Torre San Fernando

If you want the sweaty, elbow-to-elbow chaos of the Gothic Quarter, stay down there. But if you want to see where the old money of Barcelona retreated when the city got too loud, you head up. You head to Sarrià-Sant Gervasi. This is the part of town where the air smells faintly of pine from the Collserola hills and the silence is heavy enough to feel. Tucked away on Carrer d'Iradier is Torre San Fernando, a building that looks like it was plucked from a 1910 architect’s sketchbook and dropped into a neighborhood that values privacy over everything else.

Designed by Josep Graner i Prat, this isn’t the melting, organic Modernisme of Gaudí. It’s sharper, more disciplined, but no less strange. It’s a massive block of brick and stone, punctuated by a tower—the 'torre'—that gives the place its name. You look at the ironwork, the ceramic details, and the way the windows seem to squint at the street, and you realize this wasn’t built for tourists. It was built for a family that wanted to make a statement without having to shout. Graner i Prat was a man who knew how to work a facade, and here he used every trick in the book: textured stone, rhythmic window placements, and that unmistakable early 20th-century Catalan confidence.

But here’s the kicker, the part that would make a romantic poet weep: this architectural masterpiece is currently the headquarters of the Consell de l'Audiovisual de Catalunya (CAC). That’s right—the people who regulate television and radio in Catalonia are the ones walking these halls. Instead of grand balls and family dramas, the interior is now home to desks, monitors, and the slow, grinding gears of government administration. There’s a certain dark irony in a building this beautiful being used to monitor broadcast standards, but that’s Barcelona for you. The past is always being repurposed for something far more mundane.

You aren’t going to get a guided tour here. There’s no gift shop selling miniature towers or overpriced postcards. Most people walk right past it on their way to the more famous Gaudí sites nearby, like Bellesguard. But that’s exactly why you should stop. Stand on the sidewalk, look up at the tower, and appreciate the craftsmanship of a man who wasn't a household name but still built something that has outlasted a century of change. It’s a reminder that the best architecture in Barcelona isn’t always behind a ticket booth.

The walk up here is a workout. You’re climbing the foothills of the city, and by the time you reach Carrer d'Iradier, you’ll be ready for a drink. The streets are lined with high walls and heavy gates, hiding gardens and pools you’ll never see. It’s a different world from the Raval or Barceloneta. It’s sterile, sure, but it’s also beautiful in a cold, detached way. Torre San Fernando is the crown jewel of this quietude. It’s a building that demands respect but doesn’t care if it gets it.

Is it worth the trek? If you’re an architecture nerd who wants to see the 'other' Modernisme—the kind that didn't make it onto every t-shirt in the city—then yes. If you’re looking for a museum with interactive displays and a café, you’re in the wrong place. This is a site for the observers, the ones who like to see the city as it actually functions, housed in the bones of what it used to be. It’s honest, it’s imposing, and it’s one of the few places left in this city that hasn't been completely hollowed out for the sake of a photo op.