August: the Festa Majors
August is festa major month: Gràcia decorates its streets and competes in wit, Sants follows a week later, and half the city celebrates on vacation while the other half works.
Festa Major de Gràcia, mid-August
A week when every street in the neighborhood decorates to a theme and competes to be the most spectacular: cardboard dragons, giant origami, colored ceilings. Concerts, human towers and verbenas into the small hours.
Festa Major de Sants, late August
Gràcia's big sister: decorated streets in Sants-Badal with the same wit and slightly fewer crowds. Correfoc, human towers and verbena orchestras.
August with sense
It's the hottest, most touristic month: the neighborhood festivals are the best reason to come, but book months ahead and structure the day as early beach and late fiesta.