Barcelona

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Barcelona
Barcelona from the air
Flag Coat of Arms
Location
Coordinates : 41°23′N, 2°11′E Time Zone : CET (GMT +1) - summer: CEST (GMT +2)
General information
Native name	Barcelona (Catalan)
Spanish name	Barcelona
Nickname	Ciutat Comtal (Catalan)
Postal code	08001–08080
Area code	34 (Spain) + 93 (Barcelona)
Website	http://www.bcn.cat/
Administration
Country	Spain
Autonomous Community	Catalonia
Province	Barcelona
Comarca	Barcelonès
Administrative Divisions	10
Mayor	Jordi Hereu i Boher (PSC)
Geography
Land Area	100.4 km²
Altitude	12 m AMSL
Population
Population	1,605,602 (2006)
- rank in Spain:	2
Density	15,969 hab./km² (2006)

Barcelona (Catalan IPA: [bəɾsəˈlonə], Spanish IPA: [baɾθeˈlona]) is the capital and most populous city of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, with a population of 1,605,602 in 2006. It is located on the Mediterranean coast ( 41°23′N, 2°11′E), between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs, and is limited to the west by the Serra de Collserola ridge (512 m).

Barcelona is a major economic centre, with one of Europe's principal Mediterranean ports, and its airport is the second largest in Spain. Founded as a Roman city, Barcelona became the capital of the Counts of Barcelona and the Crown of Aragon. Besieged several times during its history, Barcelona is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination and has a rich cultural heritage. Particularly renowned are architectural works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner that have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

As the capital of Catalonia, Barcelona houses the seat of the Catalan government, known as the Generalitat de Catalunya; of particular note are the executive branch, the parliament and the Supreme Court of Catalonia. The city is also the capital of the county (comarca) of the Barcelonès.

Contents 1 Names 2 History 3 Geography 3.1 Climate 3.2 Cityscape 3.2.1 Parks 3.2.2 Beaches 3.2.3 Other 4 Demographics 5 Economy 6 Government and administrative divisions 6.1 Administrative divisions 6.1.1 Districts and neighbourhoods 7 Education 8 Culture 8.1 Museums 8.2 Architecture 8.3 World Heritage Sites in Barcelona 8.4 Media 8.5 Music 9 Sports 10 Transportation 10.1 Air 10.2 Sea 10.3 Rail 10.4 Road 10.5 Public transportation 11 Sister cities 12 Other sights 13 See also 14 References 15 Bibliography 16 External links

[edit] Names

The name Barcelona comes from the ancient Levantine Iberian Barkeno; Greek: Βαρκινών;^[1] Latin: Barcino, Barcelo^[2] and Barceno.^[3]

During the Middle Ages the city was variously known as Barchinona, Barçalona, Barchelona and Barchenona.

[edit] History

Main article: History of Barcelona

The foundation of Barcelona is the subject of two different legends. The first attributes the founding of the city to Hercules 400 years before the building of Rome, and that it was rebuilt by the Carthaginian Hamilcar Barca, father of Hannibal, who named the city Barcino after his family, in the 3rd century BC. The second legend attributes the foundation directly to Hamilcar Barca.^[4]

About 15 BC, the Romans redrew the town as a castrum (Roman military camp) centred on the "Mons Taber", a little hill near the contemporary city hall (Plaça de Sant Jaume). Under the Romans it was a colony, with the surname of Faventia,^[5] or, in full, Colonia Faventia Julia Augusta Pia Barcino^[6] or Colonia Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino. Mela^[7] mentions it among the small towns of the district, probably as it was eclipsed by its neighbour Tarraco (modern Tarragona); but it may be gathered from later writers that it gradually grew in wealth and consequence, favoured as it was with a beautiful situation and an excellent harbour.^[8] It enjoyed immunity from imperial burdens.^[9] The city minted its own coins; some from the era of Galba survive.

Some important Roman ruins are exposed under the Plaça del Rei, entrance by the city museum (Museu d'Història de la Ciutat), and the typically Roman grid-planning is still visible today in the layout of the historical centre, the Barri Gòtic ("Gothic Quarter"). Some remaining fragments of the Roman walls have been incorporated into the cathedral.^[10] The cathedral, also known as basilica La Seu is said to have been founded in 343. The city was conquered by the Visigoths in the early fifth century, by the Moors in the early eighth century, reconquered from the emir in 801 by Charlemagne's son Louis who made Barcelona the seat of Carolingian "Spanish Marches" (Marca Hispanica), a buffer zone ruled by the Count of Barcelona. Barcelona was still a Christian frontier territory when it was sacked by Al-Mansur in 985.

