Traveling to Barcelona in two weeks - can anybody tell me how it's been lately with Omicron?

hi DC Bryan,
welcome to the forums! I was in Catalonia from Dec 16th-30th, with the last 8 days in Barcelona specifically. I had an absolutely lovely time, and would highly recommend it. Are there any specific questions we can help answer to help you make the right decision for you?

In Barcelona, I didn't find the Covid restrictions to be particularly onerous. There were some capacity limits indoors at restaurants, and of course you need to wear your mask indoors and outdoors. When we went to restaurants if they asked we would show our CDC card, simply say we are Americans and it is our CDC card and they would wave us in. We had zero issues. Lots of place offer takeaway if you want to take food back to where you are staying. And with Iberian ham, heck a ham sandwich is a tasty meal there. ;o)

Barcelona was very open for business when I was there. People are out and about. We did quite a few AirBnb experiences while there, which was also great.

I know there are several other travelers that were headed over after Christmas and for New Years, perhaps they can also chime in for their experiences. Only you can decide what makes sense for you given your personal circumstances. But I am happy to share any other information you need based on my experiences if that would be helpful.

Got back last night from 2 weeks in Spain. Don’t cancel.

We were not in the north, so I can’t comment on Barcelona specifically. We landed in Madrid, spent a couple of days in Toledo, and then spent the rest of the trip in Andalusia. It was wonderful.

Mask compliance is very high, and we felt safe everywhere except for our New Years Eve dinner, which was in a room that felt too small. When the singing and dancing started (all in great fun, but maskless), we left.

We were asked for proof of vaccination several times; I believe Catalonia has a covid pass requirement for many places.

Everything is open. We were warmly welcomed.

Plan your trip around outdoor spaces and walks — which are amazing — and eat outside wherever possible. Wear well-fitting n95 masks, especially in crowded indoor areas and in public transportation.

You will be safer in Spain than in the US. I live in Vermont, one of the most covid-safe areas of the US, and my grocery store trip this morning made me wish I were still in Spain.

Go, and enjoy your vacation!

Hi DC Bryan and welcome to the forum! I myself am currently in Barcelona (on day 2 of approximately a week here).

I'll second Amber's question -- is there anything specific you want to know about? Otherwise, here are my observations. The things that I would highlight that are different in Catalonia vs. other parts of Spain include the current curfew and more COVID passport requirements.

• There is an outdoor mask mandate in Spain (with some exceptions, such as doing exercise or in certain rural settings) as well an indoors mask mandate in any indoors public space. My personal experience has been that indoors, the mask mandate is nearly universally respected, including on public transportation; but outdoors I'd guess that something like 30-40% of individuals are not wearing a mask.
• There is currently a daily curfew from 1am-6am in most Catalan municipalities -- including Barcelona -- that is set to last until January 21 because of high case rates. It's not clear yet if it will be extended; note it has already been extended once as it initially went into place for two weeks right before Christmas. What it means in practicality is that nightlife is closing much earlier than normal and some restaurants a bit earlier than they might have (keeping in mind that this is a country where dinner, especially on weekends, usually starts no earlier than 9pm, so a lot nightlife normally starts even later than that), with some establishments shifting their opening hours earlier to accommodate the curfew.
• Along a similar note, clubs (like dance clubs) are closed. Restaurants and bars have stayed open, however, but with some capacity restrictions (I haven't had any trouble with capacity restrictions except in "perennially busy" joints, in part I think because January is also a low season for tourism, in this already tourism-depressed period).
• Catalonia has a COVID passport requirement for restaurants and bars (and gyms, but I'm not going to those on this trip LOL). I happen to have an EU DCC QR code (issued by Switzerland) so I have been able to use that as my COVID passport and haven't been carrying around my CDC card. However, in my experience restaurants have been a bit spotty asking for the code, especially restaurants outside of more touristy areas.
• On a non-COVID-related note, a lot of the busy tourist attractions are not/less crowded, which has been lovely. I was at Park Güell earlier today and was able to waltz up and buy a ticket for that time period and the site was pleasantly uncrowded.

Let me know if you have any other questions!