Barcelona + Ibiza

Terminal 2 is small and signed in Catalan, Spanish and English. Just follow the crowd from your flight — everyone is going to the same place. Turn your phone off airplane mode and check your data is working before you leave the gate area.

There are two sets of lanes. You want "All Passports" / "Non-EU" — not the EU/EEA/Swiss lane. British passports go through the non-EU side now. Don't use the e-gates.

Before the immigration desk there's a row of self-service booths. This is the EU's new Entry/Exit System and it's your first time, so you have to do it. The booth scans your passport, takes four fingerprints and a photo. It's free. Staff are there to help — if you're stuck, ask.

This can be quick or it can take a while depending on how many flights landed at once. It's the one genuinely unpredictable part of the evening. Your record then lasts three years, so you won't do this again on the way to Ibiza.

An officer checks your passport. Usually it's ten seconds and a nod. They're allowed to ask why you're here, how long for, where you're staying, and whether you can pay for it — so have these ready on your phone before you get to the desk, not fumbling for them at the counter:

Cabin bags only on this flight, so nothing to collect. Go through the green "nothing to declare" channel and out into the arrivals hall.

Pre-booked transfer: your driver waits in the T2 arrivals hall holding a board with your name. Check the voucher on your phone for the exact meeting point and the driver's phone number. If you can't see them, ring the number on the voucher before you wander off.

If anything's gone wrong — no driver, no booking, phone dead — walk to the official taxi rank outside arrivals. Black and yellow cars, a marshal directing the queue. Always there, always safe. Show the driver the hostel address on your phone.

The hostel is in Badalona, a town on the coast just northeast of Barcelona — not central Barcelona. The airport is on the far southwest side, so it's a cross-city run of roughly 30 km. Nothing's gone wrong if it takes a while.

Reception takes check-ins until 23:00 — you've plenty of margin, but if the EES queue goes badly and you're going to be late, ring them. Don't just turn up after 23:00.

The first two nights are already paid through Booking.com. The €160 is only for the Saturday night that was added later.

Find Pep Ventura metro station. It's on your own street, about a minute's walk, and it's your way into Barcelona all week — L2, about 25–30 minutes into the centre. Knowing where it is now saves you working it out in a hurry tomorrow.

It's in the booking, so eat it. Arena food is arena food.

Out of the hostel, turn onto Avinguda d'Alfons XIII and head northeast. Stay on the same avenue essentially the whole way. Flat, straightforward, and you'll pick up the crowd going the same direction long before you get there.

L2 from Pep Ventura to Gorg — a single stop, direction Paral·lel. The arena is about a block from Gorg. Honestly, in late-August Badalona heat this is a reasonable call, but the walk is genuinely easy.

Riot are running a Fan Fest in the space around the arena for the whole weekend. It's free and open to everyone, ticket or no ticket — team activations, community stuff, partner stands. It opens daily ahead of the matches.

This is the obvious place to meet your mates before doors, and it's the answer for any of the weekend where you haven't got a seat inside.

Ticket on your phone, screen brightness up, and take your passport — arena entry for a Riot event will usually want photo ID matching the ticket. Reported start times are around 16:00 Friday and 17:00 Saturday and Sunday, but go by what's printed on your actual ticket.