Getting Around Barcelona
Barcelona's fair business is split between venues that sit well apart. Fira de Barcelona runs Montjuïc, at Plaça d'Espanya, about 1 km from Sants station, and Gran Via in L'Hospitalet, 3 km from the historic centre and 12 km from the airport, whose nine halls host MWC Barcelona. The third venue, the CCIB convention centre, stands on the seafront in 22@, the city's technology and business district, with room for 15,000 delegates. A stand at Gran Via and a session at the CCIB put you on opposite sides of the city on the same day.
Many visitors arrive at Barcelona-Sants, the main station, on Plaça dels Països Catalans. High-speed trains come in from Madrid and other Spanish cities, and from France through the tunnel under Le Perthus; Paris is about five and a half hours away by rail. Include your train details and arrival time when booking so we can arrange your pickup at the station.
For a full congress day, you can book one chauffeur and one vehicle by the hour. You name where the day begins and ends and how many hours you need, and the day's plan goes in with the booking.
The ZBE Rondes, Barcelona's low-emission zone, covers more than 95 km² inside the ring roads, including L'Hospitalet, and keeps the most polluting vehicles out between 7 am and 8 pm, Monday to Friday; the ring roads themselves are excluded. Send the full address with your booking; the confirmation then tells you where the car will stop.
Airport Transfers in Barcelona
Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat is the city's main airport, 15 km south-west of the centre, and the transfer takes 20 to 40 minutes. It sits on the same side of the city as the fair: Fira Gran Via is about 12 km from the terminals. Girona-Costa Brava, about 90 km north, is the alternative. Its seven-month summer schedule is flown mainly by low-cost and charter airlines, and the drive takes 1 hour 5 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes.
From El Prat the road into town is the C-31. From Girona it is the AP-7 motorway south. Journey times vary with traffic and weather.
Book with your flight number. For airport pickups, your chauffeur monitors your flight and adjusts the pickup if your arrival time changes. Your booking confirmation shows where to meet the chauffeur. Leaving Barcelona, allow for the drive to the airport when choosing your pickup time: 20 to 40 minutes from the centre to El Prat, longer at peak hours. You set the pickup time yourself, and the confirmation shows it.
Long-Distance & Cross-Border Travel from Barcelona
Business in Barcelona can carry on elsewhere. Girona is about 105 km north-east by the AP-7, close enough for a meeting and back by the evening, and Tarragona, about 95 km south-west, is the address for its port and chemical industry. Zaragoza, about 305 km west by the AP-2, is a working day of its own: a supplier after the fair, a factory tour once the congress closes. One booking covers it, with the same chauffeur from your hotel in Barcelona to the address at the far end.
Two frontiers are within reach. Perpignan is about 190 km north on the AP-7 and then the French A9, and Toulouse about 400 km; Andorra la Vella is about 190 km north-west by the C-16 and La Seu d'Urgell. Each is booked like any other journey, with the same chauffeur and car from start to finish, with no change of vehicle at the border.
France has notified temporary checks at its internal borders. Andorra is outside the EU customs union: goods are checked at the La Farga de Moles customs post, and traveller allowances apply when you come back into Spain. Have with you the documents that your nationality and route call for.
Groups & Congress Travel in Barcelona
Many delegates come to Barcelona as part of a group. In the ICCA ranking for 2025, for example, the city came third in the world with 166 international association congresses. Cruises bring groups of another kind: the Port of Barcelona counted almost 4 million cruise passengers in 2025, and about 1.16 million of them began their cruise here.
When one person books for a delegation, the programme can be put together in a single account, and every transfer gets its own booking and confirmation: the opening speaker landing at El Prat, the delegation arriving at Sants, the guests heading on to a gala dinner at the CCIB. Where a group moves together, a Sprinter van carries up to 12 people with their bags, and bigger groups go by coach, with up to 56 seats.
The months to book ahead follow the Fira calendar: ISE in February, MWC Barcelona in March, Sónar in June and Smart City Expo World Congress in November. Local vehicles and drivers are booked up early for those dates. If your plans go beyond a standard booking, write to support with the dates, addresses, number of passengers, flights and luggage, and the team will arrange it.