The Counts of Barcelona became increasingly independent and expanded their territory to include all of Catalonia, later formed the Crown of Aragon which conquered many overseas possessions, ruling the western Mediterranean Sea with outlying territories as far as Athens in the thirteenth century. The forging of a dynastic link between the Crowns of Aragon and Castile marked the beginning of Barcelona's decline.

[edit] Geography

Barcelona is located on the northeast coast of the Iberian Peninsula, facing the Mediterranean Sea, on a plateau approximately 5 km wide limited by the mountain range of Collserola, the Llobregat river to the south-west and the Besòs river to the north. It is 160 km (100 mi) south of the Pyrenees and the Catalonian border with France. It has an area of 101 km² (38.9 mi²).^[11]

Collserola, part of the coastal mountain range, shelters the city to the north-west. Its highest point, the peak of Tibidabo, 512 m high, offers striking views over the city^[12] and is topped by the 288.4 m Torre de Collserola, a telecommunications tower that is visible from most of the city. Barcelona is peppered with small hills, most of them urbanized and that gave their name to the neighbourhoods built upon them, such as Carmel (267 m), Putxet (181 m) and Rovira (261 m). The escarpment of Montjuïc (173 m), situated to the southeast, overlooks the harbour and is topped by Montjuïc castle, a fortress built in the 17–18th centuries to control the city as a replacement for the Ciutadella. Today, the fortress is a museum and Montjuic is home to several sporting and cultural venues, as well as Barcelona's biggest park and gardens.

The city borders are the municipalities of Santa Coloma de Gramenet and Sant Adrià de Besòs to the north; L'Hospitalet de Llobregat and Esplugues de Llobregat to the south; the Mediterranean Sea to the east; and Montcada i Reixac and Sant Cugat del Vallès to the west.

[edit] Climate

Barcelona has a Mediterranean climate, with mild, dry winters and warm, humid summers. January and February are the coldest months, averaging temperatures of 10 °C (50 °F). Snowfalls are so rare that they are remembered as special events. July and August are the hottest months, averaging temperatures of 25 °C (77 °F). The highest recorded maximum temperature in the city itself is 38.6 °C.^[13] At the Fabra Observatory, situated on the Tibidabo hill, the record summer temperature is 39.8 °C (103.6 °F). ^[14] However, it should be noted that the observatory is situated in the hills above the city near Collserola park - an area where the impact of the "heat island" effect is likely to be diminished.^[15]

[edit] Cityscape

[edit] Parks

Barcelona contains 68 municipal parks, divided into 12 historic parks, 5 thematic (botanical) parks, 45 urban parks and 6 forest parks.^[16] They range from vest-pocket parks to large recreation areas. The parks cover 10% of the city (549.7 ha),^[11] growing about 10 ha per year,^[17] with a proportion of 18.1 m² of park area per inhabitant.^[18]

Of Barcelona's parks, Montjuïc is the largest, with 203 ha located on the mountain of the same name.^[11] It is followed by Ciutadella Park (situated in the place of the old military citadel and which houses the Parliament building, the zoo and several museums; 31 ha including the zoo), the Guinardó Park (19 ha), Park Güell (designed by Antoni Gaudí; 17.2 ha), Oreneta Castle Park (also 17.2 ha), Diagonal Mar Park (13.3 ha, inaugurated in 2002), Nou Barris Central Park (13.2 ha), Can Dragó Sports Park and Poblenou Park (both 11.9 ha) and the Labyrinth Park (9.10 ha), named after the garden maze it contains.^[11] A part of the Collserolla Park is also within the city limits.

[edit] Beaches

Barcelona has seven beaches, totalling 4.5 km (2.8 mi) of coastline. Sant Sebastià and Barceloneta beaches, both 1100 m in length,^[11] are the largest, oldest and the most frequented beaches in Barcelona. The Olympic port separates them from the other city beaches: Nova Icària, Bogatell, Mar Bella, Nova Mar Bella and Llevant. These beaches (ranging from 400 to 640 m) were opened as a result of the city restructuring to host the 1992 Summer Olympics, when a great number of industrial buildings were demolished. The 2004 Universal Forum of Cultures left the city a sandless bathing zone, a sort of sea pool.

