Mirador d’avions at runway 24R in Barcelona-El Prat

Updated: October 2026 – Anyone spotting in Barcelona for the first time almost always ends up in the same place: on the road to El Prat beach, where the airport’s north runway ends. Here the municipality of El Prat de Llobregat designates viewpoints for aviation fans – a small, raised platform right next to the threshold and a hill with benches under the approach. In the scene the whole thing usually goes by Mirador d’avions or, in Spanish, Mirador de aviones.

From here you usually see every landing in Barcelona during the day. This page explains when that is the case and when it is not, where to stand at which time of day, how to get there and what to watch out for in the parking area.

An airport by the sea – and a spot at the end of the north runway

Barcelona-El Prat Airport lies in the Llobregat Delta, right on the Mediterranean coast southwest of the city. It has three runways: the north runway 06L/24R at 3,352 meters on the landside, the sea runway 06R/24L at 2,660 meters right behind the beach and the crosswind runway 02/20, which is used mainly at night. The operator is Aena, the state airport group that also runs Madrid-Barajas and Palma de Mallorca.

The mirador is at the eastern end of the north runway, that is, at threshold 24R. Aircraft come in from the east over the delta and touch down practically right in front of you. Because Barcelona almost always lands in this direction during the day, the spot is one of the most reliable in all of Spain.

25R or 24R? The old and the new number

If you read about the platform at 25R in old forums, spotter guides or photo captions, the same place is meant. Until March 24, 2022, the parallel runways in Barcelona were called 07L/25R and 07R/25L. Because the magnetic variation has shifted since construction, they were renamed 06L/24R and 06R/24L. Nothing has changed about position or length. All that matters for you is that flight trackers, ATIS and current maps use the new numbers. How the digits come from the compass heading is explained in the article on runway designations.

The viewpoints at a glance

Around threshold 24R there are several vantage points close together. The municipality of El Prat lists four miradors for aircraft watching on its tourism site – the Mirador lateral, the Mirador dels Bancs, the Mirador de l’Illa and the Mirador de la platja. Two of them belong directly to 24R, the other two are at the beach.

Mirador lateral – the platform. About three meters high, it stands southeast of the threshold on the Carretera de la Platja. From above you look north over the fence: in front of you lie the last meters of the approach, the touchdown point and, farther back, the Terminal 2 apron. Right next to the platform there is a small public restroom, a few trees and a bench – shade is still scarce.

Mirador dels Bancs – the hill under the approach. A few hundred meters farther east, about half a kilometer before the threshold, there is a small hill with benches almost exactly on the extended runway centerline. On maps this point is also marked as Mirador d’avions. Here the aircraft come straight at you and pass low over your head. This is the place for head-on pictures, landing gear in detail and – in fall and winter – sunsets behind approaching jets.

Cemetery and Tanatori. North of the approach, at the Cementiri del Sud cemetery, you photograph the same landings from the other side. There is no ground traffic here, but the light is better in the late afternoon.

Vantage point	What you see	Best light	Focal length
Platform (Mirador lateral)	Landings 24R, touchdown, a few heavy takeoffs, T2 apron	Summer approx. 7 a.m.–2 p.m., winter almost all day	50–300 mm
Hill (Mirador dels Bancs)	Final approach 24R head-on and from below	all day, backlight in the evening	70–300 mm
Cemetery / Tanatori	Landings 24R from the north	April–October from approx. 4–5 p.m.	70–300 mm

The information on light and focal length comes from the spotter guides of Spotterguide and the local spotter association. They are rules of thumb – depending on your camera and framing, you will be somewhat above or below.

Runway direction in use: when the mirador shines

Barcelona works with fixed configurations that are set in the Spanish aeronautical information publication. That makes planning easier than at many other airports.

• During the day, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. – West (preferred): All landings on 24R, takeoffs on 24L. Only aircraft that need the extra runway length depart from 24R, usually heavy long-haul jets. For the mirador this is the ideal case.
• During the day in an east wind – East: Landings on 06L, takeoffs on 06R. Aircraft then come in from the west and touch down at the other end of the north runway. At the platform you see at most aircraft rolling out far away.
• At night, 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. – North: The north runway rests. Landings use the crosswind runway, takeoffs 06R. At the mirador it is quiet then.

Operation is only switched to east when the tailwind component on 24R exceeds 10 knots. That is why west operation is the normal case in Barcelona and the mirador is the right choice on most days. With light traffic, however, the night configuration can also begin somewhat earlier or last longer.

Configuration	What happens at the mirador	How often	Recommendation
West (landing 24R, takeoff 24L)	Every landing directly in front of you	Normal case during the day	Platform or hill
East (landing 06L, takeoff 06R)	Hardly any movements within reach	in a strong east wind	to Terminal 1 or to the Mirador de l’Illa
Night (crosswind runway, takeoff 06R)	North runway out of service	11 p.m. to 7 a.m.	Break or beach

How to judge wind and runway direction in use in general is explained in the guide Understanding the runway direction in use at an airport. For the forecast the evening before, the article on METAR and TAF helps.

Light and photography

The parallel runways run roughly from east-northeast to west-southwest, and at midday the sun is in the south over the sea. The platform is south of the north runway, so you look north – with the sun behind you. In summer that works from about 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.; in winter the sun is so low in the south that you have good light almost all day. In the late afternoon the sun moves west and thus slowly into the frame.

For the afternoon there is the north side: at the cemetery in summer the sun is behind you from about 4 or 5 p.m. until it sets. From April to October you can thus spend a whole day at 24R without shooting into the light. In winter the sun on the north side no longer reaches far enough for that.

