The circuit was constructed in 1991 and hosted the Spanish Grand Prix in its inaugural year. The project was timed to coincide with the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, and the facility served as the start and finish line for the road team time trial cycling and para-cycling events during those Games.
Until 2013 the venue was known as the Circuit de Catalunya. A sponsorship agreement with Barcelona City Council in that year resulted in the name being extended to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The circuit should not be confused with the Montjuic circuit, which hosted the Spanish Grand Prix four times between 1969 and 1975 and is situated within the city of Barcelona itself.
The circuit has hosted the Spanish Grand Prix continuously from 1991 through 2025, at which point the race moved to a new venue in Madrid known as the Madring. From 2026 the Barcelona circuit hosts the renamed Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, which rotates on the Formula One calendar with the Belgian Grand Prix on a biennial basis through 2032.
MotoGP has raced at the circuit since 1992, initially as the European motorcycle Grand Prix and later as the Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix from 1996. The circuit was resurfaced in 2004 and again in 2018 in response to calls from MotoGP riders for improved grip levels.
The track is highly demanding of aerodynamic balance. Wind direction at Montmeló can shift significantly between morning and afternoon sessions, creating the unusual challenge of a car suffering understeer at one point of the circuit early in the day and oversteer at the same point later. Tyre compounds can also behave differently from test conditions to race day, as the circuit's changeable environment affects rubber interaction with the asphalt.
A lap in a Formula One car begins with a 1,047-metre pit straight leading into Turn 1, the principal braking zone and primary overtaking point. Turns 1 and 2 form a medium-speed chicane: drivers brake late into the right-hander and carry as much exit speed as possible through the near-full-throttle Turn 2. Turn 3 is a long flat-out right-hander generating approximately four G of lateral force. Turn 4, the Repsol curve, is a right-hander taken in third gear with an early apex to maximise exit speed. Turn 5 is a slow second-gear left-hander that drops downhill toward Turn 6. Turns 7 and 8 form an uphill left-right chicane where a large kerb on the Turn 8 apex can damage suspension if a car runs wide. Turn 9, Campsa Corner, is a blind sixth-gear right-hander approached uphill with a downhill exit, making it easy to run wide onto the astroturf. The back straight leads into Turn 10, La Caixa, a third-gear left-hander. Turns 13 and 14 form the final fast double right-hander that brings cars across the start-finish line.
The circuit underwent its most significant layout change in 2007 when a slow chicane replaced the original fast sweeping section through the final corners. The intention was to reduce speeds and improve overtaking opportunities, though the modification was widely criticised for failing to achieve the latter and for causing congestion during qualifying. The original fast configuration was restored for the 2023 Formula One season. The La Caixa hairpin was remodelled in 2021 to a configuration slower than the original sweep but faster than the Formula One version used since 2004, in the interest of improved safety.
The circuit has produced some of the most-discussed moments in Formula One history. In 1991, Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell ran side by side along the full length of the pit straight while fighting for second place, with Mansell taking the position and ultimately the race. In 1994, Michael Schumacher finished second despite driving more than half the race stuck in fifth gear after a gearbox failure. In 1996, Schumacher claimed his first victory for Ferrari in a dominant performance during a torrential rainstorm. In 2001, Mika Häkkinen suffered a clutch failure while leading on the final lap, handing Schumacher the win. In 2006, Fernando Alonso became the first Spanish Formula One driver to win at his home event.
The 2012 race brought an unusual result when Pastor Maldonado took his only Formula One victory and podium at the circuit. In 2016, a collision between Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg at Turn 4 on the opening lap ended both their races and allowed Red Bull's Max Verstappen to win, making Verstappen the youngest driver to win a Formula One Grand Prix. During practice for the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix, Heikki Kovalainen suffered a wheel rim failure at Turn 9 at approximately 240 kilometres per hour, decelerating to 130 kilometres per hour before hitting the barrier, temporarily losing consciousness before recovering.
In MotoGP, the 2009 Catalan Grand Prix is remembered for a season-long battle between Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, teammates at Yamaha, culminating in Rossi overtaking Lorenzo on the final corner to take victory in a race widely described by riders and commentators as historic. A darker chapter came on 3 June 2016 when Moto2 rider Luis Salom was fatally injured after crashing in Turn 12 during free practice for the Catalan MotoGP round. In response, race control immediately switched to the Formula One layout for the remainder of the event, and the FIM subsequently made the change permanent.
Fernando Alonso suffered a testing accident at the circuit in 2015 that was partly attributed to the severity of wind conditions at the venue. The circuit holds a three-star FIA Environmental Accreditation and ISO 14001 certification. A 2021 environmental ranking placed it as the second most sustainable racing facility in the world, alongside Circuit Paul Ricard and behind Mugello Circuit.
Beyond Formula One and MotoGP, the circuit has hosted the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters from 2006 to 2009, the European Touring Car Championship in 2003, the FIA GT Championship, the European Le Mans Series, the FIA World Rallycross Championship from 2015 to 2022, and the World Series Formula V8 3.5 across multiple seasons. The facility also annually hosts the 24 Hours of Barcelona, the Barcelona motorcycle 24 Hours, and the GT World Challenge Europe festival. Since 2016 the track has hosted the 24h BiCircuit Festival, an ultra-distance cycling event featuring 24-hour, 12-hour, and 6-hour races.