Barcelona's municipal gyms are the municipal sports centres (CEM): you pay a joining fee and a monthly fee that varies by centre. In 2026, CEM Les Corts charges €84.43 to join and €52.91 a month for an adult, and the Bernat Picornell €63.13 and €44.96. Unemployed people on the padrón get 40% off.
Anyone settling in Barcelona for a few months soon looks for two things: somewhere to swim when it turns cooler and a gym that does not cost hotel prices. The city has a network of municipal sports centres, the CEMs, which offer both. Their prices are no secret: the City Council approves them every year and publishes them centre by centre in the official bulletin.
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What a CEM is and what the fee covers
The City Council uses the name Municipal Sports Centres (CEM) for facilities with several sports areas. Most have a pool, indoor or outdoor, fitness rooms, rooms for classes and cardio, and some also have a sports hall, football pitch or athletics track. According to the Institut Barcelona Esports leaflet, they are spread across all ten districts.
There are three ways to use them. As a member, you pay a monthly fee that gives free access to most areas and includes many classes or courses. With a single entry, you go in once without signing up, if there is room, but with no discounts. And courses (swimming, pilates and the like) are paid separately, with a members' discount on some.
Who sets the prices
CEM prices are public prices. The Comissió de Govern approved them on 18 December 2025 for the year 2026 and they were published in the Butlletí Oficial de la Província de Barcelona on 23 December 2025, with a table for each centre. Each table notes that the applicable VAT is added to those rates.
In practice, there is no single price: each centre has its own joining fee and monthly rates. The Institut Barcelona Esports says that across all centres there are 200 different rates, which you check at each facility.
Two examples with 2026 figures
At CEM Les Corts, the adult joining fee is €84.43 and the adult monthly fee €52.91. The senior rate, from age 65, is €39.66, and the rate for 16 and 17-year-olds €38.62. A single adult entry costs €13.42.
At CEM Piscines Bernat Picornell, on Montjuïc, the joining fee is €63.13, the general adult membership €44.96 a month, the rate for older people and pensioners €21.78 and a single adult entry €12.48. It has an indoor pool measuring 50x25 metres and an outdoor one of the same size, according to its rules of use.
These are two cases, not an average: prices vary quite a lot between centres. Prices checked in October 2026 in the official tables; they can be adjusted by a later change, like the one approved on 30 July 2026 for CEM Sant Andreu-La Sagrera when its building reopened.
If you are only staying a few months
The 2026 tables we read do not include a seasonal pass for short stays: membership is monthly, plus an initial joining fee that, in both examples, is a little more than a month's fee. For three or four months it pays off; for a few weeks, do the sums against single entries.
There is a temporary suspension rate, cheaper than the fee (€19.79 a month at Les Corts and €16.75 at the Picornell), but the tables themselves say it can only be used in July and August. Before joining, ask the centre how to cancel and how much notice it needs.
Discounts and the padrón
The City Council offers places with 40% off the monthly fee for people aged 25 to 60 who are unemployed and registered on the Barcelona padrón. They ask for at least 4 visits a month, check attendance, and you cannot hold the rate at more than one centre at a time. Here, being registered really does make a difference.
There are also rates for children and young people, families, single-parent families, older people, holders of the Tarjeta Rosa, refugees and others. Which ones each centre offers, again, you ask at the centre itself.
Indoor pools and how to join
To swim in winter, what you want is a CEM with an indoor pool; the summer ones are another matter, with their own page of outdoor municipal pools. The map of the network of municipal sports facilities has filters to see which centres are near you.
You sign up with the centre itself: they tell you which rate applies to you and you pay the joining fee. If you want to try it first, a single entry is exactly for that. And if you prefer running by the sea, the Barceloneta beach guide explains when lifeguards are on duty.
Checked
Checked in October 2026: description of CEMs and types of access on the City Council's Barcelona Esports website; 2026 public prices in the Butlletí Oficial de la Província de Barcelona of 23 December 2025 (CEM Les Corts and CEM Piscines Bernat Picornell) and its correction of 17 March 2026; the change for CEM Sant Andreu-La Sagrera in the bulletin of 31 July 2026; discounts on Barcelona Esports' discounted rates page; the Picornell pools in its rules of use.
Quick questions
How much is a single entry at a Barcelona CEM?
It depends on the centre. In 2026 an adult entry costs €13.42 at CEM Les Corts and €12.48 at the Bernat Picornell.
Is there a short-term pass for people living in Barcelona for a few months?
Membership is already monthly, but there is an initial joining fee. The temporary suspension rate can only be used in July and August.
Which municipal gym has an indoor pool?
Most CEMs have a pool, indoor or outdoor. The Bernat Picornell, for example, has an indoor one measuring 50x25 metres.