Barcelona - would you travel there this weekend with a 10yr old?

[OrangeSamphire]

DD and DH have been looking forward to a long weekend in Barcelona. They are due to travel on Sunday. It's a long awaited treat for DD (she's 10).

Looking at the news coverage and social media, I'm worried. DH seems less so.

Would you travel to Barcelona right now, with your children? Or cancel and do something else?

How much money would you lose if you didn't go? Which airport are you flying into? Where are you staying? What's the advice over travelling to Barcelona? I would need to know all of this before making a decision.

Yes I would. I'd stay away from placa catalunya, via laietana and las ramblas (ie the centre), and focus on the Gracia district, Sagrada familia, parc guell. Camp Nou should be ok during the day. Barceloneta beach and port olimpic should also be ok. Not sure about the airport....

I'm in a small town nearby and there have been protests, bins on fire, but around midnight, during the day safe as anything.

I hope your visit passes peacefully

On balance, as much as I would be loathe to, I would cancel. There is a mass march from cities within Catalonia which is scheduled to arrive in Barcelona on Friday so I would hazard a guess that they will be demonstrating all weekend. If the demonstrators arrive in Barcelona, and I can't see them being stopped beforehand, they will log jam the main areas of the City, also the demonstrations have taken a violent turn which previous demonstrations didn't.

It's a shame but there is no point in being in Barcelona and being confined to a hotel room.

My friend has just come back from a cruise. They called at Barcelona and she said it was very frightening. They were firing rubber bullets. I would cancel.

I wouldn't.

Thank you, the advice from FCO is that more demonstrations are expected and could become violent.

They're flying into El Prat and staying somewhere in the centre, not sure where.

The main highlight for DD is that she wants to go to the Sephora concept store! Not sure where that is in relation to the unrest.

I just don't want her exposed to seeing burnt out cars and rioting when it's supposed to be a relaxed fun weekend. She struggles with anxiety and this is meant to be a treat for having overcome some huge challenges.

I guess I just don't know if it's the right choice, for her, at this moment in time. She struggles with crowds, noise etc as it is. But she's so excited to go...

It depends what your plans are I guess but if you were planning on going to the football stadium they're talking about rescheduling the Madrid game because of trouble there.

Is any of it refundable?

I don't care about the money. Only their safety and comfort.

The Sephora store is in the area of the Placa de Catalunya, i.e., right in the centre where the demonstrations are and will be.

Such a shame but you are right their safety comes first. And anything like that is scary for kids. I speak as someone who doesn't like to not do things because of a little disruption. But in this instance it may be for the best.

Thanks, just checked out all the locations of where they will be going and it's right in the targeted areas so unless there's a significant change and clean up between now and Sunday I think they won't be going.

The protest is wide spread and quite violent. We couldn't get out of our small village yesterday as the river bridge was blocked. The airport has been the focus of a lot of the protesters. I wouldn't risk it, certainly not with a 10 year old.

A friend lives in Barcelona and posted on FB this morning warning people not to visit at the moment. She says it's awful and there are fires, people throwing bricks/chemicals/glass bottles, plus the police response is increasingly brutal.

I would cancel.

We are due to fly Sunday morning and are staying right opposite the Camp Nou.

The guy who’s apartment we are staying in told us this earlier today The protests are very concentrated in the city center, if you can avoid the main squares (Plaza Cataluña, Passeig de Gracia, Plaza Universitat) everything is as normal.
We are experiencing difficulties with moving around the city, bus routes can be modified, some streets temporarily closed, so count with this. At the airport, there are no problems.
In general, I would say the city is absolutely safe, only thing is that you have to avoid the riots but as I said I don't know about bigger issues that affect everyday life. I even crossed some gatherings in the past 2 days and my personal opinion is that it's not as bad as the media shows. Obviously this is just my opinion

We’re going to keep an eye on it and decide on Saturday what to do.

In light of the last couple of days, i 'd now say cancel. We've had massive riots, bins on fire, bottles thrown - town hall doors set on fire! I

I'd try and reboot for somewhere like Carcassonne. Direct cheap flights, loads to do round that area. Great cheese

Don't know. Two late teen nieces who are at boarding school here, were supposed to fly to Barcelona yesterday to meet their dad for a half term jolly.
Their flight was cancelled - they are flying this morning instead. Fingers Xed.

OP, we (DH, DD13, and I) were due to fly last night but our flight was cancelled by the airline. If it had not been we would have cancelled anyway due to the widespread and frequently violent nature of the protests and due to the wide impact on public transport that would make getting around difficult. Please also check your travel insurance as we found that had we travelled knowing about the unrest that we may not have been covered for claims resulting from it. The other thing to think about is would you actually enjoy it if you went or would you just be worrying all the time?