Barcelona

Barcelona Basics. Suburban sprawl aside, the city sits between the sea to the south, and hills, particularly Montjuïc to the west and Tibidabo to the north. The geometrically laid-out, nineteenth-century district of L'Eixample lies to the north of the central Plaça de Catalunya, from where Las Ramblas, a tree-shaded boulevard and the backbone of the Ciutat Vella (old town) runs south-east down to the Port Vell (old harbour, now a marina). The most interesting quarter of the Ciutat Vella is the Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter), east of the Ramblas near the sea. The slightly dodgy but jolly interesting Barri Xinés (literally Chinese Quarter, actually the traditional red-light district), is on the other side, to the west. On a spit of land on the other side of the Port Vell lies the Barceloneta, once the old fishermen's quarter, now a popular seaside area and nightlife haunt.

The 1992 Olympic Games were in some ways an interesting mirror image of the city: the opening ceremony was genuinely vanguardist but comprehensible to the general public, the games themselves were generally acknowledged to be a great success after the disappointments of Los Angeles and Seoul, and the city took advantage both to renovate large areas which had suffered urban decay and to develop its image as a modern cultural centre. Forum 2004 did not have the same success in terms of visitor figures or critical acclaim, but the urban development carried out for it transformed and in many ways regained the decrepit port area of the city. There is no doubt that Barcelona is still one of the fashionable places in Europe.

A Little History. Barcelona is very much a port city, its history marked by this circumstance and by its geographical position. In the ninth century, Frankish King Charlemagne established the area which is now Catalonia as a march, a buffer zone between the Franks and the Muslims who had conquered Spain, and by the thirteenth century Catalonia and Barcelona had come to possess Mediterranean territories from Valencia to Sicily and beyond. Castilian and Aragonese interests put an end to Catalonian expansion, but did not succeed in absorbing the region, never altogether Spanish in spite of repeated efforts to make it so by Spanish centralists from the Catholic Monarchs to Franco and José María Aznar. The Ciutat Vella apart, most of Barcelona's visible history dates from the nineteenth century and twentieth centuries, for these were times of great prosperity for the city, first as the motor of Spain's industrial revolution and later as co-leader with the Basque Country of Spain's newfound regionalist movement.

Barcelona Travel

Barcelona Sights. Many of Barcelona's most unmissable sights are related with the eccentric (not to say not entirely sane) art nouveau architect Antonio Gaudí. For example, Barcelona's literally fantastic cathedral, the unfinished Sagrada Familia, is breathtakingly original, while the Parque Güell, intended to be a kind of garden city, is a riot of imaginativeness, right down to the wavy looking park benches. In pre-Gaudi Barcelona, Las Ramblas, the tree-lined avenue which runs down to the sea from the Placa Catalunya, is in many ways the spinal column of the city, and you are unlikely to spend much time in Barcelona without finding yourself drawn there. The Barri Gòtic contains Barcelona's Seu, cathedral (the other one), appropriately enough an imposing Gothic construction, and a number of interesting squares where it is a good idea to stop for a glass of something at a pavement café — the palm-shaded Plaça Reial is one such. A trip up to the Castell de Montjüic, built not to defend Barcelona but to maintain royal control over it, is worth it just for the views over the city.

Practical Barcelona Travel

When to Go. Barcelona is a year-round destination (see Barcelona Weather below). Its main fiesta is La Mercè (September 24, plus a day or two either side), and April 23 (Sant Jordi) is also celebrated in high style, Saint George being the patron saint of Cataluña (Catalans also celebrate World Book Day on the same date by giving their loved ones a book and a rose, a splendid example of Catalan canniness).

Where to Stay. Barcelona has something of an accommodation shortage, especially in the upper middle sector, which means that when major events like large conventions coincide, the "No Vacancies" sign can go up all over the city. For this reason, I have tried to provide the biggest possible selection of hotels and hostels.

