Barcelona puts a brake on the picarooning of tourists to enter Güell Park for free (and thus will affect Barcelonians)

BarcelonaMade the law, made the trap. For some time now, some tourists had found a way to access Park Güell without paying an entrance fee and, moreover, during the time slots theoretically reserved for Barcelona residents. The key was in the Gaudir Més program, established in 2020 to try to allow Barcelona residents to access the park for free and during hours when it was not overcrowded with tourists. But soon the first websites appeared that explained to tourists step by step how they should go about getting a free ticket through this program, which theoretically was supposed to benefit only Barcelona residents. Now the City Council has plugged this loophole.

To avoid this cunning, starting this Friday, access to Park Güell will no longer be included among the benefits and discounts of the Gaudir Més program. Barcelona residents who wish to continue accessing the park for free will have to follow another route. From the official Park Güell website itself, they will be able to obtain a ticket – called a "green pass" – simply by entering their name and national ID number. The program will automatically check if the person is registered in the city and, if so, they will be able to obtain the ticket for the time slot of their choice. People who are not registered in Barcelona will have to buy a regular ticket.

According to the first deputy mayor of Barcelona City Council, Laia Bonet, of the more than 400,000 registered in the Gaudir Més program, only 195,000 – less than half – are registered in the Catalan capital. The socialist councilwoman also explained that during 2025, 240,000 tickets for the park were issued through this platform, although she admitted that there is no data on how many of these could have been used fraudulently by tourists.

Bonet, who is also a councilor for the Gràcia district, has explained that with the change the City Council seeks 'that residents once again feel the Park Güell is theirs'. Along these lines, she recalled other measures that have been implemented during this term, such as the elimination of ticket sales at the ticket office –which aimed to reduce tourist crowds at the park entrances–; mobility restrictions in the La Salut neighborhood and on the Carmel road; the reinforcement of buses going up to the area; the increase in the price of tickets, and the commitment to reduce the maximum capacity by 500,000 people in two years. maximum capacity of the park.

Carnet for the closest residents

This year marks 100 years since the Barcelona City Council completed the purchase process of Parc Güell and opened it to the public. Over time, however, tourism gradually took over, to the point where it was necessary to adopt specific measures so that Barcelonians could continue to enjoy this garden city designed by Antoni Gaudí. Among them, the exclusive time slots –between 7 a.m. and 9.30 a.m. and between 6.30 p.m. and 10 p.m.–, during which the park does not sell tickets to visitors.

Also, the exclusive pass for residents and schools in the neighborhoods adjacent to the park –la Salut, Vallcarca-Penitents, el Coll, Can Baró, el Baix Guinardó, and el Carmel–, who can access the park at any time while it is open. Bonet has also explained that this pass will now be renewed with the aim of having the majority of registered residents in the area obtain it.