Mastering the transport system early in a stay is a necessity to avoid too much foot-slogging. The Metro here appears, from the map, to have nearly as many lines and stations as the London underground. As with most cities a Tourist Card can be bought. Five days, about £15 and well worth it as it entitles you to free travel on all transport and discounts for museums etc.
But the Metro here is an aggressive one. Not the smoothness of Paris, nor the quaintness of Prague or Budapest, but instead, a hostile machine that only seconds before the doors close, sounds a peremptory signal. If by chance the safety device is triggered by a late-comer, the doors jerk open again with an angry hiss of hydraulics. There are no straps to hang onto and these trains stop and start violently.
It’s bad enough being in a crowded Metro in temperatures of 30 plus, but it’s your very worst nightmare come true when it grinds to a halt in the tunnel. Not an experience to be repeated. But it could happen in any Metro, London, Glasgow, Paris…
Bad luck on your metro experience - in 3 years living in the city, I don't think I ever experienced broken air-con on a metro! Always lovely and fresh! I agree with hootie. It was unlucky of you to have such an experience. I lived in BCN for over 20 years and well, the metro was (and still is when I go back) my main means of transport, a reliable one, too. I suggest that you move this one from Glasgow to Barcelona - temperatures of 30 plus in Glasgow. Not in my experience!
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