Fascinating Facts – Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia in Spain
Barcelona is situated in the North East of Spain, on the Mediterranean coast
Barcelona city has a population of around 1.7 million people
The country dialing code is 0034 and the Barcelona prefix is 91
The official currency is the Euro. Before the Euro was introduced the Peseta was used
The official language of Spain is Spanish although in 1975 the official language of Barcelona was declared Catalan
Barcelona is Spain’s second largest city, behind Spain’s capital Madrid
The most walked along street in Spain is in Barcelona. Each hour an approximate 3500 pedestrians walk down Portal d’Angel
The most famous street in Barcelona is Las Ramblas – 5 boulevards making up 1 – which starts at Plaça de Cataluya and 2kms later ends at the Columbus monument
Barcelona hosted the Olympic Games in 1992
Before 1992 Barcelona had no beaches for public and local use. The area was purely industrial but after redevelopment 7 beaches are now in use along 4.5kms of coastline
Barcelona Port is the no 4 worldwide and is Europe and the Mediterranean’s leading cruise port. 2.6 million passengers embarked or disembarked in Barcelona in 2013
Surprisingly Barcelona city has no Michelin 3 star restaurants although there are many Michelin 2 and 1 stars.
Barcelona’s world famous Football Club – F.C Barcelona – is nicknamed the ‘Blaugrana’ after the colors they most commonly wear namely blue (blau) and maroon (grana)
F.C Barcelona is also represented in other sports such as Basketball, Handball and Hockey
Antoni Gaudí was Barcelona’s most famous architect and 7 of his works have been declared UNESCO world heritage sites
Gaudí’s most famous Sagrada Familia was started in 1882 and is still being built today long after his death in 1926
The patron saint of Barcelona is the Virgin of Mercy. The day is declared a bank holiday and La Mercè festivities are held on (and during the week of) the 24th of September.
Many of our Private Food, Wine and Cultural tours include stays in Barcelona to discover this fantastic city via private tours and/or giving you free time for your own sightseeing.
