La Font Màgica

I never get bored to see, hear and feel this impressive show of water, music and lights. Hundreds of locals and turists gather there and that also gives effect whitch make it so special.

My hint is to go there early (atleast one hour before the show), have a picnik up in the stair of museum and you can see the show from very beginning.

Summer time they make the show from thusday until sunday two times in evening and winter time only fridays and saturdays.

I have recently moved to Barcelona to do a traineeship here. And I was amazed by this beautiful city from the first moment. When I took a taxi from the airport to my new flat, I was sticking my face to the window all the time, admiring the city that I will call home for the next few months. So, as you can guess, I immediately started to discover all the interesting sights that Barcelona has to offer, literally as soon as I have unpacked my bags. Luckily, I live in a nice area of Saint Antoni, which means that I have some of the best attractions only a short walking distance away.

There was one special attraction, that caught my attention when I started writing my bucket list for Barcelona. It is called the Magic Fountain of Montjuic, or in Spanish Font Magica de Montjuic. Always, before I travel to a new destination, I type something like that to google: 'what to see in…', or 'best tourist attractions in…' And the Magic Fountain of Montjuic was listed as one of the best attractions in several different webpages, so I thought that it really must be something special.

And, since I figured out that my flat is only about twenty minutes of walking away, I decided to check it out on my first day in Barcelona, because getting to see sights on the other side of the city would be too much for my first day. Also, I did not want to get lost, because since it was my first day in a new city, getting lost would most likely mean that I will have to pay for a taxi. And I have learned that they are very expensive in Barcelona.

So, the Magic Fountain of Montjuic gives you a spectacular water – light – music show, and you can actually see many videos of it on YouTube, but they do not show the reality. The reality is, of course, much better. It almost seems like that there is coloured water in the fountain, doesn't it? And, for example, the orange coloured part seems like an orange juice - I almost wanted to try it!

How to get to the magic fountain?

At the time I arrived to Barcelona, I was still alone in the flat, so I had no other choice then to try and find the way there all by myself. I really did not want to wait almost two weeks for my new flatmates to arrive, so we could go sightseeing together. So exploring the city by myself was my only choice those first days. Well, not entirely by myself, but with a big help of Google Maps.

As the google suggested, the best starting point to access the fountain, is Placa de Espanya, which is easily accessible by metro, and it is also an interesting collection of sights by itself. But I will write something more about it in the future.

Placa de Espanya has two metro lines, which you can choose from – the red line L1 or the green line L3, and the station name is Espanya. When you exit the metro, it is not really important which exit (Sortida) you will take, because all of them come out somewhere on Plaza de Espanya, just on different places or sides of the road. And it is very easy to orientate where you are, so you do not have to worry.

Somehow, I managed to get out right in front of Centro Commercial de Las Arenas, which is a shopping mall, and it has many different stores and shops inside, and also a panoramic elevator, which takes you to the roof, from where you can admire a 360 degree view of Barcelona. Well, the roof is not very high, so you will not see very far, but you will still see, for example, Sagrada Familia.

The panoramic elevator is payable. It only costs one Euro, but what I found odd is, that you can also access the rooftop from inside the shopping centre, and you get to see the same view at the top. And you do not have to pay anything this way! But the elevator seems to be quite popular, judging by the crowd of people, waiting in line to go up. Maybe they just do not know that it is also possible to get to the top for free.

But let's get back to the magic fountain. The first thing that I saw when I have arrived to Placa de Espanya, were two tall buildings, which look exactly like the famous Campanilla belfry in Venice. Honestly, I do not know what they are, but I will definitely find out before I leave Barcelona.

To get to the Magic fountain of Montjuic, you have to walk through the gate that those two buildings form. After you pass them, it only takes a few minutes to reach the fountain. On the way there, you pass by several smaller fountains, and it is really beautiful.

When you reach the end of the small fountains, you can choose between either the ordinary stairs or an escalator to get to the top. Obviously, most people use the escalator, so when I went there, they were queuing in front of it, and the stairs were completely empty.

Magic fountain during the day

I have not yet mentioned that I went to the fountain during the day first, so I will not get lost while going there at the night. And when I got to the fountain, I first thought that I am at the wrong place. The fountain during the day looks just like any other fountain. Well, maybe it is a bit bigger than the usual ones, but if I did not know about the light show, I would probably not even put it on my list of the attractions that I want to see in Barcelona. It almost seemed like it is not even working.

