Where to wild camp in Barcelona | Spain

Barcelona is a spectacular city, however, it is perhaps one of the worst to try and wild camp in, whether you are in a stealth van or not. Much like a lot of Spanish cities, Barcelona is notorious for the petty crime that occurs. So much so, it has earnt the nickname of the “Pickpocket capital of the World!” It’s also not the most friendly and accommodating place for campervans. Many reviews on Park4Night detail how they were victims of a break-in! For this reason, we truly recommend staying at a campsite, or at least a guarded car park whilst visiting Barcelona. With that being said, we still opted to wild camp on the outskirts of Barcelona, and it wasn’t too bad.

We stayed in a small car park on the outskirts of Barcelona in the Hospitalet de Llobregat region of the city.

Sure, the spot we stayed at wasn’t glamorous. It did not have any facilities or local toilets. It was quite frankly “out in the sticks”. However, it did have a few redeeming qualities that were unexpected, but a pleasant surprise nonetheless.

Firstly, it was within walking distance of a shopping mall (Gran Via 2). This mall was surprisingly good and had all the typical shops found in the city centre of Barcelona. Furthermore, there was a grocery store on the basement level of this shopping mall so it was easy to replenish supplies.

Secondly, there was a laundrette nearby. Located approximately a 25-minute walk away (10 minutes on an e-Scooter), it was an easy commute to do an essential chore. The Laundrette is part of the Speed Queen brand.

Finally, and most importantly, it was well connected to the centre of Barcelona. This spot to wild camp is located a 2-minute walk away from the Fira metro station, which has a direct route taking you to the heart of Barcelona in 30 minutes.

Despite these small perks of the spot, it is still essentially just a car park and it can get busy. Therefore, we recommend arriving in the evening when it is essentially empty. There are a few spaces that run parallel to the bay spaces, these are perfect for larger vehicles. We are only 6m, but we shared this spot with 8m+ motorhomes.

Finally, it’s not the flattest car park in the world, however, we found it to be extremely tolerable, especially if you only intend on staying here for a couple of nights!

We stayed here for 3 days uninterrupted. Although we have no complaints, and it served its purpose well, we do strongly believe when visiting any major city in Spain it is worth paying for a bit of security, whether in a campsite or a guarded car park, simply for peace of mind.