[edit] Other

The area around the Plaça Catalunya makes up the city's historical centre and, alongside the upper half of the Diagonal avenue, is the main commercial area of the city. Barcelona has several commercial complexes, like L'Illa in the higher part of the Diagonal avenue and Diagonal Mar in the lowest, La Maquinista, Glòries in the place of the same name and the Maremagnum by the port.

Barcelona has several skyscrapers, the highest being the Hotel Arts and its twin the Torre Mapfre, both 154 m high, followed by the newest Torre Agbar, 144 m high.

[edit] Demographics

According to Barcelona's City Council, Barcelona's population as of 2006-06-01 was 1,673,075 people,^[19] while the population of the Metropolitan Area was 3,161,081. It is the central nucleus of the Urban Region of Barcelona, which relies on a population of 5,327,872 and covers an area of 4,268 km².

The population density of Barcelona was 15,779 people per km²,^[20] with Eixample being the most populated district. 62% of the inhabitants were born in Catalonia, with a 23.5% coming from the rest of Spain. Of the 13.9% from other countries, a proportion which has more than tripled since 2001 when it was 3.9%,^[11] the majority come from (in order) Ecuador, Peru, Morocco, Colombia, Argentina, Italy, Pakistan and China.^[21]

95% of the population understand Catalan, 74.6% can speak it, 75% can read it, and 47.1% can write it.^[22] While most of the population profess to be of the Catholic religion (208 churches), there are also a number of other groups, including various Evangelist (71 locations, mostly professed by Roma), Jehovah's Witnesses (21 Kingdom Halls) and Buddhists (13 locations).^[23]

Barcelona's population peaked in 1979 with 1,906,998 people, and descended through the 1980s and 1990s, where more people looked for a higher quality of life in the suburban cities of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. After it bottomed out in 2000 with 1,496,266 people, it started to increase again when more younger people started to return, causing a great increase in housing prices.^[24]

[edit] Economy

Barcelona has a long-standing mercantile tradition. Less well known is that it was one of the earliest regions in continental Europe to begin industrialization, beginning with textile related works at the end of the eighteenth century but really gathering momentum in the mid-nineteenth century, when it became a major centre for the production of textiles and machinery. Since then, manufacturing has played a large role in its history. The traditional importance in textiles is still reflected in Barcelona's importance as a major fashion centre. In summer 2006, Barcelona became hosted the prestigious Bread & Butter urban fashion fair.

As in other modern cities, the manufacturing sector has long since been overtaken by the services sector, though it remains important. The most important industries today are textile, chemistry, pharmaceutical, motor, electronic and printing. In the services sector, the most important are the logistics, publishing, telecommunications and computer sectors.

Drawing upon its tradition of creative art and craftsmanship, Barcelona is nowadays also known for its award-winning industrial design. Barcelona also has several congress halls, notably La Fira (Trade Fair), that host a quickly growing number of national and international events each year, which had also meant the opening of new hotels each year. The Port of Barcelona is an important Mediterranean port, both for general container cargo and for cruise ships.

Barcelona has one of the highest costs of living in Spain, second only to Madrid and occupying 31st position in the world according to a report by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.^[25]

[edit] Government and administrative divisions

See also: Municipal elections in Barcelona and List of mayors of Barcelona

Barcelona is governed by a city council formed by 41 city councillors, elected for a four-year term by universal suffrage. The executive (Comissió de Govern—Government Commission) is formed by 21 councillors, led by the Mayor, with 5 lieutenant-mayors and 15 city councillors, each in charge of an area of government. The seat of the city council is on the Plaça Sant Jaume, opposite the seat of Generalitat de Catalunya. Since the coming of the Spanish democracy, Barcelona has been governed by the PSC, first with an absolute majority and later in coalition with ERC and ICV. Since the May 2007 elections, PSC is governing in minority only with IC, since ERC decided against a renewal of the previous coalition. The second most voted party in Barcelona is CiU, followed by PP, both currently in the opposition.

The city council has jurisdiction in the fields of city planning, transportation, municipal taxes, public highways security through the Guardia Urbana (the municipal police), city maintenance, gardens, parks and environment, facilities (like schools, nurseries, sports centres, libraries, etc.), culture, sports, youth and social welfare. Some of these competencies are not exclusive, but shared with the Generalitat de Catalunya or the central Spanish government.

