Visiting the Model prison
Every Friday and Saturday you can explore Barcelona’s iconic ex-prison, and no booking is needed.
Located in the heart of Barcelona's Eixample since 1904 and closed since June last year, the Model Prison has hosted some illustrious inmates, including Lluís Companys, Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia, Lluís Maria Xirinacs and El Vaquilla, as well as executions such as that of Salvador Puig Antich in 1974.
The prison can be visited on Fridays from 3 to 6pm and on Saturdays from 10am to 6pm, and no booking is required. Just show up and you’ll be placed in a group of up to 30 people who set off the visit the prison every 15 minutes. On the tour you’ll learn all about the prisoners and administrators that once lived and worked there, calling in at the different courtyards and galleries that make up the penitentiary. The new interior patio has even more generous opening hours and can be visited every day except Sundays from 10am to 7pm.
The Model Prison was projected by Salvador Vinyals i Sabaté and Josep Domènech i Estapà, following the format of panoptic prisons, that is, with a central tower that allows for effective control over all prisoners and individual cells.
Additional information is available from the following link.