Barcelona

Barcelona, Spain’s most prosperous city is the capital city of Catalonia. The inhabitants speak Catalan. Barcelona is an open to the sea city. The harbour has become one of the favourite stop-off points for luxury cruise liners. It's a chic city, full of vibrancy, energy and art, an open air museum.

Barcelona is a city rich in architectural, artistic and cultural heritage. This city has been around for over two thousand years and as a result it has a million different sites, monuments and shows to interest the plethora of visitors that come its way each year.

The Rambla is, of course, the best known landmark of Barcelona, and deservedly so. Meandering down from the Plaza de Catalunya to the Columbus statue, filled with newspaper kiosks, flower and animal stalls, and all sorts of artists, it is undoubtedly the place where everyone comes together, both tourists and locals, from the most inconspicuous to the most exaggerated representative of all sorts of urban tribes.

A visit to the Market of la Boqueria is advisable to enjoy an incredible contrast between colours and activity, ideal to discover why Mediterranean cuisine is internationally known due to its ingredients. The best products from Catalonia in one place. Just off the Rambla, you can find the Plaza Real, one of the places with most tradition and interest around the city. It has a fine arcade, palm trees and lamps designed by Gaudí. It is an interesting square ideal to relax and enjoy a coffee in one of the many cafes.

Gaudí is the city’s most internationally renowned and emblematic architect. His buildings are a must-see attraction which leaves everyone who sees them speechless with wonder. The Sagrada Família is the most famous work of Gaudí, to which he dedicated all his life to the extreme that he lived inside the precinct to closely follow the works. To point out, it is the unique great temple at present in construction everywhere in the world.

The Casa Milà (1906-1912), better known as La Pedrera (the Catalan for quarry), comprises a series of limestone curtain walls on the outside and has inner courtyards decorated with murals. Its facade ripples around a street corner and has large windows and balconies with recycled wrought iron balustrades. La Pedrera, was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1984. The Casa Batlló is one of the Eixample district’s most charismatic buildings. The refurbishment of the previous building called for a new concept of ornamentation, which gave precedence to colour and light. The façade has unusual decorative motifs of particular interest. The interior reveals Gaudí’s interest in the functional nature of handcrafted work. The Park Güell was an attempt to create a housing estate in a natural setting. Gaudí applied all his urban-planning know-how to the project and created an area of 20 hectares where there are no straight lines. Everything is undulating, distorted and sinuous, imbuing the place with a magical atmosphere. The Park Güell is Antoni Gaudí’s largest work.

The Picasso Museum is indispensable for understanding the formative years of Pablo Ruiz Picasso. The genius of the young artist is revealed through the more than 3,500 works that make up the permanent collection. However, the Picasso Museum also reveals his relationship with Barcelona: an intimate, solid relationship that was shaped in his adolescence and youth, and continued until his death.

You can also visit the Miró Museum. The Joan Miró Foundation is one of our favourite museums in Barcelona. The building designed by Josep Lluís Sert offers you a moment of calm and beatitude: experience of light and beautiful spaces. Among the trees, you will have a stunning sightseeing of the city and a particular moment to see again or discover the work of Miró who throughout his life took a particular interest in the diversity of materials, forms and colours. It led him to explore and experiment with different art forms such as painting, sculpture, printing techniques, ceramics, theatre and tapestry.

And last but not least, a summary reading about Camp Nou (Catalan for "new field"), THE football stadium of Barcelona. It is the largest football stadium in Europe. The stadium is the home ground of FC Barcelona. It is known to be one of the biggest and most atmospheric stadiums in the world.

Barcelona, wonder of the world!!!!