Running at the El Prat Airport
Running at the airport? Who runs at the freakin’ airport!? Well, as it turns out, plenty of people do, and now I have to!
The El Prat Barcelona Airport is a 20-minute cab ride or train ride from the center of Barcelona, If you have visited Barcelona you have landed here but went straight to the city center, and for many of us who live in Barcelona, El Prat is the airport, not a place to go or hang out! You only go to El Prat if you are flying out or returning home. But when I was told running out at the beach in El Prat was beautiful, I had to go and see this for myself. Come on. It’s the airport! Sounds congested, noisy, and possibly dirty. Well, it took a whole 1.5km to put me in my place as soon as we were on the the trail.
Delta del Llobregat
As runners we all have our favorite places to run, and our typical routes. Mine is at the beach, if you follow me or know me chances are you’ve seen a lot of photos of my runs down at the beach, and my obsession with the W Hotel. Running at the beach is quick and easy for me, I leave my house and within 15 minutes I am at the beach, and it is lovely! However, I have started to venture out more and take my running new places. I started to go up to Collserolla a bit more for mountain runs on the Aiguas de Carratera…. and then just a few weeks ago I went running at the El Prat Barcelona Airport. Okay, so technically I was not running at the airport, but just next to it at the Delta del Llobregat, a wildlife preserve and sanctuary.
As we started along the path, we were not the only ones out on this particular Sunday morning, there were a handful of other runners, dog walkers, and several cyclists. As you go along the path the runway of the planes is very close and you can see it, however, it is not like this the entire time, as you wind yourself more and more into the grassland you no longer see the airport runway at all. There are a few lookout stations that you can climb up to watch as the airplanes land. Once further into the path you come along to the beach. The beach was empty, except for a few groups that were there with stand-up paddle boards and kayaks. The El Prat del Llobregat beach is divided into five beaches and three of them are public and can be accessed by car, foot, or bike. Platja del Prat does have lifeguard service, police service, the Municipal Sailing Center, bar service, recreational activities area, and even a pets area! There are showers and a few bathrooms and drinking fountains as well.
Besides the alarmingly quiet trail, tranquil beach and overall natural environment, the other main attraction here is the Casa del Semáforo, (traffic-light house). For anyone that needs to have an actual destination to get to, Casa del Semáforo is it. It’s essentially the shell of the old maritime traffic control building that controlled the ships coming in and where their papers were processed. When you first arrive, it is a beautiful wooden planked path that curves through the high grass and directly to the house, where it continues through and up to the second level of the house. This walkway that leads to the house, might have been more impressive to me then the house, as it is this very natural and low key entrance that is a sutbly dramatic, in the most effortlessly beautiful kind of way. Its soothing and matches the environment so well and then to come upon the house and walk through to the other side and see the sea, it' was quite dreamy.
On the way back you come along a wide path lined with tall plants on both sides and as you run the planes come overhead about ever 6 minutes. It is such a sight to see as you get closer back to where you started, and then at a certain point on the path you are literally directly under the planes and the sound is loud! IT’s strange that it’s so quiet until the moment you are on the path when they fly directly overhead, then the noise is loud, but exhilarating. It made me giddy each time.
My mind was blown and a lesson was learned. Don’t judge a running route by its cover!
Delta del Llobreat
How to Get to Here:
By Train:
As I mentioned the beaches in El Prat are public you can check the details of this website for specific information on getting here, access, parking, and date and times of the year when they are open.
https://www.elprat.cat/la-platja/com-arribar