Wheelchair transfers from Airport to Barcelona

Most travel articles about Barcelona related to wheelchair accessible access wax lyrical about its accessibility and skip over those essential ‘insider’ bits of information that make the life of the international visitor that bit easier, forewarned is forearmed as the saying goes. This article aims to introduce you to Barcelona ‘warts’ and all from the perspective of an ‘ex-pat’ disabled person living and working in Barcelona since 2004.

Your first reality check is on arrival at the new El Prat International Airport Terminal 1 where the majority of international flights land or on arrival at Terminal 2 for many of the European low-cost carriers.
The policy across the board seems to be all wheelchair users will be the last to be disembarked from a flight so you can expect a lengthy delay of anything from 45 minutes to 2 hours (seriously) before exiting into the arrivals area.
Now unless you have pre-booked accessible transport (recommended) your options for travelling into the City are limited to say the least. There are no accessible taxis at the public taxi rank at either terminal so a pre-booking is required to be made with a minimum of 24 hours notice, also you need to be aware that you will be charged a double fare (the taxi company charges a fare from Barcelona to the Airport and one for picking you up for the trip into Barcelona) for your transfer.
Its worth noting that the principal taxi company is Taxi Amic and that they have around 52 Citroen C8 adapted vehicles, however these vehicles (which have rear ramped access, 3 rear seats and one up front) have very limited baggage space so in reality if there’s more than 2 of you in one vehicle and you have even a normal amount of luggage this is going to be squeezed in around the wheelchair user making life less than comfortable. When making a reservation with Taxi Amic you will have to be able to speak Catalan or Spanish (no English spoken) and be able to provide exact address details including building numbers. Expect to pay around €60 for the one-way transfer.
Option 2 then is to catch a train into the City, well, actually no, that’s not possible from Terminal 1 unless you take the shuttle link bus which is fully accessible to the RENFE train station at Terminal 2. Your problem then is how to actually get onto the train (which by the way are 100% wheelchair friendly & fitted with wheelchair accessible toilets) as there is a big gap between the platform and the train and the floor level of the train is approximately 2 feet higher than the platform so it’s a pretty steep step up into the carriage and absolutely impossible for a) power chair users, b) scooter users and c) anyone who has no walking or climbing steps capability. At less than €2 for a single journey it is however a very cheap option.
If you can get into the train you are faced with another problem at Plaça Catalunya station that is in the heart of the City and where most people leave the train to find their hotels. The step down from the carriage is even worse than that at the Airport. There are 2 lifts to take you to the concourse level one of which is almost always out of action and all too frequently neither work. Once at concourse level the one and only lift to the street level is not working more often than working so all in all using RENFE to arrive into Barcelona loaded down with your luggage is not a great option.
Not all is doom and gloom as there is the option of using the airport to City shuttle bus all of which have ramp access (when they work) and run into the City around every 15 minutes or so. A cheap and cheerful option that has only the drawback of limited space for wheelchairs so you may have some waiting to do before journeying into Barcelona. These shuttles terminate at Plaça Catalunya so are convenient for most hotels and hostels.
It would be remiss of me not to mention our own service, which is a private transfer from either Terminal in accessible transport. We provide English-speaking drivers and a greeting service in the Terminal and have vehicles with ramp and hydraulic lift options. Our smallest vehicle carries 1 or 2 wheelchairs and 4 other guests with luggage and room to spare whilst our largest accommodates 6 chairs and 34 more guests. Sit back and enjoy a short DVD on our plasma screen for the trip into town. A standard price for this service is €70 just a few more euros than a taxi but with much more on offer.
If travelling from Canada and going on a cruise from Barcelona our transfer prices are roughly 20% lower than most travel agencies will quote you on behalf of cruise companies.
Contact me directly dat@disabledaccessibletravel.com