Banys Vells

The lakeside bar sits inside a set of bathhouses built in 1937, when Banyoles first laid out a row of changing huts along the shore of the Estany. In the mid 1990s the site was rebuilt as a bar-restaurant by the Catalan architect Josep Miàs, who kept the old perimeter wall for the changing rooms and storage and roofed the new terrace with a run of inverted, boat-shaped wooden canopies that let light filter through the lakeside trees. The result reads more like a piece of shipbuilding than an ordinary terrace bar, built low and open so almost all of the seating stays outdoors under the tree canopy. Banys Vells is also one of only three officially permitted bathing zones on the Estany de Banyoles, alongside the Caseta de Fusta and the Club Natació Banyoles, so the swim that follows a coffee here is sanctioned lake access rather than an improvised dip. In summer the terrace doubles as a small stage, hosting concerts and other events alongside its usual tapas and drinks service.