. We will drive back to Barcelona tomorrow for two nights.

Thanks to all of you for the continued updates and ideas. We are in Rome now and will keep reading updates, all of which are much appreciated.

Thanks to all of you for the continued updates and ideas. We are in Rome now and will keep reading updates, all of which are much appreciated.

Good luck Laurie

My wife and I are still planning to arrive in BCN on October 12 and spend 4 nights there. We'll be on the RS Spain tour that starts October 14. If the airport is open, I don't see a reason to change my plans. I don't expect anything serious to happen other than the typical European strikes. When I've been around them, the taxis and cafes still seem to run. Barcelona doesn't have any buildings I couldn't live a happy life without looking inside. I see it more as the ambiance being the attraction.

I expect this to get resolved without tanks in the streets. The companies announcing their moves out of Barcelona is probably putting some level of concern to the pro-independence faction. It's not my country so I'm happy to let them work it out.