More information on leisure time in Barcelona. Tourism and travel in Catalonia, Spain

The Olympic Harbour, built for the 1992 Games, is an excellent global work by the architects Oriol Bohigas, Josep Martorell, David Mackay and Albert Puigdomènech and the engineer Joan Ramon de Clascà. It was a key element of the competitions held during the Games.

Its capacity enables it to berth a considerable number of sports boats and, in addition to being one of the most important areas of the new city facing the sea, it has a large number of restaurants, bars and other establishments which have made Barcelona's nightlife even more intense. It's a place where you can stroll, ride a bike or study the offer of the small stalls that, on certain days of the week, are set up in the open air and sell anything from paintings to articles of cut glass.

The Olympic Stadium of Montjuïc has a capacity for 55,000 spectators, which can be increased to 77,000 with the incorporation of temporary terracing. It can stage sports competitions, musical performances or any type of popular event.

This new construction is a transformation of the old stadium, of which it conserves the facade designed by the architect Pere Domènech i Roure (the son of the modernist Lluís Domènech i Montaner), the ornamental frontage by the sculptor Vicenç Navarro, and the statues over the main entrance by Pau Gargallo. The rest was constructed following the project resulting from fusing into one the projects submitted to the international contest by the architect Vittorio Gregotti, on one hand, and the team formed by Federico Correa, Alfonso Milà, Carles Buixadé and Joan Margarit, on the other. Richard Weile was the technical supervisor of the plans and the consultant on matters of sports engineering.

The Palau Sant Jordi is considered the most important element of the Olympic Ring. It is a covered sports pavilion, designed basically for the competitions of athletic and rhythmic gymnastics and the finals of handball and volleyball of the 1992 Olympic Games.

It can stage a wide variety of sports events and other spectacles. An athletics track of 200 m inner perimeter and a skating rink can be installed, as can a stage for concerts or ballet performances. A giant high-fidelity video screen reproduces the images of the performances of the athletes or artists. The terraces have a capacity for 17,000 spectators, and the ventilation system is designed to be supported by an air-conditioning installation if necessary. Alongside the main hall there is a flat- roofed multi-purpose pavilion with a capacity for housing four basketball courts.

The author of the project is the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki. Its construction began in August 1985 and it was inaugurated during the festivity of La Mercè in September 1990. The roof, computer- designed by the Japanese engineer Mamoru Kawaguchi, is an extraordinary work of engineering. It is formed by a large concave metallic grid which supports the glazed ceramic tiles and the zinc sheets which ensure impermeability.