Barcelona, as one of the two biggest cities in Spain, is subject to a special law articulated through the Carta Municipal (Municipal Law). A first version of this law was passed in 1960 and amended later, but the current version was approved in March 2006.^[26] This law gives the local government a special relationship with the central government and it also gives the mayor wider prerogatives by the means of municipal executive commissions.^[27] It expands the powers of the city council in areas like telecommunications, city traffic, road safety and public safety. It also gives a special economic regime to the city's treasury and it gives the council a veto in matters that will be decided by the central government, but that will need a favourable report from the council.^[26]

[edit] Administrative divisions

Since 1997, the city has been divided into 10 administrative districts (districtes), each one with its own council led by a city councillor. The composition of each district council depends on the number of votes each political party had in that district, so a district can be led by a councillor from a different party than the executive council.

The administrative divisions are based mostly on historical divisions. Several of the city's districts are former towns annexed by the city of Barcelona in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that still maintain their own distinct character. The official names of these districts are in the Catalan language.

[edit] Districts and neighbourhoods

Main article: Districts of Barcelona

• Ciutat Vella ("Old City"): El Raval (also known in Spanish as the Barrio Chino, ("Chinatown"), the Barri Gòtic ("Gothic Quarter"), La Barceloneta and the Barri de la Ribera.
• Eixample: Sant Antoni, Esquerra de l'Eixample ("the left side of the Eixample" facing away from the sea), Dreta de l'Eixample ("the right side of the Eixample"), Barri de la Sagrada Família, Fort Pienc
• Sants–Montjuïc: Poble Sec, La Marina, La Font de La Guatlla, La Bordeta, Hostafrancs, Sants, Badal.
• Les Corts: Les Corts, La Maternitat, Pedralbes.
• Sarrià-Sant Gervasi: Tres Torres, Sarrià, Vallvidrera, Bonanova, Sant Gervasi, Putxet-Farró, Galvany.
• Gràcia: Vallcarca, El Coll, La Salut, Gràcia, El Camp d'en Grassot
• Horta-Guinardó: Horta, El Carmel, La Teixonera, El Guinardó (Alt i Baix), La Clota, La Vall D'Hebron, Montbau
• Nou Barris: Can Peguera, Porta, Canyelles, Ciutat Meridiana, Guineueta, Prosperitat, Vallbona, Verdum, Vilapicina, Roquetes, Trinitat Vella, Trinitat Nova, Torre Baró, Torre Llobeta and Turó de la Peira.
• Sant Andreu: La Segrera, Trinitat Vella, Bon Pastor, Sant Andreu, Navas, Baró de Viver
• Sant Martí: Diagonal Mar, Fort Pius, San Martí de Provençals, Poble Nou, La Verneda, El Clot

[edit] Education

Main article: Education in Catalonia

Barcelona has a well-developed higher education system of public universities. Most prominent among these is the University of Barcelona, a world-renowned research and teaching institution with campuses around the city. Barcelona is also home to the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, the newer Pompeu Fabra University and, in the private sector, the Ramon Llull University encompassing internationally renowned institutions like ESADE Business School. The Autonomous University of Barcelona, another public university, is located in Bellaterra, a town in the Metropolitan Area.

The city has a network of public schools, from nurseries to high schools, under the responsibility of the city council (though the student subjects are the responsibility of the Generalitat de Catalunya). There are also many private schools, some of them Roman Catholic. Like other cities in Spain, Barcelona now faces the integration of a large number of immigrant children from Latin America, Africa and Asia.

[edit] Culture

Barcelona's culture is rich, stemming from the city's 2000 years of history. To a greater extent than the rest of Catalonia, where Catalonia's native Catalan is more dominant, Barcelona is a bilingual city: Catalan and Spanish are both official languages and widely spoken. The Catalan spoken in Barcelona, Central Catalan, is the one closest to standard Catalan. Since the arrival of democracy, the Catalan culture (very much repressed during the dictatorship) has been promoted, both by recovering works from the past and by stimulating the creation of new works. Even today, however, Catalans experience persecution for speaking their native language in their own country. ^{[28] [29]}

Barcelona has a number of theatres, including the world-renowned Gran Teatre del Liceu opera theatre, the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya and the Palau de la Música Catalana concert hall. The GREC festival takes place every summer and brings highly renowned performers and companies to Barcelona.

