Sant Martí

They called Poblenou "the Catalan Manchester" when smokestacks defined the skyline. Now the factories are lofts, the warehouses are coworking spaces, and the 22@ district has attracted 4,300 tech companies to where textile workers once clocked in. This is new Barcelona—beaches at Vila Olímpica, startup culture in converted industrial shells, street art where machinery used to be. The 51 hotels in Sant Martí Barcelona range from beachfront four-stars to business-traveler efficient. The 227 restaurants include chiringuitos on the sand, creative gastro-bars in Poblenou, and enough variety that you could eat a different cuisine every night for a month. Skip Barceloneta's crowds and walk twenty minutes to Bogatell or Mar Bella—longer beaches, fewer pickpockets, more locals. The 127 attractions include the Forum's brutalist architecture and enough beach volleyball to keep you fit. Old industry, new money, sand between your toes.