Barcelona Information

Barcelona is the capital of the Spanish region of Catalonia and is located along the Mediterranean coast. It is approximately 100 miles south of the Pyrenees mountain range. The city of Barcelona itself has a population of around 1.5 million while the population of the metropolitan area is just over 4.5 million.

Barcelona offers visitors the chance to walk from the Roman remains of the medieval city through to the modern city. The historic city centre is fairly flat whilst the modern part of the city fans out towards the surrounding hills.

Since the early 1990s Barcelona has boomed, due to the city hosting the 1992 Summer Olympic Games Barcelona was thrusted into modernity and still remains well at the forefront of other Spanish cities in terms of prosperity, stability and cultural activity.

The city's development still exceeds most of the rest of Spain. Following Franco's death and the return to democracy the various Spanish regions combined their cultural identities through political control over their own affairs.

Catalonia's history dates back to the ninth century when the County of Barcelona was established. The city was left devastated after the Catalonian Republic of 1640 - 1652 and again during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714. Half of the merchants quarter was destroyed by King Philip V of Spain to make way for a military citadel as a way of controlling and punishing the rebel city.

Barcelona and Catalonia became part of Napoleon's French Empire after he invaded Spain. He put his brother, Joseph, on the Spanish throne. After Napoleon's downfall it was returned to Spain.

Barcelona grew in the 19th century with the industrial revolution, the medieval walls were torn down and the La Ribera citadel became an urban park. The Parc de la Ciutadella was used as the site of the 1888 Universal Exposition (World Fair) and left behind the Arc de Triomf and the Museu de Zoologia.

By the beginning of the 20th century Catalan nationalists were fighting for political autonomy and greater freedom of expression. Barcelona became a stronghold for anarchist during the riots of Tragic Week in 1909 and the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939. Francisco Franco's forces over ran the city in 1939 and with it ushered in a new reign of repression, both culturally and politically, that would last for decades.

The end of the country's dictatorship in the 1970s enabled Barcelona to become the thriving city it is today. While it may well be the second city of Spain, it has a unique charm that can't be beaten elsewhere.