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MWC 2015 Travel Guide Update: What's New in Barcelona

Mobile World Congress 2015 is coming up at the end of February. Our updated travel guide has some of the newest restaurants, attractions and technical details for the show.

Sascha Segan
 & Sascha Segan Former Lead Analyst, Mobile

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    Contents

    Mobile World Congress 2015 promises to be the biggest show ever. Last year, more than 85,000 people came to Barcelona and its neighbor, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, to meet with everyone who's anyone in the mobile industry.

    Two years ago, we did an official MWC travel guide that's still mostly accurate. The show's location, transport options and most local landmarks haven't changed, so you can use that guide for a great introduction to Barcelona for MWC attendees. 

    We've worked with Barcelona Turisme and Mobile World Capital to find out what's new in town. This 2015 guide will update you with some of the latest restaurants, attractions and new ways to get connected on your trip.

    Barcelona is a great family destination, by the way. I bring my family to the show every year. This year, the GSMA is running a unique day camp, the Mobile Explorers Club, for 8- to 15-year-old kids of MWC attendees. It'll be full of activities tied to the show, and I recommend signing up. My daughter had a great time at the camp's soft launch last year.

    Make sure to start out with our 2013 official MWC Barcelona travel guide and the official MWC website, and continue below for updates.

    Getting There and Around
    Not many changes here. There's no new train from the airport, no new subway to the Fira. The GSMA will run shuttle buses between the airport and the Fira Gran Via; between Fira Gran Via and Placa Espanya; and between Fira Gran Via and outlying hotels. 

    Otherwise, the Aerobus is still the best way to get between the airport and the central city. Between the city and the Fira Gran Via, take the L1 metro line to Espanya and switch for any of the FGC suburban trains, all of which go to the Europa/Fira station. The H12 bus will take you directly down the Gran Via avenue from the city to the Fira, but traffic gets really intense during rush hour at the show.

    As you travel around town, keep an eye out for Barcelona's new smart bus shelters, which have touch screens, local-information apps, and USB ports to recharge your phone. There are eight along the Passeig de Gracia above the Gran Via.

    While you can still hail and call taxis in Barcelona, if you want to use a taxi app, locals recommend Hailo. Uber exists in Barcelona, but locals say that it has relatively few drivers and is in frequent trouble with local authorities, so they advise against it. Perhaps Uber wouldn't be in such trouble if it wasn't run by big jerks.

    About Our Expert

    Sascha Segan

    Sascha Segan

    Former Lead Analyst, Mobile

    My Experience

    I'm that 5G guy. I've actually been here for every "G." I reviewed well over a thousand products during 18 years working full-time at PCMag.com, including every generation of the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S. I also wrote a weekly newsletter, Fully Mobilized, where I obsessed about phones and networks.

    My Areas of Expertise

    • US and Canadian mobile networks
    • Mobile phones released in the US
    • iPads, Android tablets, and ebook readers
    • Mobile hotspots
    • Big data features such as Fastest Mobile Networks and Best Work-From-Home Cities

    The Technology I Use

    Being cross-platform is critical for someone in my position. In the US, the mobile world is split pretty cleanly between iOS and Android. So I think it's really important to have Apple, Android and Windows devices all in my daily orbit.

    I use a Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1 for work and a 2021 Apple MacBook Pro for personal use. My current phone is a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, although I'm probably going to move to an Android foldable. Most of my writing is either in Microsoft OneNote or a free notepad app called Notepad++. Number crunching, which I do often for those big data stories, is via Microsoft Excel, DataGrip for MySQL, and Tableau.

    In terms of apps and cloud services, I use both Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive heavily, although I also have iCloud because of the three Macs and three iPads in our house. I subscribe to way too many streaming services. 

    My primary tablet is a 12.9-inch, 2020-model Apple iPad Pro. When I want to read a book, I've got a 2018-model flat-front Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. My home smart speakers run Google Home, and I watch a TCL Roku TV. And Verizon Fios keeps me connected at home.

    My first computer was an Atari 800 and my first cell phone was a Qualcomm Thin Phone. I still have very fond feelings about both of them.

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