Schedule of the blue and green area in Barcelona

Barcelona It is a city that receives a large number of visitors and tourists every day. The Catalan capital can be explored in many ways: by public transport, such as bus or metro, renting motorcycles or bicycles, requesting taxis, VTCs or tour buses and, above all, by car, either by car or by rental.

However, parking in the center of Barcelona without having to pay a few euros is a headache for many visitors, and even for residents. Next, we will see some areas, areas and neighborhoods of Barcelona where you can park for free and, what is better, without time limits. Despite this, before locating the main points of the city where you can park for free, we need to distinguish the different payment areas that we will find in the city: the Green Zone, the Blue Zone.

Map of Barcelona with the main squares of Green and Blue Area. Extracted from the web: https://www.areaverda.cat/en/plano

The V Zone erde or R esidential

This area includes a set of parking spaces reserved mainly for Barcelona residents, who pay only 1 euro per week to park within your area/neighborhood. For those who do not have the resident card, the price is higher and usually, you can not leave the car parked for more than two hours.

Schedules Preferred green spaces are run from Monday to Friday or from Monday to Saturday , from 8 : 00h to 20: 00h. Therefore, we can park for free the rest of the hours.

The Zone Blue

Payment area for everyone and with a time limit that depends on the area where we are (between 1 and 4 hours). It is paid from Monday to Friday from 9 am to 2 pm and from 4 pm to 8 pm. In areas near the beach or in the center of the city, you even have to pay on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. Outside these hours, you can park for free.

There are also parking spaces dedicated to loading and unloading with a schedule of use that usually goes from 8am to 8pm. Outside of this time, these parking areas are available to park for free.

In addition, we can find some bus lanes of the city that, under indication with a signal, we can park during the weekends.

But ... is this parking regulation the same for everyone?

The answer is no Depending on the vehicle that we drive and at the time we do, we will have more or less advantages when parking in the center of Barcelona.When activated, the rates for the Blue Zone and the Green Zone will receive specific modifications.

If non-resident users want to park in these areas, they will be charged a fee. of these two areas of 2 euros/hour , except for those who have cars with a distinctive "Zero emissions" or "Eco", granted by the General Directorate of Traffic. The schedule applicable to these periods, as a rule, will be from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

If we have an Eco or zero emissions vehicle, it will be easier and cheaper to park in the center of Barcelona. , because the City Council offers several advantages over the most polluting vehicles. Let's see what kind of vehicles correspond these environmental labels that enjoy these bonuses.

The blue label" Zero emissions "

This badge identifies less polluting vehicles. This category includes electric cars, Mopeds, tricycles, quadricycles and motorcycles with electric battery (BEV), electric cars with extended range (REEV), cars with hydrogen fuel cell or plug-in hybrids (PHEV) with a minimum autonomy in electric mode of 40 km.

To enjoy the advantages of having a vehicle "Zero emissions", we previously have to obtain a electric vehicle user card that we will request in the Virtual Office of the City Council. With this Electric Vehicle User Card we will have advantages when parking in l'AREA * of Barcelona.

So, with this Card associated to our vehicle with "Zero emissions" label, we can park in the Green and Blue squares free of charge, according to the time regulation of each zone (normally about two hours).

In short, the owners with a vehicle "Zero emissions" can park free in the squares Blue , working days from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm; in the squares Greens , on Saturdays and holidays from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; and in the squares of loading and unloading , the workdays from 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Even so, we should always consult the vertical street signs.

The green and blue label "Eco"

This label corresponds to plug-in hybrids with autonomy in electric mode less than 40 km, at non-pluggable hybrids (HEV) , to cars powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) .

Vehicles with the "Eco" label can park in Green and Blue squares with a 50% cost reduction , according to the time regulation of each zone.Diagonal "itemprop =" image ">

University Zone - Palau Reial

Located at the beginning of Avenida Diagonal, is one of the most popular peripheral areas to park for free in Barcelona.This area has a large number of free parking spaces, but the demand is also very high. he says, is an area where many faculties are located, so it will be quite frequented by many students who will park the car near their university.

If we bear in mind the above, the best time to park in this area will be in summer , on weekends and holidays, since there is no student influx, and it is a well-connected area, with metro, tram and buses Very close, crossing the Diagonal, you can park in Martí i Franques street, on the way to the Palau Reial Metro (L3 green).

Pedralbes

Residential area located in the upper part of the city. It has some streets near Av. Diagonal, where we can park the car quietly, in addition to the university area of ​​the North Campus of the UPC, where there are free places. We can get to the center of the city by bus (lines 68 or 63) or by metro (Palau Reial - L3).

La Sagrera

Most central area located in the Clot neighborhood. It is a residential area and has several streets with free unlimited time parking. In this area there is the old Merchandise station of La Sagrera (Carrer de la Baixada de la Sagrera), where, if we are lucky, we can find somewhere to park our vehicle. In addition, it has several metro, bus and train lines nearby.

Neighborhood of the Vall d'Hebron and the Guinardó

These are two residential neighborhoods located in the upper part of the metropolis, far from the center and, therefore, free of blue zone or green zone. Therefore, if we do not mind leaving the vehicle in a neighborhood away from the center, this will be a good option.

Montjuïc

Montjuïc, district that houses the Fountain Magical It is an idyllic area to park for free in some streets, but it is very popular with tourists, so finding a place will be a complicated task. This is because Montjuïc is very well located in terms of tourist areas, such as the National Museum of Art of Catalonia (MNAC), which has a large free parking. We also have some streets where you can park for free near the Castle of Montjuïc, the Palau Sant Jordi and the Olympic Stadium.

Shopping Centers

It is always a good option to leave the car parked in a shopping center when you do not want to pay for a parking, blue or green zone. In Barcelona there are a few that offer us this possibility:

• Diagonal Mar: Located on Avenida Diagonal, number 3, in the district of Sant Martín. The center has an underground car park with capacity for around 5,000 vehicles.
• SOM Multiespai: Located in the district of Nou Barris, on Avenida Rio de Janeiro, 43. It has of an underground parking with capacity for 1,600 vehicles.
• Gran Via 2: Located in Hospitalet de Llobregat, on Avenida de la Granvia, 75. It has a car park with capacity for 3,200 vehicles.

These three shopping centers have free underground parking, guarded and secure.When we surpass this time of courtesy, we will have to pay an amount that will be specified by each shopping center.

La Maquinista ​​strong> is another shopping center that has two free parkings, > one underground and one outdoor. In addition, they are open 24 hours. However, the Machinist is located on the outskirts of the city, in the district of San Andreu, half an hour by public transport from the center.

In any case, park in the center of Barcelona without disbursing some Few euros, it will be a complicated task, but not impossible. It is advisable to use public transport or non-polluting vehicles such as bicycles or cars and/or electric motorcycles for rent, because we will have many advantages to park in the center at low cost.