Here are the available villas for rental in Barcelona City.

Barcelona's sunny back yard

From the Daily Mail

Lola, a Spanish, sooty-eyed seven-year-old, adjusted her acid green feather boa and gyrated self-consciously through the main square in the pretty Spanish seaside town of Sitges, just south of Barcelona. Behind her marched a troupe of pre-school 'devils', red horns stitched into black berets, the youngest happily prodding Lola's behind with his felt-covered pitchfork.
Pancake Tuesday in Sitges and everyone was in carnival mood. Even the formidable assistant in Fontanals charcuterie had transformed herself into a dancing queen. Beneath a canopy of cured ham joints, Maria's glittery eyebrows and star-studded cheeks sat at odds with her white overalls - but then, she reasoned, only glitter would outlast a night of hard clubbing.
The children's parade, a charming prelude to the libidinous troupes who were later to sashay along the Carrer de Parellades - Sitges's main drag - was drawing to a close. By midnight the town would be packed, its cobbled streets an impromptu dance floor, the music non-stop until dawn.
During carnival, Sitges wakes from its winter slumber with a vengeance. Barcelona night owls join the locals for an uninhibited and mammoth party - though nobody quite matches the excesses reputedly enjoyed by Casanova, a guest of the town's carnival back in 1769. Not even Salvador Dali, it seems, though he, too, clearly favoured Sitges's fun-loving atmosphere.
Photographs of the mustachioed surrealist enjoying a swim in the sea line the walls of L'Estrella, a 19th-century patisserie in the narrow Carrer Major, though it is hard to imagine this larger-than-life Spaniard sitting in such dainty surroundings. There, beneath painted cherubs flitting across a tiny domed ceiling, locals linger in one of two raspberry-pink salons over chocolate cake and cortado, the Spanish equivalent of an espresso with a shot of milk. ... more

The golden mile

From the Daily Mail

Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca once described Las Ramblas as 'the only street in the world that I wish would never end.'
He was, as millions of visitors have been over the years, entranced by the colour and vitality of the mile-long Barcelona thoroughfare along which life is played out like a non-stop carnival.
Lorca was shot dead by Nationalist partisans after the coup of 1936, when he was only 38. Tragic, but at least one did not have to disappoint the old boy - towards the end of the 20th century his beloved Ramblas was benighted by flagrant drug dealing and non-stop hustling. So much so that the millions of visitors pouring into Barcelona each year were advised: 'Mind how you go.'
But after hosting the 1992 Olympic Games, the city eventually claimed it had cleaned up its act.
I wasn't too sure, especially after a friend had his pocket picked on a Metro escalator. Another friend also warned me of the bag-snatchers who linger along the pedestrianised boulevard, built on the dried-up bed of a river than once ran from the Collserola hills to the sea.
So with my wife and seven-year-old son, I took a plane to Barcelona to find out for myself by walking the Ramblas - actually five separate streets, joined like a string of sausages - from top to bottom, during the day and in the evening.
The plan was to reach the harbourside Monument a Colom, at the top of which Christopher Columbus stands. As a plan, it did not enthuse the seven-year-old. A mile is a long way, he complained, as we strolled out of the Playa de Catalunya, the huge square from which the Ramblas runs south.
So after, at most, 100 yards, we stopped at the Canaletes iron drinking fountain, a sip from which, legend has it, will guarantee one's return to the city. ... more

