THE advent of budget airlines in the north has made a weekend in Barcelona as convenient and cheap as a trip to Bridlington.

My two night jaunt to Spain’s second largest city involved a whirlwind tour of its attractions in between extensive trialling of its bars, restaurants and nightlife.

Yes, I was on a stag party. Those who cherish Catalonia’s capital as one of the highlights of European culture are probably horrified it has become a destination of choice with roving bands of men and women.

But as a city of 1.6m people stag and hen parties are usually able to merge into the general chaos of the famous La Rambla area without upsetting the locals too much.

As a very civilised and well-behaved group, we immediately won friends by all dressing up as FC Barcelona’s current prodigy, Lionel Messi, complete with floppy wigs.As we walked through the city fans leaned out of cars to give us the thumbs up and shouted ‘Messi’ in approval of our impeccable dress sense.

Having been to Madrid before I thought I knew all about big Spanish cities but the contrast between the two great rivals is stark.

While Madrid is grand and has a slightly larger population it doesn’t seem as lively as Barcelona. As a first timer in the city I was slightly unprepared for the bustling nature of the Rambla and pretty much everywhere to be honest.

La Rambla, Barcelona’s equivalent of London’s Covent Garden, is a long boulevard lined with bars and restaurants with a large central reservation filled with market traders, street performers and generally crazy people dressed up doing odd things.

While we were enjoying the energy and the atmosphere we were not in the market for strange toys or marvelling at circus skills so we kept moving, stepping off the main mall to one of the city’s many squares.

Pitching up at one of the many hostelries bordering the Plaza Real we enjoyed a few drinks the Spanish way – waiter service and plenty of tapas, including bits of chorizo, calamari, potato, meatballs and olives. Much better than the bags of crisps or cheesy chips you might get back home.

Our evening went the way of most stag dos and so the next day we were determined to do some proper sight seeing.

Using the incredibly clean, efficient and reasonably priced subway system we found our way to the famous Gaudi designed unfinished cathedral, the Sagrada Familia.

The gigantic church is still in construction, more than 130 years after the first stones were laid, and huge cranes have been almost permanently in place for the last few decades.

Somehow they don’t detract from the spectacle of a truly unique building and tourists still flock to the site and queue for hours to get inside and look at the equally impressive interior.

Our experience at the Sagrada Familia was enhanced by another famous Catalonian eccentricity, human tower building, or Castell.

For the uninitiated, Castell is one of Spain’s quirky traditions, alongside tomato throwing, bull running and not eating your dinner until midnight.

Participants stand on each other’s shoulders to build an impressively tall structure, sometimes nine or ten layers high.

Today, juxtaposed with the magnificent spires of the Sagrada Familia, there are two teams taking turns building towers, a truly marvellous sight for a native of such a sensible country.

Our next stop was one of Gaudi’s other notable projects in the city, Guell Park.

The hilltop park has something for everyone with awesome views across the city to the sea, street performers, live music and unique modernist structures, a very pleasant place to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Our second evening found us returning to Plaza Real where we enjoyed more fine fare before heading out to the port area to dance the night away.

I will certainly return to Barcelona – hopefully without two dozen of my friends next time.

Nick Lavigueur flew to Barcelona from Leeds Bradford Airport with Jet2.com

Flights start from £19.99 one way including taxes.

Jet2.com offers a generous 22kg baggage and flies up to five days a week.

For more information please visit www.jet2.com