Barcelona, Spain

Before we leave Spain, I have to tell you about beautiful Barcelona. This will be just a overview.
It is worth it to take a train from Madrid to Barcelona and it will take about 3 hours.

History

Catalonia is the area of Spain that celebrates beautiful Barcelona and was first settled during the Middle Paleolithic era 300,000 years ago. Like most Mediterranean areas, it was later controlled by Phoenicians and then Carthaginians. It is a land that has seen extensive conflict and changes in political status. In 1st century BC Romans took control, then in 415 AD they were defeated by the Visigoths who renamed the city of Barcino as Barcinona. The Visigoth kingdom came to an end in 711 with the Moorish invasion from Africa until they were by the Franks in 732. Charlemagne's knights pushed in after them and installed themselves at the head of the border counties to guard the southern flank of his empire.

After Louis V refused to help repulse Moorish raiders in 988, the counts of Barcelona declared their independence from the Franks. This period also saw the beginnings of democratic institutions. In 1640 a revolt against the five year old war with France started in Barcelona and saw Catalonia first declared as a republic allied to France. Forced to surrender under the 1652 siege of Barcelona, the Catalan territories north of the Pyrenees were given to France. The following years saw the city rebuilt, only to see it destroyed again in the wars against France of 1680 and 1690.

In 1705, following years of interference from Madrid, Catalonia signed a treaty with England and Genoa and went to war. This ended with the 13 month siege of Barcelona, which ended on 11th September 1714, celebrated today as Catalonia's national day.

In the early 1900's, Catalonia enjoyed and lost several times varying degrees of autonomy, but like the rest of Spain, Catalonia autonomy and culture were crushed to an unprecedented degree in 1939 after General Francisco Franco came to power. Public use of the Catalonia language was banned; however, some continued to speak the language privately.

Finally, in 1975, after Franco's death Spain moved to democracy and, Catalonia recovered its cultural and political autonomy.

Geography

Facing the Mediterranean Sea, Barcelona is located on the Iberian Peninsula’s northeast coast. The Collserola mountain range falls at the backdrop of the city giving it a spectacular location.

Economy

Manufacturing has played a major role in Barcelona’s economy since the early ages of industrialization in Europe. Textile is one of the major industries with a thriving cotton trade. Tourism and other service industries have boomed recently.

 

 

Society & Cultural Life

Barcelona has a very rich culture. Catalan and Spanish are widely spoken in Barcelona making it a bilingual city. Art and architecture are celebrated in Barcelona with amazing work all around you. Barcelona has many impressive buildings with styles going from the Gothic to the modernism. Also the city has many archaeological sites that are well worth a visit. Architects from around the world flock to the city to visit much of its more modern architecture.


Bold, colorful, distinctive, harmonious, varied and unique are just a few adjectives that come to mind when describing Barcelona architecture. Barcelona has successfully blended the old and the new in a way that makes this city simply breathtakingly beautiful. There is nothing more enjoyable than strolling around the streets of Barcelona and taking in the atmosphere that radiates out from the architecture. Traditional Catalan Gothic architecture such as the Iglesia de Pi church is reserved and stoic in its design, but just a 5 minute walk away we have the Barcelona Cathedral with is beautiful arches and facade. A short metro ride we have the famous Sagrada familia Basilica which towers into the sky and has different architectural styles on all four sides of the building.

Best time to visit

Anytime is a good time to visit Barcelona, the weather is pretty good all year round, not too hot in the summer and with few genuinely cold days in winter .

Do not forget to take comfortable shoes, there is a lot of walking to do.