About Barcelona

Barcelona has a long history, with the first settlements dating back to Neolithic times. First inhabited by native Iberian residents, it became the Roman town of Barcino (built up between 200 BC and 14 AD). The colony grew to be roughly 1000 inhabitants and was surrounded by a defensive wall, the remains of which can still be seen in Barcelona's Old Town.

For over 200 years, Barcelona was under Muslim rule, and following the Christian reconquest, it became a county of the Carolingian Empire and one of the main residences of the court of the Crown of Aragón. The fruitful medieval period established Barcelona's position as the economic and political center of the Western Mediterranean. The city's Gothic Quarter bears witness to the splendor enjoyed by the city from the 13th to the 15th centuries. 

A period of cultural recovery began in the mid-19th century with the arrival of the development of the textile industry. During this period, which was known as the Renaixença, Catalan regained prominence as a literary language. 

The 20th century ushered in widespread urban renewal throughout Barcelona, culminating in its famous Eixample district, which showcases some of Barcelona's most distinctive Catalan art-nouveau and modernista buildings. Catalan architects Antoni Gaudí & Lluís Domènech i Muntaner designed buildings such as the Casa Milà (known as La Pedrera, the Catalan term for "stone quarry"), the Casa Batlló, the Sagrada Família, the Palau de la Música Catalana, and the Hospital de Sant Pau, all of which have become world-famous landmarks. The freedoms achieved during this period were severely restricted during the Civil War in 1936 and the subsequent dictatorship. 

The city of Barcelona was one of the principal battlegrounds of the Spanish Civil War. Punished by aerial bombardments of the civilian population throughout the conflict, the Civil War ended in 1938 with Barcelona in deplorable conditions. 

The city was bombarded for two and a half years, from the air and the sea. There were almost 200 bombing campaigns and 2,500 deaths. The damage can still be seen in the façade of Sant Felip Neri church located near the Cathedral of Barcelona.

The transition to democracy was not easy. People continued to be killed during the dictatorship, until the eventual death of Franco. But finally, on September 11th, 1977, more than a million people demonstrated on the street asking for Liberty, Amnesty and Autonomy.

Barcelona's hosting of the 1992 Olympic Games proved Barcelona's potential and reaffirmed its status as a major metropolitan city.

The Universal Forum of Cultures converted Barcelona into the capital of dialogue, with the city heading towards the 21st century with major investment in infrastructure and a definite policy for working to improve the neighborhoods. Some of the examples are the 22@ district of innovation in Poble Nou, the new terminal built in the El Prat Airport, the high speed train to the Catalan capital, the Rambla del Raval, the Passeig de la Diagonal, and of course, the Agbar Tower.