Montjuïc Castle

Montjuïc Castle occupies the summit of the hill it's named for, with fortifications on the site dating back to the mid-17th century, though most of what stands today was rebuilt in its current star-shaped form during the 18th century. For much of its history it functioned less as a defensive structure against foreign invasion and more as a tool the Spanish state used against Barcelona's own population — it shelled the city during the 1842 and 1843 uprisings, and served as a political prison and execution site at several points across the 19th and 20th centuries, most notoriously under Franco's dictatorship, when Catalan president Lluís Companys was executed by firing squad within its walls in 1940.

That history means a visit here carries real political weight for many Catalan and Spanish visitors specifically, and the museum inside addresses this directly, framing the castle's role as a site of repression rather than simple military heritage — a notably more critical self-presentation than most European hilltop fortresses offer about their own past.