Even as Amsterdam has wrestled with drug tourism in recent years, reducing the number of coffee shops where it is legal to buy and smoke marijuana and hashish, about 300 new cannabis clubs have opened in Barcelona and the surrounding Catalan region, a result, at least in part, of enterprising Spaniards looking for new ways to earn a living, experts say.

It is not that Barcelona officials have given their blessing to this new phenomenon. The clubs are operating under decades-old Spanish laws that allow anyone to grow and smoke marijuana in private or to band together with others to form a cannabis club, as long as it is a nonprofit organization for members only, something like a chess or a cooking club.

But in the last three years, new clubs have opened, particularly in tourist areas like La Rambla, in many cases circumventing the spirit, if not the letter, of the law. While some clubs refuse walk-in customers like the German college students, many of them offer membership (about 20 euros, or about $27) over the Internet or by phone.

The clubs vary enormously, from basement rooms equipped with foosball tables and huge television sets, to more elegant settings with designer chandeliers and fresh fruit drink bars. Some give marijuana away to those who use it for medical purposes and see a business in this area. Others cater only to recreational users. Few of the clubs are noticeable from the street.

The Rambla Dragon Club, for instance, which opened last year, is on the ground floor of an apartment building. Only a small sign over the doorbell (as well as the constant presence of young people squinting to read it) indicates its presence. It has the feel of a Starbucks without windows, its high ceilings and a mighty ventilation system keeping the air fresh. Some of the smokers sit at tables with their laptops open. Others sit in on sofas, watching movies on a giant screen.