[edit] Museums

Barcelona houses a great number of museums, which cover different areas and eras. The City History Museum, situated in a medieval building that used to be a royal residence, explains the story of the city, and includes a visit to the Roman ruins in the museum's basement. It also comprises the Museum-Monastery of Pedralbes, one of the best examples of Catalan Gothic architecture, the Museum-House Verdaguer, dedicated to poet Jacint Verdaguer, the Park Güell Interpretation Centre and several other minor sites.^[30]

The Museum of the History of Catalonia, opened in 1996, covers the story of Catalonia since prehistoric times and administers the monuments that belong to the Generalitat de Catalunya.^[31] The Archaeology Museum of Catalonia covers the story of Catalonia up to the Middle Ages, and of the cultures it came into contact with, and also runs several other archaeological sites in Catalonia.^[32]

The National Museum of Art of Catalonia possesses a well-known collection of Romanesque art, including wall-paintings from Romanesque churches and chapels around Catalonia that have been transferred to the museum, Gothic art from the thirteenth–fifteenth centuries, Renaissance and Baroque art from the 16th-18th centuries, Modern art from the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century, as well as the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection.

The Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, usually known as MACBA (acronym of Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona), focuses on post-1945 Catalan and Spanish art, though it also includes foreign works. Adjacent to the MACBA, the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, or CCCB, hosts temporary exhibitions, a cinema, concerts and other cultural events.

The works of Joan Miró are found in the museum of the Fundació Joan Miró, together with guest exhibitions from other museums around the world, while the Picasso Museum features early works by Pablo Picasso and his "Las meninas" series. The Fundació Antoni Tàpies holds a collection of Tàpies works.

The Museu Marítim de Barcelona,^[33] founded in 1929, is a nautical museum situated in historical Barcelona's royal shipyard complex, with the purpose of illustrating Catalan seafaring culture and maritime history. Cosmocaixa (formerly the Science Museum) is a science museum run by La Caixa Foundation that received the European Museum of the Year Award in 2006.

The Erotic museum of Barcelona^[34] is the first Museum of erotic art and culture where the visitor can contemplate the development of eroticism through the various artistic and cultural facets of the human being. The Museum's assets consist of more than 800 pieces of great historical value, spanning various cultures' erotic manifestations of both a ritual/religious as well as recreational nature.

[edit] Architecture

The Barri Gòtic ("Gothic Quarter" in Catalan) is the centre of the old city of Barcelona. Many of the buildings date from medieval times, some from as far back as the Roman settlement of Barcelona.

Catalan modernisme architecture (often known as Art Nouveau in the rest of Europe), developed between 1885 and 1950 and left an important legacy in Barcelona. A great number of these buildings are World Heritage Sites.

Especially remarkable is the work of architect Antoni Gaudí, which can be seen throughout the city. His best known work is the immense but still unfinished church of the Sagrada Família, which has been under construction since 1882, and is still financed by private donations: as of 2007, completion is planned for 2026. Other examples of his work are the Palau Güell, the Park Güell, the Casa Milà (La Pedrera) and the Casa Batlló.

Another notable architect was Lluís Domènech i Montaner, who designed the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Hospital de Sant Pau and the Casa Lleó Morera. Josep Puig i Cadafalch's well-known Casa Ametller can also be seen on Passeig de Gràcia.

Barcelona won the 1999 RIBA Royal Gold Medal for its architecture, the first (as of 2007, only) time that the winner has been a city, and not an individual architect.

[edit] World Heritage Sites in Barcelona

• Works of Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Palau de la Música Catalana and Hospital de Sant Pau, included in the list in 1997.
• Works of Antoni Gaudí, including Park Güell, Palau Güell, Casa Milà, Casa Vicens, Sagrada Família (Nativity façade and crypt), Casa Batlló, Crypt in Colonia Güell. The first three works were inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1984. The other four were added as extensions to the site in 2005.

[edit] Media

El Periódico de Catalunya (Catalan and Spanish editions) and La Vanguardia (Spanish) are Barcelona's two major daily newspapers while Sport and El Mundo Deportivo (both in Spanish) are the city's two major sports daily newspapers, published by the same companies. The city is also served by a number of smaller publications such as Avui and El Punt (both in Catalan), by nation-wide newspapers with special Barcelona editions like El Pais and El Mundo (both in Spanish), and by several free newspapers like Metro, 20 minutos, ADN and Què (bilingual).

