Barcelona City Information
History: Barcelona has, as most coastal towns in Spain, a long and interesting history. Since its foundation in around 200BC it has been dominated by Carthaginians, Visigoths and Muslims and it was not until the 9th century when the Muslims were defeated by the Christians that the city was inhabited by Catalans. During the 14th century the Catalan mini-empire reached its splendour including areas such as Valencia, the Balearics Islands and parts of southern France under its rule. In 1473 the kingdom of Castilla invaded Catalonia after numerous conflicts. In 1700 the Catalan language were forbidden during a long period after they had joined forces with the English army against Castilla.
At the beginning of the 20th century the industrialisation of Barcelona started and the population size grew significantly. The city also started to take the form it has today and many important monuments and buildings are from this period. During the regime of Franco the Catalans were deprived and their language was again forbidden. When Franco died in 1975 the Catalans got back their freedom and is today a modern city that have arranged important international events like the 92 Olympic games or the World Forum in 2004.
Attractions: Barcelona is a city with a lot of interesting attractions from fabulous monuments and museums to flea markets and international events. The city is well known for the many fantastic buildings made by the Catalan architect Gaudi and the Monjuic area with its many museums and art galleries. For sport fans there are also many interesting alternatives and it is possible to practice all types of sports (water sports, golf, soccer, etc.) or to experience big sports events like the games of the famous soccer club FC Barcelona.
Going Out: Barcelona has an interesting nightlife where you can go out any day of the week and find all types of national or international restaurants, bars or discos. During the summer people goes to the terraces along the beach front or in the harbour and in the winter the old town is a popular place to go out.
For more information about Barcelona we can highly recommend this Barcelona Travel Guide where you can find a lot of useful information about Barcelona including an audio guide or we can also recommend the Barcelona City Guide where you can find attractions and useful facts about Barcelona.