Barcelona, in the vanguard of Spain

Barcelona offers visitors the possibility of touring the city on foot from its Roman ruins and medieval city to the modernist Catalán quarters. One of its most attractive places is Las Ramblas walk, which runs between Cataluña Square and the old port. This walk is crowded with people during the day and until the early hours of the morning, lined with newspaper kiosks, flowers, street actors, cafés, restaurants and shops. Near the port you will find markets being set up, as well as painters and sketch artists.

Las Ramblas walk ends in the old port, la Barceloneta, where the famous statue of Christopher Columbus stands pointing his arm not towards the continent he discovered in 1492, but in the opposite direction, towards Genoa, where they say he was born. And then in the new port hundreds of luxurious yachts docked in its harbour invite you to take a stroll along its promenade.

Barcelona also has large parks where you can enjoy some peace and quiet and disconnect from the hustle and bustle of the city. The most famous ones are the Güell Park, designed by Antonio Gaudí and located in the district of Gracia, the Montjuïc Park on the mountain of the same name, and the Ciudadela Park located in the centre of the city.

If you want to enjoy wonderful panoramas of Barcelona, you can go up either of these mountains that look out over the city. Montjuïc is a small mountain situated beside the port and there is an old military fort on its summit. Another spot from which you can take pleasure in views looking out over Barcelona is from the “Tibidabo” mountain.

Barcelona is known as the capital of Modernism, the city in which the architect Antoni Gaudí lived and worked and where his most representative works stand out, the temple of the Sagrada Familia, which Gaudí left unfinished. Other famous works are the Güell Park, the Milà House, also called “La Pedrera” and the Batlló House.

The most commercial area of the city is in its historic centre: Portaferrissa, Pelai, Rambla, Portal de l’Àngel and Catañuña Square, where small shops mix with department stores and franchises of large clothes chain stores. A little further north of Cataluña Square, in the Paseo de Gracia, the Rambla de Catalunya and the Avenida Diagonal, you will find the most famous shops selling international designer labels, leather goods and jewellery.

As regards typical dishes, bread with tomato, “escalibada” (a salad of roasted red peppers, aubergines and onions), or “butifarra catalana” (type of sausage) are some of its most well known delicacies. However, you can try many different dishes from Catalan cuisine in any good restaurant in the city centre or in La Barceloneta.

The international airport of Barcelona is located in Prat de Llogregat, it is well connected and you can get there by taxi, train or bus which will leave you at its different points. Regarding urban transport, Barcelona has an underground network and long and short distance trains connecting it to different points in Spain and the Generalitat (Autonomous Community of Cataluña).

By Ana Lobato

Courtesy of eMagazine Colaboradores