Several major FM stations include Catalunya Ràdio, RAC 1, RAC 105 and Cadena SER. Barcelona also has several local TV stations, among them BTV (owned by city council) and 8TV (owned by the Godó group, that also owns La Vanguardia). The headquarters of Televisió de Catalunya, Catalonia's public network, are located in Sant Joan Despí, in Barcelona's metropolitan area.

[edit] Music

Barcelona is home to the Sónar Music Festival^[35] which takes place around June every year. This is an electronica music festival split into three days with two main events on each day (Sónar By Night and Sónar by Day). Sónar by day is held close to Les Rambles, whereas Sonar by night takes place in a complex just outside the main city.

The Barcelona and Catalonia National Symphonic Orchestra (Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, usually known as OBC) is the largest symphonic orchestra in Catalonia. Founded by the violinist and conductor Eduard Toldrà in 1944 as Barcelona's Municipal Orchestra, it became the OBC in the 1994-95 season after the Generalitat de Catalunya and Barcelona's City Council constituted the OBC consortium. In 1999, the OBC inaugurated its new venue in the brand-new Auditorium (l'Auditori). It performs around 75 concerts per season and its current director is Eiji Oue.^[36]

[edit] Sports

Barcelona has a long sporting tradition and hosted the successful 1992 Summer Olympics as well as several matches from the 1982 Football World Cup. It has also been host to the X FINA World Championships and Eurobasket twice.

FC Barcelona is a sports club best known for its football team, one of the biggest in Europe and the 2006 champion of both the Spanish league and the UEFA Champions League. FC Barcelona also has teams in the Spanish basketball ACB league (Winterthur FCB), the handball ASOBAL league (FC Barcelona-Cifec), and the roller hockey league. The basketball team's stadium is the Palau Blaugrana, which is just across from the Camp Nou football stadium. It also has amateur teams in several other sports. The club has a museum, the second most visited museum in Catalonia. RCD Espanyol is the city's other Liga football team and the 2006 holder of the Copa del Rey. CE Europa, Gramenet UEA, CF Badalona and UE Sant Andreu are the city's other football clubs. Joventut Badalona is another well-known basketball club in the area.

Barcelona has two UEFA 5-star rated football stadiums: FC Barcelona's Nou Camp and the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, used for the 1992 Olympics and the current home of Espanyol, pending completion of the club's new stadium. The Nou Camp is located in the Les Corts section of Barcelona, while Espanyol's Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys is located in the Sants-Montjuïc part of Barcelona.

The Open Seat Godó, a 50-year-old ATP Tour International Series Gold tennis tournament, is held annually in the facilities of the Reial Club de Tenis Barcelona (Barcelona Royal Tennis Club). Several popular running competitions are organized year-round in Barcelona: Cursa del Corte Inglés (with about 60,000 participants each year), Cursa de la Mercè, Cursa Jean Bouin, Milla Sagrada Família and the San Silvestre. Also, each Christmas, a swimming race across the port is organized. Near Barcelona, in Montmeló, the 131,000 capacity Circuit de Catalunya racetrack hosts the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix and the Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix. Barcelona has also become very popular with skateboarders, which has led to a new anti-skateboarding law, which came into effect in 2006.

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Air

Barcelona is served by Barcelona International Airport in the town of El Prat de Llobregat, about 3 km from Barcelona. It is the second-largest airport in Spain, and the largest on the Mediterranean coast. The airport is connected to the city by highway, commuter train and scheduled bus service. The Sabadell Airport is a smaller airport in the nearby town of Sabadell, devoted to pilot training, advertising flights, aerotaxi and private flights. Some low-cost airlines, like Ryanair and Martinair, prefer to use the Girona-Costa Brava Airport, situated about 90 km to the north of Barcelona and the Reus Airport, situated 77 km to the south.

