Home Barcelona Movie Walks Films Attractions
Language: 

 / Home / Attractions / Platja de la BarcelonetaPrint version

Platja de la Barceloneta
Historic information
The Barceloneta beach is located between the San Sebastià beach and the Olympic Marina. It is 1,100 metres long and occupies the entire seafront of the Barceloneta district. It has become a city beach that is extremely popular with locals and tourists alike, particularly since the city’s water treatment plant was built. It offers every amenity.
The Barceloneta beach is the former site of the popular bars, known as xiringuitos, serving paellas and seafood, which were run by colourful local characters and were one of Barcelona’s main tourist attractions between the 1960s and 1980s. Following building work for the 1992 Olympics the area underwent a complete transformation, and these unique restaurants were demolished. A wooden walkway has been built on the area once occupied by the xiringuitos, between the seafront buildings and the beach.
On the beach itself stands an avant-garde sculpture, Tribute to the Barceloneta, by Rebecca Horn. It has a great visual impact among the passers-by and consists of four glass cubes stacked on top of one another and twisted to give the impression of instability. There is a low-intensity light bulb inside each cube and a PA system emits a disturbing sound.
In order to know the zone better
The Barceloneta is Barcelona’s traditional fishing and harbour district. Situated on a small sandy peninsula of land reclaimed from the sea, it was built on from 1753 onwards. Nowhere else in Barcelona better represents the close relationship between the city and sea than the Barceloneta district. It is now one of the city’s most popular areas for locals and visitors alike, with its beaches and a whole host of restaurants and leisure attractions.
The current promenade, or Passeig Marítim, is the result of the refurbishment of the seafront for the 1992 Olympic Games. It connects the historic Barceloneta neighbourhood with the Olympic Marina on two levels: one of them on the beach where, according to the season, you can find bars, shops and other services, and another at street level, with palm trees, benches and white railings that form a true viewing point over Barceloneta beach.
Scene description
Manuale d'amore 2
Platja de la Barceloneta: After touring the streets and avenues of Barcelona in their open-top car, the four Italian friends end up on Barceloneta beach. The scene begins on the sand and although Franco and Manuela are initially reluctant to go for a swim, the other couple finally persuade Franco to go into the water. Manuela sits on the sand and watches the three of them swimming somewhat unenthusiastically.
One of the shots worth mentioning shows the four of them standing on the beach with the twin towers in the Olympic Marina and Frank Gehry’s gilded fish in the background.
Did you know that...
One of the sequences that didn’t make the final edit showed Fabio and Manuela with the other hotel guests coming down the fire escape after a fire has been announced. Once all the guests are outside the hotel, we can see that the fictional hotel is the triangular Forum building designed by the prestigious architects Herzog & De Meuron for the 2004 Universal Forum of Cultures.
The Barcelona of Manuale d’Amore  /  Platja de la Barceloneta
      Barcelona Movie Walks '24