Best books set in Barcelona, Spain
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Loading... - Elijah Hughes
- 03 Jun 2022
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Welcome to our guide to the best books about Barcelona to read before or during a visit to Barcelona.
Travel books are wonderful, but it is also fun to read novels and epic historic tales that are set in Barcelona to make your visit special!
Books set in Barcelona often give you an insight and understand of the city that travel guides and website cannot provide. And often there are little nuggets of historic information that travel books don’t include.
So to read an exciting tale while visiting Barcelona can make your vacation in Barcelona even more special.
There are several bestselling books set in Barcelona which we have listed on this page.
We have also included some Barcelona travel guide books and some popular summer books from Amazon that are just great to read on the beach or on your journey.
Keep scrolling to see the the best books set in Barcelona and the best summer books to read on vacation.
Bestselling novels set in Barcelona
The Shadow of the Wind
By Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Set in Barcelona, fiction
The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Book 1) The bestselling cycle of books by Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafon are The Shadow of the Wind, The Angels Game and The Prisoner of Heaven. The Shadow of the Wind was the first bestselling book in this trilogy set in Barcelona. All three books are mostly set in the gothic area of Barcelona but Avenida Tibidabo on Tibidabo hill with is grand mansions is also featured prominently.
It’s a wonderful read with mystery, intrigue, romance in the lost Barcelona of the mid-20th century. Shadow of the Wind sold around 15 million copies worldwide in multiple languages, making it one of the best-selling books of all time set in Barcelona. Order on Amazon in paperback or Kindle
Storyline: At the first light of dawn in postwar Barcelona, a bookseller takes his son to a mysterious crypt called the Cemetery of Forgotten Books that houses the books that have lost their owners and are no longer remembered by anyone.
It is here that ten-year-old Daniel Sempere pulls a single book, The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax, off of the dusty shelves to adopt as his own. This forgotten book leads Daniel on a hunt for the mysterious writer Julian Carax, who may or may not still be alive.
Cathedral of the Sea
By Ildefonso Falcones
Set in Barcelona, Historical fiction
Cathedral of the Sea – Ildefonso Falcones is a gripping historical novel set in Barcelona in the 14th century. It’s an epic tale of war, love, treason, plague, anti-Semitism and the Spanish Inquisition centered around medieval Barcelona life and the workers and construction of Santa Maria del Mar gothic church built with stone from a quarry on Montjuic hill.
The Santa Maria del Mar is an imposing gothic church in which still stands today and is one of Barcelona’s most impressive and most visited sights. (don’t confuse it with the Sagrada familia church by Gaudi – this is another church in a different area of Barcelona.
The main character, Arnau Estanyol, is the son of a fugitive peasant who starts out as a lowly porter, carrying stones for the building of the Santa Maria del Mar basilica. His fortunes change for the better and the book tells Arnau's journey from slave to nobleman.
It’s interesting to read so much details about 14th century Spanish traditions, commerce and culture in medieval society. An epic tale of war, love, treason, plague, anti-Semitism and the Spanish Inquisition.
Origin
By Dan Brown
Set in Barcelona and Spain, fiction
By Bestselling Author Dan Brown, Origin is a 2017 mystery thriller novel by American author Dan Brown. and the fifth installment in his Robert Langdon series, following Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol, and Inferno.
Origin is set in Spain in present day and is partially set in Barcelona with exciting locations that include Montserrat Abbey, Casa Mila as two of the many locations that are of interest to tourists.
A very entertaining read about that aims to answer two of the fundamental questions of human existence on a trail marked by modern art and enigmatic symbols. Origin is by many considered to be one of Dan Brown's most entertaining novels to date.
Homage to Barcelona
By Colm Toibin
Set in Barcelona, non-fiction
Colm Toibin's Homage to Barcelona tells stories of Barcelona from the story of the city's founding and its huge expansion in the nineteenth century to the lives of Gaudi, Miro, Picasso, Pau Casals and Dali.
It also explores the history of Catalan nationalism, the tragedy of the Spanish Civil War, the Franco distatorship years and the transition from dictatorship to democracy which Colm Toibin witnessed in the 1970s. Written with deep knowledge and affection, Homage to Barcelona is a sensuous and beguiling portrait of a unique Mediterranean port and an adopted home. Read More…
