Tapas dishes are a little like your birthdays. Each one seems to pass too fast, and when you add them all up, you’re done. So, do try to make the most of your Barcelona birthday. Aside from tapas, you’ll get great seafood and a thriving bar scene that’ll make your birthday really come alive. A sunset trip to Park Güell will turn your memoires of this trip into a Gaudí-esque dream, while climbing the gothic La Sagrada only adds to this dizzying effect.

Speaking of dizzying effects, cava is the slurred talk of the town, and we’ll even help you make your own in this Plum Guide list ideas for your celebration in this Catalonian capital. (So don’t go practicing your por favors and graciases…it’s ‘si us plau’ and ‘gràcies’ round these parts.)

Get on your walking shoes and wander up and down the hills of a park designed by Gaudí. As your knees buckle, you’ll feel years older, which means this whole birthday lark is doing its job. The park was built from around 1900 and was initially proposed as a baroque housing site. Check out the weird and colourful edifices and lose yourself in the nature, which provides a leafy setting right in the heart of the undulating city.

This one is for the football fans, although non-sports enthusiasts might also enjoy taking a look around one of the world’s largest stadiums. It has a capacity of about 100,000, so makes for quite a sight. Walk around the arena, take some selfies to prove you were there and delve into the trophy cabinets of the Barça Museum. Ask if you can steal one of the trophies or medals for your Barcelona birthday; they’ve surely got enough to go around.

Look, you don’t have to know how to pronounce it, you just have to turn up. It’s one of the highlights of the city, when this fountain turns into a nightly spectacle full of light and colour. Set against an eclectic musical playlist, the fountain has been performing acrobatics for its expecting crowds since 1929. Oh, and it happens to be next to some of Barcelona’s most iconic sights, including the Torres Venecianes, the Plaça d’Espanya and the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. The latter stands at the top of sloping cascades leading up from the fountain. All of this means that you can show off to everyone at home about all the attractions you visited, without them knowing what a lazy so-and-so you were. Top Barcelona birthday material.

One of the biggest draws of Barcelona is that it’s on the Mediterranean Sea. Embark on a boat tour and sit back with a glass of cava or vermouth, as you take in the views. Some tours include live music, which we can imagine being a little annoying when you’ve finally got the chance to listen to the sound of the wind and the waves, away from all the noise. Hey, you could get used to this lifestyle, right? Is it possible to stay on the boat forever? Did you read about that guy who commuted to his job in London from Barcelona, because the quality of life for your buck was so much better in the Catalan behemoth. Food for thought.

‘Speaking of food for thought,’ we said, in the subtlest of segues, ‘have you tried the seafood and tapas?’ Tuck into the fusion cuisine in the Acces fine-dining establishment. Head to Disfrutar to disfrutar (enjoy) their Mediterranean dishes and soak up the relaxing setting of the Ostaia restaurant. Try your luck with the changing-fixed (what?) menu at Osmosis. For something lower key and more local, take a tapas tour of Sant Antoni or try the bars and restaurants of Eixample. Count down to your birthday at midnight with a craft beer at one of the cervezerías.

Cava great Barcelona birthday out for yourself by creating your own <s>champagne</s> sparkling wine. You can pick your own fusion of grapes and try disgorgement, which sounds a lot worse than it is, and is related to the sediment in the drink. You can even keep your own personalised bottle of cava. Just make sure to wrap it up properly for the flight home.

Last but not least, spend the afternoon lazing on the beach. You’ve got a great range from which to choose, from the lively Barceloneta Beach in the city centre to the Platja de la Mar Bella in Sant Martí, a little north of the centre. The locals are getting a bit tired of us, so try not to shout in English too loud on this part of your Barcelona birthday.

So, could this city be the place to celebrate your next birthday? First things first, take a look at our guide to the best areas to stay in the city. After that, explore our handpicked collection of luxury homes in your favourite neighbourhood. Only the top 3% of homes pass our rigorous Plum test and make it onto our platform, because you deserve the best...especially on your birthday.