Barcelona

Barcelona
Barcelona
City and municipality
	Flag Coat of arms
	Nicknames: Ciutat Comtal (Catalan); Ciudad Condal (Spanish); "Comital City" or "City of Counts" ; ; Cap i Casal de Catalunya (Catalan); 'Head and Hearth of Catalonia' ; ; Abbreviation(s): ; Barna, BCN
	Barcelona Location in the Province of Barcelona Barcelona Location in Catalonia Barcelona Location in Spain
	Coordinates: 41°23′N 2°11′E / 41.383°N 2.183°ECoordinates: 41°23′N 2°11′E / 41.383°N 2.183°E
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Catalonia
Province	Barcelona
Comarca	Barcelonès
Districts	10 Ciutat Vella; Eixample; Gràcia; Horta-Guinardó; Les Corts; Nou Barris; Sant Andreu; Sants–Montjuïc; Sarrià-Sant Gervasi; Sant Martí;
Government
• Type	Ayuntamiento
• Body	Ajuntament de Barcelona
• Mayor	Ada Colau Ballano (Barcelona en Comú)
Area
• City	101.4 km2 (39.2 sq mi)
Elevation (AMSL)	12 m (39 ft)
Population (2018)
• City	1,620,343
• Rank	2nd
• Density	16,000/km2 (41,000/sq mi)
• Urban	4,840,000
• Metro	5,474,482
Demonyms	Barcelonan, Barcelonian ; barceloní, -ina (Catalan); barcelonés, -esa (Spanish)
Postal code	080xx
Area code	+34 (E) 93 (B)
INE code	08 0193
City budget (2014)	€2.6 billion
Official language	Catalan and Spanish
Main festivity	La Mercè
Patron saint	Eulalia of Barcelona
Website	www.barcelona.cat

Barcelona is the capital city of Catalonia, which is a region of Spain. Barcelona is the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. The city is between the rivers of Llobregat and Besòs, and south of the Pyrenees mountains. It has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa in the Köppen climate classification). Most rain falls in autumn and spring, and the least rain falls in winter and summer. The average rainfall is relatively low, due to the rain shadow from the mountains.

In 1992, Barcelona hosted the Summer Olympic Games. Many new parks were opened and other significant changes to the city were made. One example is opening the new beaches in the Poble Nou area.

In 2007, about 1.6 million people lived in Barcelona. Around 3.1 million people live in the Metropolitan Area and 4.9 million people live in the Urban Region. Barcelona is the second most populated city in Spain, and the tenth in the European Union.

Barcelona is home to football team F.C. Barcelona.

History[change | change source]

The origin of Barcelona is unclear. The ruins of an early settlement have been found dating to earlier than 5000 BC.^[6]

City Barcino

During the Roman Empire, Barcelona was a colony of the Western Roman Empire called Barcino (full name was Colonia Faventia Julia Augusta Pia Barcino). A clear example of the Roman heritage in Barcelona is the preserved Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter) in the center of city.

In the Middle Age (5th century), Barcelona was conquered by the Visigoths. King Athaulf moved his capital here for a short time. In 511, a battle between the Ostrogoths and Visigoths took place near the city in which the Ostrogoths won.

In 8 century, Barcelona was conquered by the Moors.

Until the 15th century, Barcelona was the leading slave trade centre. ^[7] Barcelona was a centre of Catalan separatism for a long time.

During the Spanish Civil War, Barcelona was Republican city.

Culture[change | change source]

Barcelona's culture roots go back 2000 years.

The city is very religious, so there are many cathedrals in it. The most famous of them is Sagrada Familia. Barcelona Cathedral is also popular among the tourists.

Barcelona has a large number of theaters such as Palau de la Música Catalana, Liceu etc. Barcelona has an symphony orchestra.

There are also many museums. For example, Museu Nacional d'Art, Museu Picasso, Museu Marítim, Museu d Història de la Ciutat Barcelona, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona and Museu de la Xocolata.

The street called La Rambla is a place for street performances such as mime performances. The Sonar Festival and Primavera Sound Festival are two major pop music festivals that take place yearly there.

Barcelona has one of Europe's largest aquariums – Aquarium Barcelona.

El Periódico de Catalunya, La Vanguardia and Ara are three major newspapers of Barcelona.

Many popular films were also shot in Barcelona. The examples are Todo sobre mi madre (1999) by Pedro Almodóvar, REC (2007), Salvador (2006), Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008), Biutiful (2010), Tres metros sobre el cielo. Tengo ganas de ti (2012).

Economics[change | change source]

Barcelona was for a long time an industrial city. Currently, factories have been moved to the periphery, a fact that has allowed us to transform the former industrial neighbourhoods in the residential areas, from research to products with high added value and services. The most representative industrial sectors of Barcelona are the textile industry, chemical, pharmaceutical, automotive, electronics, medical Industry and printing. Services Barcelona stands out for its logistics activities, publishing and computer.

Transport[change | change source]

Barcelona has a port, metro, airport, modern passengers trains by Renfe company and tram systems called Trambaix and Trambesos.

Barcelona is one of the main railway hubs in Spain. The main railway station is Sants Estació.

Barcelona has also a metered taxi fleet.

Sport[change | change source]

Barcelona is a very sports city. It hosted the highly successful 1992 Summer Olympics.

FC Barcelona is a sport club, one of the largest and the second richest in the world.

Tourism[change | change source]

Barcelona is one of the most important tourist destinations in Europe, with millions of people visiting every year. The city is famous for its 19th century modernist architecture. The best known of those buildings was designed by Antoni Gaudi. It is the unfinished church Sagrada Familia,^[8] which is the symbol of Barcelona.

It is known for its tapas food, a meze. Among the dishes, the also popular are paella, gazpacho, jamon, crema catalana and sangria.

The popular stores for shopping are Zara, Massimo Dutti, Bimba y Lola, Adolfo Dominguez.