Picasso's city

From the Mail on Sunday

Surprisingly, Barcelona doesn't make a lot of what must be its most internationally renowned former resident - Pablo Picasso.
True, there is a celebrated museum dedicated to his work, but there are no plaques marking the buildings where he lived, studied or worked, no heritage trail for visitors. And the only guidebook available locally, Guia de la Barcelona de Picasso, has not been translated into English.
Of course, Paris is the city most readily associated with Picasso, and rightly so, because it was there that he lived during his most significant years.
But it was in Barcelona that the 20th Century's greatest artist came of age and attended art school. It was here too that he witnessed the street scenes that would etch themselves in his memory and inform the ground-breaking work of his cubist period.
For me, the most useful guide to Picasso's Barcelona is the first volume of John Richardson's definitive A Life Of Picasso (Jonathan Cape, 1991), which devotes 142 well-illustrated pages to the period and bothers to mention all the relevant addresses.
It was from this book that I learned Picasso moved to Barcelona with his family in September 1895, a month before his 14th birthday, and didn't leave until he was 21, although he did make long visits to Madrid and Paris.
During these years the family lived in the narrow streets close to the port. Their first apartment was on Carrer Llauder (number 4) and then they moved to Carrer de la Merce (number 3), but their home is now demolished.
While officially remaining at home, Picasso also rented a series of studios which often doubled up as overnight accommodation.
One of these studios, on Carrer Nou de la Rambla (number 10), was conveniently next to the Eden Concert, a disreputable cabaret venue that was a favourite night-time haunt of his. It is directly opposite the then newly built Gell Palace, a private home designed by Gaudi, although Picasso was never a fan of his. He wouldn't be pleased to know that the Eden Concert is now the Gaudi Hotel. ... more

City of show-offs

Sunday morning. The streets were deserted and a low murmur of voices guided us towards the tentacle spires of Antonio Gaudi's Church of the Holy Family, La Sagrada Familia, in the Eixample quarter.
Like the crowds photographing what looked like a melting Disney castle, I couldn't help but stare in bemusement at the unfinished church created by one of Barcelona's most famous architects. It encapsulates the city's vibrant approach to living.
Set between the mountains and the sea, the capital of Catalonia has evidently flourished since the 1992 Olympics; it both feels and looks prosperous.
As we headed down La Rambla, the famous cafe-lined street that stretches down to the seafront, the atmosphere was contagious.
Barcelona's balmy feel is partly due to the sea, and partly to the spacious streets interspersed with fountains and monuments.
Many cities are unfathomable without keeping your nose in a guidebook, but Barcelona is flamboyant, attention-seeking and full of surprises. It's as if the city is showing off to its visitors.
Walk around, and up pops the mosaic façade of another Gaudi building or a colourful Joan Miro sculpture. Historic and futuristic architecture stand side by side.
We took the elevator inside a 200ft-high waterfront monument of Christopher Columbus, to a viewing room looking down to the promenades, the quays, and across to the mountains.
Then we ducked into La Boqueria, one of the most spectacular food markets in Europe. The array of produce was quite overwhelming, so we headed into the quiet back streets of the gothic quarter, peering into tapas bars and admiring the elaborate old balconies.
We ended up at the city's incredible 14th-century cathedral. The £2 entrance fee included a trip to the roof, which had brilliant views.
In the Eixample quarter, just two blocks from the Hotel Claris, is Casa Mila on Passeig de Gracia, an apartment building that is considered to be Gaudi's most accomplished modernist work. ... more

The rain in Spain falls mainly in...

It was the kind of grey English day where the sky feels like it's sitting on your head and getting away to Barcelona seemed a brilliant idea.

A very "in" destination, I'd heard, and surely bound to be sunnier than the UK.
Having secured an absolute bargain three-day break we set off in high spirits. In the taxi from the airport to our hotel it started - the incessant rain that was to dog our trip.
Our hotel was in a great location, slap-bang on La Rambla, the historic old street that's the hub of the city.
Our first challenge was to get into the hotel by crossing the raging torrent of rainwater that poured down the street like a river.
Safely inside the Rivoli Ramblas, we retired to our room, only to find the shutters had come open and there was a lake on the floor beside my bed.
When you find yourself in one of Spain's great cultural cities in pouring rain, there's only one thing to do - head for the nearest bar.
As we were only a stone's throw from the Gothic quarter, we dashed into its narrow old streets and surfaced in a old monastery, now a cosy bar.
I didn't think I was a cava fan until I found out there's a lot more than just one version of this sparkling wine.
With a glass of cava at around £2, we determined to sample as many different varieties as we could from super dry through to medium and sweet. It ranged from good to stunning. Add some tapas and friendly locals and we soon forgot the rain lashing down outside.
Next morning we dived into the nearby 19th century Cafe de l'Opera on La Rambla for breakfast. Not as posh as it sounds, it still has great atmosphere and is reasonably priced considering its prime location, opposite the Liceu opera house. ... more