Food and Drink. Barcelona does not really have a cuisine of its own, but you will find the best Catalan food there. These days, chefs like Ferrán Adrià are taking Catalan cuisine to new heights, though it has always been a rich, highly varied gastronomy, influenced by its Mediterranean neighbours and having recognisable Jewish, Arabic and even Roman traces. Like French cooking, it is based on a number of foundation sauces, notably the sofrito, chopped and fried flavouring ingredients like garlic, parsley, onion and tomato (essential for a good paella mixta, among other rice dishes). Salsa ali-oli, often described as "garlic mayonnaise" though it should not contain any trace of egg, is a surprisingly smooth, unsmelly cream of garlic and oil, served as accompaniment to, e.g., arroz negro, rice cooked in squid's ink. Escalivada is a salad of red peppers, aubergines, tomato, onion and garlic. Butifara is a Catalan cooked sausage. The Catalan fast food is the tosta, meat or poultry served on a thick slice of toasted bread, a formula which has recently become popular throughout Spain. To drink, Alella is a wine made in the north of Barcelona province, and Pla de Bages is an ancient wine-growing area in the west — "Bages" is supposed to be derived from "Bacchus." And you may want to take advantage of your stay to sample the Catalan champagne equivalent, cava. Local beers are Estrella-Damm and San Miguel — as usual with Spanish beer, both are quite fine if served sufficiently cold.

Moving Around. As well as free or discounted museum and theatre tickets and store discounts, the Barcelona Card covers all kinds of public transport including the shuttlebus from the airport and is, indeed, available for purchase there. I do not believe, however, that the city's three tourist bus routes are covered. See the website of Turisme de Barcelona for more details.

Getting There. As well as being directly or indirectly connected with both North and South America, Barcelona is very much on the budget airline map. For example, easyJet operates flights to Barcelona from six British and four European airports (I would think twice about getting a flight to Girona as Ryanair would have you do, though). Within the Iberian Peninsula, the long awaited AVE high-speed railway link with Madrid is taking forever to complete due to a series of awesomely stupid political and engineering cock-ups. This means the puente aéreo, air shuttle, is still the best connection with the Spanish capital, though Iberia's one-way Internet rate of 41 euros rises to nearly 60 when taxes and charges are added. Spanair sells some seats for 25 euros, 42 with taxes and charges, which may still be expensive for real budget travellers, who can get the bus operated by Alsa departing from Madrid's Estación Sur, though at nearly 25 € is it really worth the saving? Eight hours on a bus is not my idea of fun, compared to just over one hour by plane. I should also mention the small, Barcelona-based airline Vueling, which operates a route between Lisbon and Barcelona which many will find useful.

Barcelona Weather. Barcelona's climate is Mediterranean, but cooler than places further south. Winters are mild, with a mean daily minimum in January of 4.4ºC, and summers are warm rather than scorching, with a mean daily maximum in August of 28ºC. Barcelona is slightly more humid than is normal in Spain, though precipitation is low, and four or five rainy days a month is normal. Note that these will probably be thunderstorms in July and, especially, August.

Barcelona Links

Barcelona Links Directory
Barcelona Accommodation
Barcelona Bars and Pubs
Barcelona Museums
Barcelona Nightlife
Barcelona Restaurants
Barcelona Transport
Gaudi in Barcelona

Elsewhere on the Net - Selected Links

Barcelona - from Virtourist.com Best of the Net
Most of you who have spent time searching for travel information on the Internet will have come across Enric Corberó's splendid virtual tours. Like me, you might not have realised that he is a Barcelona native, and this is one of his best and most complete virtual tours. It opens with a splendid short movie of the façade of the Sagrada Familia and continues with 46 beautiful, entertainingly commented slides of the Hospital Sant Pau, the Parc Güell, the Ramblas, the Barri Gòtic, Vila Olímpica... in other words, practically the whole of Barcelona, including its customs, castellers and gegantes.

Stanton Studios
An interesting proposition which I can't quite fit in anywhere else. Philip Stanton is a Barcelona-based American designer with an impressive curriculum. This page contains views of Barcelona by several important Spanish artists, illustrators and photographers.

Time Out - Barcelona
In keeping with its origins, Time Out goes where the action is, and Barcelona's place as somewhere not to miss on the new European tourism scene is perfectly in keeping. Detailed guides to accommodation, restaurants, bars, what's on, the concession to the increased age of the audience that has grown up with Time Out perhaps being the Shopping guide.