Sala Apolo is the 1940s theatre on Carrer Nou de la Rambla in Poble Sec that runs Barcelona's longest-standing club nights, including the indie-rock Nasty Mondays running every Monday since 2004.
Tip: Nasty Mondays runs 00:30 to 05:00 every Monday with indie, rock and 80s pop. The smaller La 2 venue downstairs runs parallel programming on the same nights.
Address: Carrer Nou de la Rambla 113, 08004 Barcelona
Sutton on Carrer de Tuset in Sant Gervasi has run since the 1990s as Barcelona's mainstream upmarket club, with a strict door policy, commercial house and hip-hop and a footballer-and-model crowd.
Tip: Smart dress required at the door (no sneakers, no shorts); reserve a table through the website to skip the queue. Tuset is a taxi ride from the centre.
Opium runs beachfront on Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta next to Hotel Arts, with a daytime restaurant turning into a house and EDM club at midnight, including the WAA residency and CRIB urban nights.
Tip: Doors at 23:00; the club fills after 01:00. Dress code at the door (no sneakers). Cabs queue along the boardwalk; the L4 stop Ciutadella Vila Olímpica is ten minutes on foot.
Shôko on Passeig Marítim runs Asian-Mediterranean dinners in the early evening before the room flips at midnight to a house and hip-hop club with a beachfront terrace.
Tip: Restaurant from 13:00, club from 00:00 to 03:00 most nights. The terrace bar runs through the warm months and is the easier way in than the indoor floor.
CDLC sits beachfront on Passeig Marítim in the Olympic Port and runs a lounge-restaurant in the evening that turns into a house and R&B club after midnight, with terrace sofas overlooking the Mediterranean.
Tip: Restaurant from 12:00, club kicks in around 01:00. The Bali-style daybeds on the terrace need a table reservation; cabs queue along the seafront for the post-05:00 exit.
Macarena on Carrer Nou de Sant Francesc in the Gothic Quarter is the 80-capacity house and techno bunker with the DJ booth in the middle of the floor, programming local and international residencies seven nights a week.
Tip: Capacity is just 80 people, so weekends sell at the door fast; aim for 01:00 to 02:00 on a weeknight for an easy in. Cash bar.
Otto Zutz on Carrer de Lincoln in Sant Gervasi has run since 1985 across four floors in a converted industrial building, programming hip-hop, reggaeton and commercial chart nights for a young uptown crowd.
Tip: Wednesday to Saturday only; the top floor runs hip-hop, the main floor reggaeton and chart hits. Queues from 01:30; arrive earlier for the guest list.