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Barcelona Airport
The Airport
Also know as El Prat Airport, Barcelona Airport is located 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) south west of Barcelona and is the second largest in Spain in terms of traffic.
To get to and from the airport there is the C31 dual carriageway which connects Barcelona with Castelldefels. The C32 connects with the C32 Barcelona to Sitges to the south west and the Barcelona ring road systems to the north east.
Barcelona Airport consists of two main terminals although Terminal 2 consists of three satellite terminals (Terminal 2A is currently closed for refurbishment). The airport operates from three runways with two asphalt and one concrete.
You can no longer drop off passengers at the terminals due to security concerns so you will have to use the short terms car parks which do charge from the time you enter them.
Car Hire Locations
You will find a host of car hire companies at Barcelona Airport and many are served by the suppliers and brokers featured on Car Hire .net.
Here are the contact details of the car rental companies found at the airport. All of them have desks in Terminals 1, 2B and 2C.
Hertz + 34 932 983 637
Avis + 34 932 983 600
Europcar + 34 902 105 055
National Atesa + 34 932 983 433
Sol Mar + 34 934 788 795
Other Car Hire Locations
There are excellent transportation links into Barcelona and these are due to improve even more in the future with proposed links to the national rail network and Barcelona Metro system.
Currently trains run from Maçanet-Massanes station in Terminal 2 - to access the RENFE commuter train serving the station from Terminal 1 you will need to take the free shuttle bus. The train takes you into Barcelona where you can transfer to the metro or access the fast train to Madrid.
Bus line 46 picks up at every terminal at the airport every 16 minutes and takes you into Barcelona. Other local buses can take you to El Prat Renfe Station, Port Aventura, Salou and other destinations in the region. Private coach operators have destinations such as Andorra, Figueres, Girona and Lleida.
Parking
A 10 kilometer per hour speed limit is in place in all of the car parks situated at Barcelona Airport. The airport boasts an impressive 23,900 spaces spread between 12,000 at Terminal 1 and 11,900 at Terminal 2.
A long term car park is situated 2 kilometers from the airport with 1,015 spaces serviced by a free shuttle bus. Private long term car parks also serve the airport and again are accessed through a shuttle bus service with online booking.
Both terminals have multistory car parks which are connected by walkways but also have open air surface car parks a short distance from the entrances.
Fees for short term car parking are as follows - as with Spanish airports the charges are per minute. Like Malaga Airport and Alicante Airport for example the charges are exactly the same as with all AENA run hubs.
Up to 30 Minutes = €0.021584 per minute
31 minutes to 1 hour = €0.034175 per minute
61 minutes onwards = €0.027779
Up to a maximum charge of €18.30 per day for four days and €14.65 from the fifth day onwards.
Services
A multitude of airport shopping options are available at Barcelona Airport including duty free, fashion, leisure and gifts. Terminal 1 opened in 2009 and designed by Ricardo Bofill offers the most shops but there are plenty across the airport.
As with shopping, food outlets are spread across the airport with bars, cafes, fast food and restaurants available.
For the kids you will find thirteen children's play areas across the airport with ten in Terminal 1 alone.
A police station is located on the ground floor of Terminal 2A but a police presence will be found throughout the airport.
