Torre Glòries in Full Glory in Barcelona

I took a relaxing ride through Barcelona on a September afternoon atop the famous hop on-hop off tourist bus. Since I was relaxing, I only took a few shots—most of them focused on the 38-story bullet-shaped glass building, the Torre Glòries.

The tower stands in the Poblenou neighborhood of Barcelona, where it marks the entrance to the new technological district of the city. Designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, the Torre Glòries stands over 144 meters high and cost 130 million Euros to build. When it opened in 2005, it had the name “Agbar Tower”, after the multinational group Agbar, whose corporate headquarters it houses. In 2017 the building was purchased by Merlin Properties, who changed its name to Glòries, the name of the adjacent square.

The architect said he was inspired by the shape of a geyser rising up into the air, as well as by Montserrat, a mountain near Barcelona. Also, he described the tower as “phallic” in character. The tower has inspired many nicknames over the years, such as “the suppository” and the “shell,” to name the milder of them.

This double-decker tourist bus has three different routes, going by all of Barcelona’s top landmarks and attractions for a single ticket price. The bus provides a free audio guide (available in 11 languages), and as its name suggests, you can hop on and off as many times as you like.