Barcelona

Barcelona, Spain

Fanciful architecture and hip restaurants meet sunny Spanish climate and beaches. This has transformed Barcelona in just a few decades from a rough port city to one of Europe’s—if not the world’s—premier destinations. Stroll along La Rambla, admire the Casa Calvet’s façade or the Casa Mila designed by Gaudi, visit the Market of la Boqueria or shop at El Corte Inglés, and sample some of the many bars, cafés and late night haunts while you’re at it.

Population:

1.81 million

Currency:

Euro, €1=100 cents

Emergency Numbers:

Emergency call: 112

Opening Hours:

Usually Monday to Friday from 9:30am to 1:30pm and 4:30pm to 8pm with some variations. Many establishments have the same opening hours on Saturdays and some are open until lunchtime on Sundays. Shopping centres and many large stores do not close for lunch/siesta.

Newspapers:

La Vanguardia
El Periódico
El País
El Mundo

The City

Like many other cities on the Mediterranean, Barcelona was founded by the Romans. The original settlement, called Barcino, was a small port located on the same spot as today’s cathedral. The town was overshadowed by Tarragona, the capital of the province. Both the Visigoths and the Moors invaded Barcelona; however, their influence was not as important to the future of the city as the arrival of the Franks in the late 9th century. It was at that point that Barcelona and Catalonia started shaping their own identity, different from the rest of Spain.

This is most apparent in the language - Spanish, or Castilian, has many Arabic words, while Catalan has many French words instead. So Catalan is not a Spanish dialect, but a language in its own right, related to other Romance languages.

Barcelona’s history is seen everywhere in the city. The oldest areas are located by the sea, including the shopping enclave Barri Gotic. On the other side of the main boulevard, La Rambla, lies the legendary Raval district. Until the 1980’s this was the slum area, home to the city’s own Chinatown (Barrio Chino) and the red light district. Today, designer shops and cafés have moved in. Further north is fashionable Eixample, the area created as a result of the 19th century expansion of the city.

Do & See

Barcelona's impressive range of sights caters to all tastes - whether you're an architect, a designer, a football fan, an historian, or even a city planner - there's something for everyone in the most self-assured city on the Mediterranean. A visit to Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila and Casa Calvet is a must when visiting Barcelona.

Dining

The easiest thing is to divide Barcelona’s overwhelming range of restaurants into two categories: the new and the old. Some of the world’s most modern restaurants, managed by the world’s most innovative chefs (the most famous is Ferrán Adrià) can be found here, but there is also traditional Catalonian cuisine, which, despite being heavy on occasion, includes very good vegetable dishes (samfaina, a kind of ratatouille, escalivada, grilled, peeled peppers, aubergines and onions espinacs a la catalan, spinach fried with garlic, pine nuts and raisins). Best known is the simple rustic pa amb tomàquet: a slice of bread with olive oil, salt and freshly crushed tomatoes.

"The new ones" in particular may be expensive, but many of the best known chefs’ apprentices have now opened their own lower-priced restaurants. Generally speaking, "the old ones" provide better value for money, although even the traditional restaurants know how to charge. You should always reserve a table in Barcelona. Dinner is not served until 9pm.

Cafes

Barcelona’s café culture is half Italian, and comes with its own set of simple rules: café con leche (café amb llet in Catalan) is for breakfast, preferably with a croissant; mid-day, especially after a meal, the locals have an espresso, café solo (un café) or a cortado (un tallat), which is an espresso with milk (café Americano is what some would call watered down versions of the two first coffees); in the afternoon, or after dinner, order a café solo corto, a strong espresso, or a carajillo—a café solo with Spanish brandy.