About Barcelona

Barcelona, capital of the autonomous region of Catalunya, is among the most animated, enchanting and interesting cities of the world. Though it's the largest and most densely populated city on the Mediterranean, it is friendly, safe and manageable. If it seems more spacious than it actually is, it's thanks to its broad avenues and green areas, fine beaches, and the view out to the sea. And thanks to the sea, the Barceloneses enjoy a temperate climate with short, cool winters, warm springs and hot summers. The climate promotes lively street life and the sidewalk cafés act as irresistible magnets to passersby.

Barcelona is a city brimming with history, culture and commerce and visitors and residents alike comment on the constant juxtaposition of the old and the new. Roman ruins and medieval palaces in the Gothic Quarter give way to the startling façades of modernisme, or art nouveau, buildings in the Eixample district and, throughout the city, one can find expressions of the boldest and most avant-garde tendencies in everything from design to cuisine. Though perhaps most famous for its architecture — Gaudí's Sagrada Familia is emblematic — , Barcelona is proud of its opera and its choral music traditions, as well as its painters and sculptors. It has many excellent museums, including the National Museum of Catalán Art, the Joan Miró Foundation and the Picasso Museum.

To understand Barcelona and the Catalán people, one must be aware that the region has a vibrant commercial tradition and a dynamic middle class dating back to the 14th century. In fact, the Llotja, built around 1390, is reputedly the oldest continuously operating stock exchange in the world. Barcelona has had its ups and downs economically since then, but it has always been industrious, a city of craftsmen and traders. It is, by general agreement, the most dynamic city on the Mediterranean and the bellwether of the new Europe.

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