Don´t forget to have a look at the CCCB behind the MACBA, a separate gallery specialising in film and local artists. There are often festivals and public events here, as well as live music in the bar. Also, the FAD design museum is situated on the opposite side of the square to MACBA.

The history of the museum goes back to 1959. An art critic called Alexandre Cirici Pellicer championed the idea of creating a museum of contemporary art in Barcelona. He and Cesareo Rodríguez Aguilera formed a group of interested people and gathered a collection of art which the museum was to begin with. They organised a series of exhibitions with the work up until 1963 and found that the political basis of some of the work was not welcomed by some influential figures. It took until 1985 for Joan Rigol, the Cultural Councillor of the Generalitat, to take up the idea of creating such a museum. In 1987 the MACBA Foundation was established and in 1988 the new museum was born. It was finally opened to the public in 1995.