The aesthetic qualities of many of Barcelona's most unique feats of architecture haven't always attracted gushing praise. Some of Barcelona's most cherished landmarks and monuments were highly controversial in their day, and can still stir up a hot debate. Eye-candy or eyesore? You decide. Do you have any other buildings in Barcelona, or the rest of Spain, that you consider ugly? Let us know at the end of this article.
Warning: some beloved Barcelona landmarks are included! Beauty, or lack of it, is in the eye of the beholder...
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1. Sants Station
Cien de Cine Some Rights Reserved
Whether looked at from the front, back, sides or within, the horrible realization creeps up on you that this building has no redeeming features whatsoever. Other than an ability to transport you out of it pretty quickly via AVE high-speed train.
Read more about Barcelona's Train and Bus Stations
2. Gas Natural Tower
Steven2358 Some Rights Reserved
Is this building; a) a visceral steel-and-glass homage to mankind's conquest of the elements, or; b) unfathomably ugly and clumsy.
Read more about Gas Natural Tower
3. Casa Batllo
Paula Funnell Some Rights Reserved
These days it's virtual heresay to criticise Gaudi. But back in the day when this scaly building went up on the fiercely bourgeois Passeig de Gràcia, neighbours wrinkled up their noses at it. Some observors might be inclined to agree.
- Read more about Casa Batllo
4. La Sagrada Familia
Paula Funnell Some Rights Reserved
There is a little voice in your mind that says; 'termite mound covered in tacky bric-a-brac.'
- Find out more on La Sagrada Familia
5. Tibidabo Sagrat Cor Church
Paula Funnell Some Rights Reserved
It looks very fairy-tale from the city below. But up there on Mount Tibidabo the Sagrat Cor has the look of a toy model. That said, it does have some lovely murals inside, and the views are wonderful.
6. Olympic Stadium
Steph Matthews Some Rights Reserved
Either: 'Without doubt one of the dullest olympic stadiums ever created...even the Espanyol football team didn't want to play there.' Or: 'Stunning in its neoclassical simplicity.'
Or maybe a bit of both?
- Investigate Barcelona's Olympic Stadium
7. Santa Caterina Market
Gregg Some Rights Reserved Some Rights Reserved
At its best Enric Miralles's topsy-turvy roofed food marked, Santa Caterina Market, is a 'vivid public space' with an 'exhilerating collage of mosaics adorning a wave-like roof'. At it's worst, it looks a bit like a fancily graffitied bike shelter.
8. Banco de Credito Español
Arty Smokes Some Rights Reserved
This charmless block presides over a corner of Barcelona's ugliest and most traffic-congested square, Plaça Catalunya.