Barcelona is the only city with two reigning World's Best Bar winners — Paradiso (2022) and Sips (2023). The 10 below show why. The cocktail scene here splits between modernist tasting-format rooms and traditional Catalan bars that take serious cocktailing equally seriously. Most are in El Born or Eixample.
Part of our 50 Best Cocktail Bars in the World listThis article is one chapter in our larger global guide. See the full pillar with every featured city.
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The 10 best cocktail bars in Barcelona
01 · Barcelona
El Born
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Through a giant fridge
Through the fridge at the back of Pastrami Bar. Giacomo Gianotti's room. Won World's Best Bar 2022. The illustrated menus are as ambitious as the drinks.
Order: Supercool Martini (smoked, frozen)
02 · Barcelona
Eixample
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Tasting-menu cocktails
Marc Álvarez and Simone Caporale's tasting-menu cocktail bar. World's Best Bar 2023.
Order: The full tasting
03 · Barcelona
El Born
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Apothecary · Dim
Antonio Naranjo's apothecary-themed cocktail bar. Hyper-local Mediterranean ingredients, technical drinks, intimate room.
Order: A drink built around the seasonal local fruit
04 · Barcelona
El Raval
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Punk · Loud
Moe Aljaff's chaotic, irreverent room — and one of the highest-ranked Iberian bars worldwide. Opposite of Sips in tone, equally serious in craft.
Order: Whatever's on the chalkboard
05 · Barcelona
El Raval
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1933 · No-stools
The oldest cocktail bar in Barcelona, opened 1933 by a former Floridita bartender. Standing room only.
Order: A Mojito, made the way Hemingway drank it
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06 · Barcelona
Eixample
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Hidden · Behind a barber shop
You walk through a working barber shop and through a hidden door. Speakeasy-style cocktail bar with Catalan touches.
Order: A Negroni Catalán
07 · Barcelona
Eixample
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Walk past the kebab shop
You walk past a doner kebab shop and through an unmarked door. The room behind is a serious classics-driven cocktail bar.
Order: An Old Fashioned, made properly
08 · Barcelona
Gothic Quarter
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Tropical · Tiki
Long-running tiki-leaning Gothic Quarter bar. Rum-deep, tropical-spec menu, casual atmosphere.
Order: A Mai Tai with their reserve rum
09 · Barcelona
Eixample
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Bond-themed · Hidden
James Bond-themed cocktail bar in Eixample. Through an unmarked entrance, classics-driven menu, the most theatrical of the Eixample rooms.
Order: A Vesper
10 · Barcelona
Born
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Slow cocktails · Low lighting
Born neighbourhood cocktail bar. Slow-format cocktail program, intimate room, the alternative to the busier Paradiso.
Order: Whatever's the seasonal slow-stir signature
More Barcelona cocktail barsThe full Barcelona cocktail-bar index by neighbourhood.
See the full list
Why Barcelona is now the cocktail capital of Europe
Paradiso and Sips both rebuild their menus annually, both use illustrated formats as part of the experience, both win awards. They represent two different angles on the same conviction: cocktails are meaningful as art objects. The 10 above show how that conviction has spread across the city. The Catalan tradition (Boadas, El Xampanyet) is essential context; the modernists are the future.
