Things to Do in Reus, Spain: Walking Guide

The best things to do in Reus include exploring its Modernist buildings, historic squares, museums, theatres and industrial heritage. The city’s compact centre brings together architecture by Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Pere Caselles, the legacy of Antoni Gaudí, and places that reveal Reus’s artistic and social history. Neywo offers a free audio guide to Reus with 38 narrated places.

Reus is the capital of the municipality of the same name in Tarragona province, in Catalonia. Its streets are particularly rewarding for visitors interested in architecture and cultural heritage, but the city also has museums, wartime memory sites and distinctive landmarks beyond the centre.

What to see in Reus

The following places bring together many of the most important sights included in a visit to Reus.

Plaça del Mercadal and the Gaudí Centre

Plaça del Mercadal is home to the Gaudí Centre, opened in May 2007 in a rehabilitated building at the corner of Carrer del Vidre. Its exhibition space covers 1,200 square metres over three floors and explores Antoni Gaudí’s life and creative language through real objects, models, reproductions and audiovisual experiences.

The second floor focuses on Gaudí as an innovator, with interactive models showing his approach to shapes, space, light, air and water. The third floor uses a multiscreen presentation and tactile models to introduce the elements behind his artistic language.

Casa Navàs

At the corner of Plaça del Mercadal and Carrer de Jesús stands Casa Navàs, one of Reus’s most important Modernist buildings. It was designed by the Barcelona architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner and is a central stop for understanding the city’s architectural heritage.

Casa Iglésies Òdena

Also known as Casa Iglesias, Casa Iglésies Òdena is a protected monument in Reus, in the Baix Camp area of Tarragona Province. It forms part of the city’s collection of buildings that illustrate its Modernist and historic character.

Palau Miró and Plaça de Prim

Plaça de Prim is one of Reus’s central public squares, where several streets and boulevards meet. At its centre stands an equestrian statue dedicated to General Joan Prim i Prats.

The square also preserves a fragment of Palau Miró, or Cal Miró. The former manor house was demolished in 1973, but its stone portal survives, reused as the entrance to a nursery in the former preventive prison of Reus. The palace once contained murals attributed to Joseph Flaugier and nineteenth-century decorative details, including ceiling panels said to recall a room where Isabel II had slept.

Palau Bofarull

On Llovera Street, near Plaça de Prim, Palau Bofarull is an urban palace associated with the ennobled Bofarull family. It is also known as L’Olimpo or Els Ploms, names connected with organisations that once had their headquarters there. The building is now home to the Reus Conservatory of Music and is protected as a locally recognised cultural asset.

Casa Querol and Casa Tomàs Jordi

At number 17 on Llovera Street, Casa Querol, also called cal Querol, is a Modernist building designed by Pere Caselles. A little further along, at numbers 19 to 21, Casa Tomàs Jordi, or cal Tomàs Jordi, provides another example of Caselles’s work. Both buildings are protected as locally recognised cultural assets.

Teatre Fortuny and Plaça de Prim

The Teatre Fortuny was built in 1882, when Reus was the second city of Catalonia. It was intended to provide a theatre comparable to those in other major cities. The complex includes the theatre and the headquarters of El Círcol at number 4, Plaça de Prim; together, they are recognised as a cultural asset of national interest.

The theatre later entered a quieter period and was used as a cinema under the name Cine Fortuny. A consortium formed by the Government of Catalonia, the Tarragona Provincial Council and Reus City Council later made its rehabilitation possible. The building is named after Marià Fortuny i Marsal, the Catalan painter born in Reus.

Monument a Bartrina and the former Teatre Principal

The Monument a Bartrina is a heritage monument included in the Inventory of Architectural Heritage of Catalonia. Nearby is the former site of the Teatre Principal, popularly known as the Teatre de les Comèdies. Although the theatre has disappeared, its history remains connected with the area between Raval de Santa Anna and Carrer de Vallroquetes, beside Plaça de Catalunya.

Museu d’Art i Història de Reus

The Museu d’Art i Història de Reus is both a museum and a protected historic building. It is recognised as a cultural property of national interest, and the building was declared a historic and artistic monument in 1962. Its protected status forms part of the site’s importance within Reus’s heritage.

