While you may associate a trip to Spain mostly with summer holidays, and the summers are very very long indeed, Catalonia is also very beautiful in autumn, when it finally arrives. The coloring of the leaves and the fresh air combined with the often still warm sun makes it a very nice time to travel. Obviously it is much less crowded as in summertime, which gives you a good opportunity to have most places to yourself as a visitor, and experience the country the way it really is behind the scenes, when no one is watching.