The circuit was constructed in 1991, with its opening season coinciding with preparations for the 1992 Barcelona Olympic and Paralympic Games; the track served as the start and finish line for the road team time trial cycling and para-cycling events at those Games. It should not be confused with the earlier Montjuïc circuit, which hosted the Spanish Grand Prix four times between 1969 and 1975 and sits within the city of Barcelona itself. Until 2013 the circuit was known simply as the Circuit de Catalunya, before a sponsorship agreement with the Barcelona City Council added the city name to the official title.
The track is widely regarded as a comprehensive examination of both car and driver. Its aerodynamic demands are compounded by wind conditions that can reverse direction during a race day, making setup a delicate balancing act — a car configured for a morning session may suffer opposite tendencies by the afternoon. The 1,047-metre pit straight feeds into Turn 1, the circuit's primary overtaking zone under braking. Turn 3 is a flat-out right-hander generating around four g, while Turn 4, the Repsol curve, echoes Monza's Curva Parabolica in its braking and apex requirements. The most technically demanding point is Turn 9, Campsa Corner, a sixth-gear right-hander approached completely blind, cresting uphill before dropping away on exit.
The circuit's configuration has changed several times. In 2007 the penultimate sweeper was replaced by a slow chicane to reduce speeds and theoretically assist overtaking; the modification was widely criticised for achieving neither aim and producing qualifying congestion instead. The original layout was restored ahead of the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix. The La Caixa hairpin was remodelled in 2021, producing a speed somewhere between its earlier versions. The track was resurfaced in 2004 and again in 2018, the latter in response to requests from MotoGP riders seeking improved grip.
The circuit has hosted a motorcycle Grand Prix continuously since 1992 — initially as the European motorcycle Grand Prix and from 1996 as the Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix. For most of that period Formula One and MotoGP used slightly different configurations. That changed permanently in 2016 after Moto2 rider Luis Salom crashed fatally at Turn 12 during free practice for the Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix. Race control immediately switched to the Formula One layout for the remainder of that weekend, and the FIM subsequently confirmed the change as permanent. Further safety modifications followed, including the removal of grandstands at Turn 12 in late 2017 to increase runoff area.
Several Formula One races at Barcelona have become embedded in the sport's lore. In 1991 Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell ran side by side the full length of the front straight duelling for second position, with Mansell prevailing. In 1994 Michael Schumacher finished second after completing more than half the race distance with only fifth gear available. Schumacher also claimed his first victory as a Ferrari driver at the circuit in 1996, in conditions of torrential rain. In 2001 Mika Häkkinen suffered a clutch failure while leading on the final lap. Fernando Alonso became the first Spanish driver to win his home Grand Prix at this venue in 2006. In 2016 a first-lap collision eliminated both Mercedes drivers, and Max Verstappen — racing in his first event for Red Bull — took victory to become the youngest race winner in Formula One history and the first Dutch driver to win a Grand Prix. Pastor Maldonado claimed his sole career victory at Catalunya in 2012.
Beyond Formula One and MotoGP, the circuit has hosted the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, the European Le Mans Series, the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, the FIA World Rallycross Championship, and numerous single-make and junior series. The venue carries a three-star FIA Environmental Accreditation and ISO 14001 certification; a 2021 sustainability report ranked it second among the world's racetracks. Financially, however, the circuit has operated at a deficit since at least 2009, with losses of €50.5 million recorded between 2009 and 2018, sustained by public funding from the Provincial Deputation of Barcelona and the Generalitat de Catalunya.
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