The hill under the approach is a special case. Because the aircraft come head-on, the light matters less than the perspective. It gets exciting toward evening: in fall and winter the sun sinks in the west exactly behind the approach, and the jets turn into silhouettes. How to expose such pictures is in the article on Backlight in aircraft photography.

For focal length a common telephoto zoom is enough. For a narrowbody jet just before touchdown, about 200 mm is enough at the platform, and widebody aircraft fit in the frame with less. At the hill the aircraft pass so close over you that you can even work with a standard zoom. Which lens suits what is explained in the article on the right focal length; the matching settings are in the article on camera settings.

What you get to see at 24R

Because almost all daytime landings use 24R, the mirador gives you a good cross-section of all traffic in Barcelona. And it is colorful.

• IAG family: Vueling has its hub in Barcelona and shapes the picture with jets of the A320 family up to the A321neo. How to tell the variants apart is shown in the article Telling the A318, A319, A320 and A321 apart. In addition there are Iberia and the long-haul brand Level – all three belong to International Airlines Group.
• Low-cost: Ryanair brings the Boeing 737-800 and the 737 MAX 8, easyJet flies with A319, A320 and A320neo. Spanish carriers such as Air Europa and Volotea round out the field.
• Long-haul: According to Aena figures, Doha, Dubai and New York JFK were the busiest long-haul destinations in 2025. So Qatar Airways, Emirates with the Airbus A380 and Etihad Airways show up regularly, and in summer also North American airlines such as American Airlines, Delta and United. Depending on the schedule, Boeing 787-9, A350-900 or 777-300ER come.

A special feature of 24R is the rare takeoffs. During the day only aircraft that demonstrably need the additional runway length may depart from the north runway. When a heavy long-haul jet departs here, it taxis onto the runway right in front of the platform – one of the few opportunities in Barcelona to see a widebody jet on its takeoff roll from this close.

You will hardly see small propeller aircraft of general aviation, on the other hand. Barcelona is restricted to instrument flight traffic; visual flights, helicopters and aircraft up to two tons are excluded except for rescue, emergency and state flights. Business jets, however, land regularly – they too use 24R.

Getting there: car, bus and bicycle

By car, in El Prat you follow the signs to Platja del Prat. The Carretera de la Platja leads past the cemetery directly along threshold 24R. Spotterguide recommends parking at the cemetery and walking the last stretch; the sandy area directly under the approach is not a good idea. According to this information the parking area at the cemetery is pay-to-park, but usually free on weekends and holidays. Check the signage on site.

By bus and train it depends on the season. You get to the airport conveniently by Metro L9 Sud or the commuter line R2 Nord, but from the terminals it is a good distance to the mirador. With the L9 Sud you also get to El Prat station, where the PR3 departs. For the runway and beach spots, bus line PR3 from El Prat station toward Platja del Prat is the most important connection, stop Tanatori – according to Spotterguide it sometimes stops there only on request, so tell the driver beforehand. According to this information it only runs from June to September; in winter there is no regular connection. Timetables and stops can change – check them before your visit.

By bicycle you are the most flexible. The delta is flat, the paths between mirador, cemetery, beach and Mirador de l’Illa are short, and you can quickly move when the runway direction in use changes. General tips on getting to a spot are in the article Getting to the spot.

How a good day at the mirador goes

What else belongs in your camera bag is in the equipment checklist for plane spotting. For the summer heat the article Plane spotting in summer helps, and if you build the spot into a vacation, read the guide Plane spotting on vacation.

Fallback spots around El Prat

The mirador covers the landings, not the takeoffs. Because Barcelona departs on 24L during the day and the crosswind runway is only used at night, you need a second spot for a complete picture – and it is usually at the beach.

• Mirador de l’Illa: The roughly 20-meter-high tower next to the Centre Municipal de Vela is the highest viewpoint in the delta and has been open again since September 2025. From above you see the takeoffs from 06R with turns over the sea, on cold winter days also movements on 24L. According to the municipality it is accessible from October to March on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on weekends from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., from April to September on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on weekends from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Beach at 24L: Around the tunnel and the beach access you see aircraft taxiing onto 24L and taking off. Here you park only in the designated beach parking areas – according to Spotterguide, the police are very strict with illegally parked cars.
• Balconies in Terminal 1: At the end of the departures level there are publicly accessible outdoor areas. They are the solution if you are traveling without a car or east operation is running on 06L.

Unofficial locations at the fence, for example at the Iberia hangar, are checked regularly by the police, who then send spotters to the official places. That is exactly why the mirador is so pleasant: you stand at a place meant for exactly this.

If you want to extend your Spain trip: at Madrid-Barajas Airport, La Muñoza offers an approach spot with even more long-haul, and in the Canary Islands Playa Honda on Lanzarote is a beach spot under the approach. All the locations around El Prat in context are shown by the plane spotting guide for Barcelona; an overview of more destinations is in the best spotting spots in Europe.

Rules at the mirador

The miradors lie outside the security area on public grounds and are expressly meant for aircraft watching. To keep it that way, a few simple rules apply.

Consideration also applies toward other visitors. At the cemetery and the Tanatori people say goodbye to relatives – be quiet there, do not park in driveways and let mourners go first. The platform is small: make room when others want to join you, and take your trash with you.

Conclusion

The Mirador d’avions at 24R is the spot where a spotting day in Barcelona almost always begins – and rightly so. It is officially designated, raised, free and has a restroom. Above all, though, it is at the runway where nearly every landing takes place during the day. If you come in the morning and briefly check the runway direction in use, you get a large part of El Prat’s traffic in front of your lens here within a few hours.

The limits are clear: you rarely see takeoffs, in an east wind and at night it is quiet, and you have to be careful at the parking area. With the cemetery for the afternoon and a side trip to the beach or the Mirador de l’Illa, it still becomes a full day.