I am a spanish speaker and often visit Spain, however mainly to Madrid. This time I thought that I would visit Barcelona, since people alwasy seem to rave and rave about how amazing it is. I will try and summarise the place in several key factors:
Transport: Generally pretty good - tube is clean, easy, bit hot occasionally which is the last thing you need in the Spain heat! bus service from the airport to the centre of town is easy and very cheap (about 2 euros).
Accomodation: Depends obviously on your budget, but the top hotel 'The Carlton' is very nice and well located, otherwise middle range hotels are pletniful and there are also some very reasonable 'low budget hotel's (for about 20 euros a night) right in the centre and on the main plazas.
Attractions: The 'Sagrada Familia' which is a gastronomic cathedral being finished off. It was designed and started by Gaudi, however it is planned to be completed in about 2020 and it probably will be the largest thing you ahve ever seen when it is finished! definitely worth a visit. There is a bullring in Barcelona, however it is not at all popular on the city, as it is in Madrid I would argue, but still the building is still fantastic. As across most of Spain, there is plenty of art, picasso dedicated museum, which is fabulous - if you like his work. Another big thing to do which I found was fantastic, yet hardly reported on by the tour guides was the beach about 25 mins walk from the centre - clean, great bit of sand - can't complain - apart from about the annoying venders selling, 'coke, fanta, cerveza, agua mineral!. Finally, if you feel the desire to visit the Barcelona football stadium, then why not...I'm not a huge fan - it is expensive (about 15 euros for a walk), but the stadium is impressively huge!
Restaurants: I am a huge traditionalist, especially when it comes to Spain and therefore my main piece of advice is get away from the tourists, main streets and tacky restaurants and get some authentic culture. Tapas, sangria, some of the most fabulous cuisine can be found down side streets at very very cheap prices - go hunting! Biggest piece of advice - avoid anything with the name 'restaurante tradicional', anything that shows pictures of their food etc...
All in all a fantastic city, but frankly - Madrid is about a million times better! see my review on there for more info...
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