[edit] Sea

Barcelona's harbour has a 2000-year history and a great contemporary commercial importance. It is the most important Mediterranean port for general cargo of containers and cruisers. The port is managed by the Port Authority of Barcelona. Its 7.86 km² are divided into three zones: Port Vell (the Old Port), the commercial port and the logistics port. The port is undergoing an enlargement that will double its size thanks to diverting the mouth of the Llobregat river 2 km to the south.^[37]

[edit] Rail

Barcelona is a major hub for RENFE, the Spanish state railway network, and its main intercity train station is Sants Estació. The AVE high-speed rail system was recently extended from Madrid to Tarragona in southern Catalonia, and is expected to reach Barcelona by 2007. Renfe cercanías/rodalies and the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) run Barcelona's widespread commuter train service.

[edit] Road

The Estació del Nord (Northern Station), a former train station that was renovated for the 1992 Olympic Games, now serves as the terminus for long-distance and regional bus services.

Barcelona has a metered taxi fleet governed by the Institut Metropolità del Taxi (Metropolitan Taxi Institute), composed of more than 10,000 cars. Most of the licenses are in the hands of self-employed drivers.^[38] With their black and yellow livery, Barcelona's taxis are easily spotted.

[edit] Public transportation

Barcelona is served by a comprehensive local public transport network that includes a metro, two separate tram networks (one of them, the Tranvía blau,^[39] connects to the Tibidabo funicular), a bus network and several funiculars and aerial cable cars. The Barcelona Metro network comprises nine lines, identified by an "L" followed by the line number as well as by individual colours. Most of the network is operated by the Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB), but three lines inter-run with suburban lines and are operated by the FGC.

The TMB also operates the city's tram networks, known as Trambaix and Trambesòs, and the city's daytime bus network. The night bus network, known as Nitbus, is operated by Mohn SL. Transports Ciutat Comtal, who also operate other tourist oriented services within the city. Other companies operate services that connect the city with towns in the metropolitan area.

The Funicular de Montjuïc cable car climbs the Montjuïc hill. The Funicular de Vallvidrera and the tourist oriented Funicular de Tibidabo cable cars climb the Tibidabo hill. The city has two aerial cable cars: one to the Montjuïc castle and another that runs via Torre Jaume I and Torre Sant Sebastia over the harbour.

[edit] Sister cities

Barcelona has sister relationships with many places worldwide:

Alghero, Italy Algiers, Algeria Antwerp, Belgium Boston, USA Busan, South Korea Cologne, Germany Dublin, Ireland Gaza, Palestinian National Authority Gdańsk, Poland Glasgow, Scotland Dubai, United Arab Emirates Other forms of cooperation and city friendship similar to the twin city programmes: Niš, Serbia

Istanbul, Turkey Kobe, Japan Medellín, Colombia Montevideo, Uruguay Montpellier, France Montreal, Canada Rio de Janeiro, Brazil São Paulo, Brazil Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina Tel Aviv, Israel

[edit] Other sights

Barcelona Cathedral	Sagrada Família at night	Santa Maria del Mar Church	Santa Maria del Pi Church
Portal de l'Àngel	Casa Batlló	Casa Milà (La Pedrera)	The Palau Nacional which houses the MNAC
Palau de la Música Catalana	The Arc de Triomf	Casa Vicens	Castell dels tres Dracs
Hotel Arts (l.) and Torre Mapfre (each 154 m in height) seen from Platja de la Barceloneta	Torre Agbar	Rambla de Mar in Port Vell (Old Harbour)	The Torre de Collserola in the Tibidabo Hill is the highest structure in Barcelona (288m).

[edit] See also

• Barcelona metropolitan area
• Urban Region of Barcelona
• List of tallest buildings and structures in Barcelona
• Skateboarding in Barcelona
• Guardia Urbana

[edit] References

[edit] Bibliography

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography by William Smith (1857).
• "Barcelona". Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana. Barcelona: Ed. Enciclopèdia Catalana S.A.. 

[edit] External links

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• Official Website of Barcelona
• Official Website Of Barcelona's Metropolitan Transports

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 41.3856° 2.1702°
  • Mapping from Multimap or GlobalGuide or Google Maps
  • Aerial image from TerraServer
  • Satellite image from WikiMapia
  • Mapping from OpenStreetMap
• Wiki.WorldFlicks @ Barcelona: Wiki with Geolocated photos on Map/Sat
• Barcelona travel guide from Wikitravel

edit	Municipalities of Barcelonès
Badalona | Barcelona | L'Hospitalet de Llobregat | Sant Adrià de Besòs | Santa Coloma de Gramenet