Free Public WiFi in Barcelona

Although Barcelona is a city famous for its links with the past, it is also a city very much of today. To illustrate its determination to keep right at the forefront of modern technological developments, the Barcelona Council has launched a new initiative designed to give residents, and visitors, free internet access at a host of WiFi hotspots all around the city.

Currently there are about 170 of these wireless internet access points in Barcelona, all clearly indicated by large blue ‘W’ signs. They can be found not only in museums, libraries, sports centres, markets, municipal offices and advice centres but even in places such as the Parc de la Ciutadella. The projection is for there to be a total of 300 such locations by the end of 2009 with a further 200 by the end of 2010.

All this means that travellers with their own lap tops – or even internet-enabled mobile phones and PDAs – will be able to get easy internet access during their time in Barcelona. There is no need to register for the service; simply typing in the Service password Barcelona WiFi when in range of the antenna will enable you to access the web. Users will then have the choice of more or less unrestricted browsing or Public Authority access, opening up the various public authority websites, including ‘What’s On’ and ‘Barcelona Guide’.

Obviously there are some restrictions on the use of the service. For example, some of the centres have daily connection time restrictions, usually 60 minutes each day, and the browsing service is designed to restrict access to pages that have been decided to be ‘ethically dubious’; this includes gambling sites. It is also not possible, at the present time, to take part in things such as videoconferencing. A few of the centres also have access speed restrictions.

An up-to-date list of all the Barcelona WiFi hotspots can be found in the online Service User Manual.

Having cost the city’s authorities in excess of €4 million, this initiative – which was described as ‘not a commercial or professional service, but rather a public one’ by the deputy mayor for Urban Planning – means that visitors now will have an alternative to the sometimes overpriced and noisy Internet Cafés.
It’s a great way to keep up to date with Barcelona Travelogue!

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