Badalona, Spain: Still the bargain of the Barcelona neighbourhood! 

Posted 17 June 2014

In fact, a bargain compared to MOST marinas along this entire coast!!!

We had hoped to get back into Port Vell in downtown Barcelona, where we had wintered in 2011-2012,  but alas, they were only making 15m berths available for our 12m boat, at a rather high price.  Even with their current promotion  (50% discount off the berthing price for a minimum stay of 2 weeks-effective June 1, 2014), just the price of electricity and water for the 15m berth is 12€ a day!  Are you kidding?  So, we came into good old Badalona Marina,  in one of the Barcelona northern suburbs instead.

For our 12x4m sailboat, we are paying 29€ for a berth, VAT, utilities AND…. a pretty reliable WIFI!  There are good facilities, including a laundromat and security.  It’s a marina and town where a bike definitely comes in handy.  There are a good “Condi’s” supermarket and a bakery, just on the other side of the pedestrian bridge that crosses the railroad line.

A bus comes by about every 20 minutes to take you into Badalona (itself, a nice little town), where you can get on the suburban train or the METRO to take you into downtown Barcelona, all at the same “Zone 1” fare as being in downtown Barcelona.

Granted, it’s not as convenient as simply getting off your boat and walking into the wonderful local neighbourhood of Barceloneta or to all the major sites of downtown Barcelona, which Port Vell offers, but it’s a much more affordable option than Port Vell.  And with Port Vell being transformed into a superyacht marina with only 3 pontoons remaining for “normal” sized yachts, it’ll be harder and harder to berth there, since most of those berths are privately owned. This 50% promo is meant to attract the super-yachts… not our puny little 12m boats.

We’re thinking about staying here in Badalona for up to a month.  With no good anchorages in the area, finding an affordable marina is the next best thing!  And Badalona offers that!

We’ve just discovered ANOTHER marina in addition to Badalona, for “boaters on a budget,”  where high season is only July and August,  so we’re only paying 29€/night in June!!!   It is Roda de Barà and is a day sail from Barcelona….about half way between Vilanova y Geltru and Tarragona Marinas (both@ 55€/night-for a 12m boat). The high season rate here in Roda de Bara is 45€/night…still lower than the surrounding marinas. Port Barà just opened in 2008, unfortunately, right when things started melting down especially hard in Spain. There’s LOTS of room. Kind of sad, actually. Nice bathrooms and a decent WIFI (included in price). No laundromat. It’s a weekend/holiday town, so not a lot to do here, although, for the beach bunny set, there’s a superb, wide beach right next to the marina. Grocery store and bakery close by. Plenty of restaurants, although some are only open on weekends.  A bus goes to the train station in the next village up which will take you into Tarragona.

Yacht:  ChaliVentures III

Captains:  Alison and Chuck Spinney

Nationality:  USA

Barcelona: Winter Storage in Badalona

Posted  16 May 2014

We wintered our 50’ sailboat on the hard at EMV Marine in Badalona, Spain.

EMV Marine

Marina de Badalona, Spain

http://emvmarine.com/

We have only good things to say about the facilities, staff, and services at EMV Marine.  When we left the boat last November, we left behind a long list of engine, canvas, and other misc. projects.  We have just returned to find all of the work complete and within the guidelines of their estimates.  The boat was ready to be launched, just as they had promised.

We are especially impressed with the helpfulness of the friendly staff, and their knowledge of the industry and their connections with industry partners that can be called upon.

We have no problem highly recommending EMV Marine to anyone looking to store their boat for the winter and/or requiring any service and repairs.

Jim Gregory

s/v  Morpheus

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