Barcelona (Spain)
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain with three million inhabitants, a dominating port in northern Mediterranean
with one of the most renowned and important universities in the world. The city is a very rich commercial centre, where
industrial operations crucial to the Spanish economy take place.
In fact, Catalans have always considered their region unique compared with the other Spanish regions and we can find
its roots in the power exercised by Barcelona for four hundred years at least on Spanish monarchy and on European
commercial events.
Similarly to Genoa and Venice, the city developed its fortune in the Middle Ages thanks to its port. The first Spanish
shipyards were built in Barcelona, banks and Catalan merchants flourished and for a long time remained the most
powerful in the Old World. For Barcelona the sea is very important. Catalan attorneys drafted the first code of European
maritime laws. Despite some momentary economic crisis, Barcelona confirmed its economic leadership last century with
the creation of large industries and arriving at end of the millennium in a position of great advantage compared with other
Spanish cities, confirmed by the recent Olympic Games which involved investments and structures amounting to
hundreds of billions in Catalonia.
Barcelona has also become one of the most active cities in culture in the Mediterranean. In the streets, particularly in the
famous Ramblas, there is a true cult for art in the street. Decorators, "madonnari" (painters of Madonnas), craftsmen and
engravers manufacture in just a few minutes their personalised craftwork according to the customers' taste, often tourists.
The university centre has attracted many young people and accordingly underground art, music and bars open all night. A
true cosmopolitan city offering a very wide range of tourist attractions.
Views of Barcelona from the surroundings are extraordinary. Montjuich Hill gives a beautiful view of the city and the
famous Formula 1 racetrack and a large part of the Olympic Village are situated there.
In the port, cargo traffic averages 20 million tons, and it is very close to the centre where it can be reached through the
typical ramblas. The Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Eulalia, the city's patron represents the most important religious centre,
even though the most famous church is undoubtedly the Sagrada Familia, started in 1882 and never completed by the
great architect Antonio Gaudì who conceived it as a large architectural structure with three façades representing the
Nativity, Passion and Death of Christ. The Barrio Gotico is the most ancient part of the city, dominated by the Cathedral.
The Carrer de Montcada Picasso Museum is here, the richest in the world as to number of masterpieces. Park Guell is
also very beautiful although incomplete, designed by Gaudí and meant to become a residential garden town.
with one of the most renowned and important universities in the world. The city is a very rich commercial centre, where
industrial operations crucial to the Spanish economy take place.
In fact, Catalans have always considered their region unique compared with the other Spanish regions and we can find
its roots in the power exercised by Barcelona for four hundred years at least on Spanish monarchy and on European
commercial events.
Similarly to Genoa and Venice, the city developed its fortune in the Middle Ages thanks to its port. The first Spanish
shipyards were built in Barcelona, banks and Catalan merchants flourished and for a long time remained the most
powerful in the Old World. For Barcelona the sea is very important. Catalan attorneys drafted the first code of European
maritime laws. Despite some momentary economic crisis, Barcelona confirmed its economic leadership last century with
the creation of large industries and arriving at end of the millennium in a position of great advantage compared with other
Spanish cities, confirmed by the recent Olympic Games which involved investments and structures amounting to
hundreds of billions in Catalonia.
Barcelona has also become one of the most active cities in culture in the Mediterranean. In the streets, particularly in the
famous Ramblas, there is a true cult for art in the street. Decorators, "madonnari" (painters of Madonnas), craftsmen and
engravers manufacture in just a few minutes their personalised craftwork according to the customers' taste, often tourists.
The university centre has attracted many young people and accordingly underground art, music and bars open all night. A
true cosmopolitan city offering a very wide range of tourist attractions.
Views of Barcelona from the surroundings are extraordinary. Montjuich Hill gives a beautiful view of the city and the
famous Formula 1 racetrack and a large part of the Olympic Village are situated there.
In the port, cargo traffic averages 20 million tons, and it is very close to the centre where it can be reached through the
typical ramblas. The Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Eulalia, the city's patron represents the most important religious centre,
even though the most famous church is undoubtedly the Sagrada Familia, started in 1882 and never completed by the
great architect Antonio Gaudì who conceived it as a large architectural structure with three façades representing the
Nativity, Passion and Death of Christ. The Barrio Gotico is the most ancient part of the city, dominated by the Cathedral.
The Carrer de Montcada Picasso Museum is here, the richest in the world as to number of masterpieces. Park Guell is
also very beautiful although incomplete, designed by Gaudí and meant to become a residential garden town.