The Bunkers del Carmel site opens every day from 9:00 to 19:30 from 1 May to 30 September and from 9:00 to 17:30 from 1 October to 30 April; outside those hours it is closed. Entry is free and the night closure began on 2 May 2023.
For years, the top of the Turó de la Rovira was where people went at night to watch the city lights. That has changed: the site of the old anti-aircraft battery, which everyone calls the Bunkers del Carmel, now has opening hours and a gate that is locked every evening. Here is what to know before you go up, and what the Barcelona History Museum (MUHBA) says about what happened up there.
Opening hours of the site
The city council's guide to public facilities gives two timetables for the archaeological site of the anti-aircraft battery. From 1 May to 30 September it opens every day from 9:00 to 19:30. From 1 October to 30 April, from 9:00 to 17:30. Outside those hours the site is closed. Entry is free: MUHBA describes it as a free-access space.
In winter it pays to do the maths: at 17:30 the site is already closing. If you are living in Barcelona for a few months, the simple trick is to go on a Saturday morning, with clear light and the museum open.
Why it closes at night
The night closure began on 2 May 2023, as the Horta-Guinardó district announced on 24 April that year. The stated aim was to control the large number of visitors, especially at night, and to protect both the archaeological remains and the neighbours' rest. Six gates into the battery were opened, and the district said the outer path around the site would always stay open, whatever the hours inside.
According to betevé, this summer the Guàrdia Urbana stepped up its presence to make sure the site closes, which it does every evening, and the civic officers returned. The same report says the council wants to bring in a system to regulate access, following a motion approved at the May plenary, but with no details yet, and that CCTV cameras are expected in 2027. So for now the rules are the opening hours and the gate: no paid ticket and no booking.
The museum, open fewer days
Inside the site, MUHBA has several spaces with exhibits, and these keep shorter hours. From October to May they open on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00 to 14:00; from June to September, on the same days from 16:00 to 19:00. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing, and they are closed on 1 January, 1 May, 24 June and 25 December. Entry is free.
A battery that defended the city
They are called bunkers, but they were something else, as we explained in the Barcelona that isn't on the postcards. The special anti-aircraft defence unit chose this summit for its guns during the Civil War. On 17 May 1937 the military engineers drew up a plan for a three-gun battery; the plan changed and, according to the district, four Vickers 105 pieces were finally installed, coming into service on 3 March 1938.
The end came with the war. On 25 January 1939 the army destroyed two of the guns and the next day disabled the other two. The broken guns stayed on the summit for a while, and the district notes that many people from Barcelona came up to see them.
The shacks of the Canons
Later, newcomers to the city built their shacks on top of the gun bases. That was the origin of the Canons neighbourhood, from the post-war years, which MUHBA presents as an example of the informal city of the 1950s. According to the museum, that city of shacks was home to 7% of Barcelona's population until the end of that decade, and the Canons neighbourhood held out until 1990. The battery's officers' pavilion served as a school in the last years of the shanty towns.
In March 2011 the heritage site opened as it is visited today, and in 2012 it was joint winner of the European Prize for Urban Public Space.
Getting there by bus
MUHBA's website gives bus 22 to reach the Turó de la Rovira, on Marià Labèrnia street. If you want to plan the exact route from where you are, the council's facilities guide has a 'how to get there' link on the site's page. And if you go up in summer, remember the museum only opens in the afternoon, from 16:00 to 19:00.
Checked
Checked on 16 October 2026 on the MUHBA website (barcelona.cat/museuhistoria: museum hours, free entry, bus, shacks and prize), in the city council's guide to facilities (guia.barcelona.cat: site hours), in the Horta-Guinardó district's news item on the night closure, its history page on the guns, and on betevé (stronger closing and access regulation under study). Opening hours can change: check before you go up.
Quick questions
Can you go up to the Bunkers del Carmel at night?
Not inside the site: it closes at 19:30 in summer and at 17:30 in winter. The Horta-Guinardó district said the outer path would always stay open.
Is it free to get in?
Yes. MUHBA describes it as a free-access space, and the museum inside is free too.
Which bus goes to the Bunkers del Carmel?
MUHBA's website gives bus 22, to Marià Labèrnia street.