Honestly, I found something else way more interesting than the fountain – Palau Nacional with its majestic pillars. And a really big crowd of people on the stairs, looking towards Placa de Espanya. Well, the view is indeed spectacular, even during the day. So I returned back home and decided to come back at the time for the show.

But the pillars are also beautiful at night - I think they look even bigger than during the day. Sadly, my phone camera is not good enough to be able to capture the game of light on the pillars, but you can still see how beautiful this place is. And you can also see, how many people there is:

There are also some smaller fountains below the pillars, and actually, the show starts with them - the small fountains are the first place where the lights turn on. But they do not offer any special performance during the show at the big fountain. Even the lights do not change colours.

When can you see the shows and how do they look like?

The timetable of the shows depends on the time of the year, and it is divided in summer and winter schedule, and in February, it is closed for renovation and repairs, and there are also some random days without shows, but you can see more information on the website of this attraction.

So, from 31st of March to 30th of October, you can see the shows every day from 21. 00 to 23. 00. From the 1st of November to 30th of March, you can see the shows from 19. 00 to 20. 30, except in February because of the previously mentioned renovation works.

So, I have reached Placa de Espanya at about 20. 30, because I wanted to be there a little bit earlier to get a good spot to see the show. And I was amazed how many people were actually on the streets! I could barely move through the crowd. Then I realized that there is also an Oktoberfest celebration held very close to the fountain, hence the big crowd.

But even next to the fountain, there was a lot of people already, and the stairs to the National Palace were all occupied! But there were a few spots just around the fountain, where I was able to squeeze in, and after a few tries, I have found a perfect spot.

The show has started five minutes earlier than scheduled time, and it was funny how everybody started clapping. First, you see nothing but lights that turn on, and then, the water starts squirting in the air. The first few minutes of the show, there was only water and lights, but then, there was also music. And it was a-m-a-z-i-n-g.

Even the pictures somehow look spectacular (although my phone camera is not the best). And now, try to imagine how beautiful this is in reality:

In the reviews, that I have read online, it was said that there is classical music only, but I was amazed when I hear popular music – Katy Perry, One Direction, and even the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song! And it is just awesome how it seems that the water is dancing to the rhythm of the music. Also, some young people were dancing in front of the fountain, and it was really funny.

Seriously, this attraction is one of the few (and I have travelled quite a lot) that left me with my mouth open. Really, almost the entire performance, so I probably looked like an idiot, but I did not care at all.

I thought that the show only lasts a couple of minutes, and after a while when I thought that it should already be over, I checked the time and I realized that I am watching it for almost an hour! So, I have learned that this is a continuous performance, and what differs, is only the style of music – the second part was the classical music, as I have read. But honestly, it was much funnier with all the popular music.

There is no real break between the different part of the shows, only the music goes silent and the water stops splashing around, but then the performance starts again. And, believe it or not, I watched the entire performance, and after it ended, I promised to myself that I will see it at least once a week.

A few advices

If you are standing at the first row, it might happen (especially if there is some wind), that you will feel some tiny sparkles of water, but nothing dramatic. But it can get really cold, so bring a sweater or a jacket with you. I regret that I did not, but I will do it the next time, for sure. Lesson learned.

Also, you will notice people, walking around and selling beer, selfie stick, roses and other flowers, and other nonsense. And they can get really annoying. Even if I said several times that I am not interested, that same guy just kept coming back again and again. Not cool at all.

Also, since you might be amazed by the fountain performance, you could be an easy target for pickpockets. This is a very big problem in Barcelona, and I heard that the thiefs are very good – you do not even feel or know that they stole something from you. So, my suggestion is simple – buy a moneybelt and put the keys, ID and some money there, and you can walk around with no worries. And you can still keep other stuff in an ordinary handbag. Well, maybe I am just paranoid, but better safe than sorry.

And I have saved the most important advice for the end: Do not take too much pictures, just watch the performance, at least for the first time. First of all, there are plenty of videos about the magic fountain online, and secondly, it is much better to see the show with your own eyes, not on the screen of your phone, when you are trying to get the best possible shot. You can still come another day and film the show, but do not ruin it by taking too much pictures on your first time.

Conclusion

This is without a doubt one of the must – see attractions in Barcelona, and my favourite so far. Actually, it is even better than the Sagrada Familia (which is also breathtaking, but still not as good as the magic fountain of Montjuic). Since you can see the shows almost every day, you have no excuses of not seeing it. But I have to warn you – the performance is addictive. It might as well happen that you will want to see it again and again.