Museu Comarcal Salvador Vilaseca

The Museu Comarcal Salvador Vilaseca is one of Catalonia’s longest-established museum institutions. Its collections examine Reus and the surrounding area through history, art, society, politics and economic life, as well as the history of the Spanish Civil War.

The museum began as the Museu Municipal Prim-Rull, which opened at Casa Rull on 14 April 1934. Its holdings later expanded significantly with the donation of the archaeological collection of Salvador Vilaseca, who lived from 1896 to 1975. Together, the collections trace the economic, historical, cultural, artistic, social and political evolution of the city and its region.

CT Art Gallery and Plaça de la Farinera

CT Art Gallery is a starting point for exploring this historic part of Reus. A short distance away, Plaça de la Farinera—known locally as la Farinera—lies in the Santa Anna neighbourhood within the old ring of surrounding streets.

The square takes its name from the flour trade that once took place there. In 1756, the municipal government bought two houses to create a controlled place for selling flour. After residents objected to the loss of shared open space, the council bought another house and transformed the area into a square. Santa Anna Street runs along its western side, while Vallroquetes, Aleus and Vaqueria streets converge nearby.

Refugi antiaeri de la Patacada

The Patacada air-raid shelter is one of the most extensive wartime shelters recovered in Reus. It was one of 110 shelters excavated in the city during the Spanish Civil War to protect people from aerial attacks.

Its entrance is within the Patacada complex, alongside the municipal civic centre, the Casal de les Dones and the former washing facilities. The entrance hall now serves as both a reception area and an interpretation space, offering a direct way to understand this period of the city’s history.

Dispensari antituberculós de Reus

At number 34 on Carrer de Sant Joan, the former Antituberculosis Dispensary of Reus is a notable example of Noucentista architecture. Designed by Joan Rubió i Bellver, it was created as part of an effort to eradicate tuberculosis in the Camp area.

The building is protected as a Local Cultural Interest Site and is recorded in the Inventory of the Architectural Heritage of Catalonia.

Bòbila del Sugranyes

The Bòbila del Sugranyes, also known locally as the Forn del Sugranyes or Forn del Manxa, is a protected example of Reus’s industrial heritage. This former brickworks is centred on a circular kiln about 23 metres across, with a chimney rising 19 metres above it.

The lower part of the chimney is square, while the upper section is octagonal. Radial openings around the partly buried kiln fed the furnace, and a circulation gallery surrounded it. The brickworks produced bricks, roof tiles, floor tiles and other ceramic building materials. Its combination of adobe, brick, a radial structure and a striking chimney makes it a particularly distinctive site.

Torre del Cambrer and the churches of Reus

The Torre del Cambrer, also known as the Castell del Cambrer or Castell del Camarer, is a protected historic monument. It provides another link with the city’s architectural past.

The Església de la Puríssima Sang, also called the Església de la Sang, gives its name to the surrounding square and is one of Reus’s religious landmarks. Further away, Sant Bernat Calvó is a parish church in Barri Fortuny and a recognised part of Catalonia’s architectural heritage.

Explore Reus with a self-guided audio tour

Neywo’s free Reus audio guide includes three walking tours, one bus route and one bike route. Together, they cover 38 narrated places, with stories that play as you reach each location. The narration is available in 11 languages, and you can explore at your own pace, with no group and no schedule.

The routes include:

• Three walking tours: 0.96 km and 74 minutes with 12 stops; 0.91 km and 58 minutes with 9 stops; and 1.56 km and 62 minutes with 8 stops.
• One bus route: 5.1 km and 22 minutes with 5 stops, crossing Reus from the Santuari de la Mare de Déu de Misericòrdia to the Museu d’Art i Història de Reus.
• One bike route: 1.5 km and 8 minutes with 2 stops, following the route from Plaça de la Pastoreta to the Santuari de la Mare de Déu de Misericòrdia.

Download Neywo and explore Reus while the app tells the story of each place as you reach it—at your own pace, without joining a group or following a schedule. Reus is also a useful base for discovering other destinations in Spain, including nearby Tarragona and Salou.