Barcelona Spain!?

Question

I might be attending the University of Barcelona in Spain for 2007/2008. What is the weather like? Beaches? People? Dorms? Any information would be awesome!

Answer 1

Weather--- Incredibly nice May-Oct if you like warm sunny weather. It doesnt rain much that time of year and is very warm without being  humid or unbearable.  The rest of the year is mild. It hardly ever snows but can get cool and chilly at times. Rain is more frequent in the winter.

Beaches are kind of a downer. There are not really any nice ones in the barcelona area itself. However, you can always drive a little north or south and find some good ones.

People-- Just like any major city you get a little good and little bad.  Most people I met while over there were very freindly and helpful

Dorms-- Sorry, no info for you there.

If you get a chance, grab a flight out to Mallorca or Menorca for a long weekend at some point during the summer. It will be one of the best times of your life.

Answer 2

Hi! I'm from Barcelona, the weather is so comfortable: not too hot on summer, not too cold on winter, so nice! There is a long beach on city, but I recomend you the ones where on outskirts like ocata o montgat (just 20minuts by train)

People are so nice: what can i say? lol

Barcelona is a city where you find everything you want... If you need something or want more information, just contact me;)

Answer 3

Barcelona  now has every leisure and sports facility possible since 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. The streets of Barcelona are alive by day or night, providing the visitor with a safe place for strolling around, whether for shopping, eating or simply passing the time of day. There is also 1 mile long city beach with clean soft sand, ideal for sun bathing. See http://www.spain4uk.co.uk/places/barcelo... for more details

Answer 4

Barcelona,Spanish IPA: [baɾθeˈlona]) is the second largest city in Spain, capital city of Catalonia and the province with the same name. It is located in the comarca of Barcelonès, along the Mediterranean coast (41°23′N 2°11′E) between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs.

As capital city of Catalonia, Barcelona houses the seat of the Generalitat de Catalunya and its Conselleries, the Parliament of Catalonia and the Supreme Court of Catalonia.

History

The foundation of Barcelona is the subject of two different legends. The first attributes the founding of the city to Hercules 400 years before the building of Rome, and that it was rebuilt by the Carthaginian Hamilcar Barca, father of Hannibal, who named the city Barcino after his family, in the 3rd century BC. The second legend attributes the foundation directly to Hamilcar Barca. (Oros. vii. 143; Miñano, Diccion. vol. i. p. 391; Auson. Epist. xxiv. 68, 69, Punica Barcino.) About 15 BC, the Romans redrew the town as a castrum (a Roman military camp) centred on the "Mons Taber", a little hill nearby the contemporary city hall (Plaça de Sant Jaume). Under the Romans it was a colony, with the surname of Faventia (Plin. iii. 3. s. 4), or, in full, Colonia Faventia Julia Augusta Pia Barcino (Inscr. ap. Gruter, p. 426, nos. 5, 6.) or Colonia Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino. Mela (ii. 6) mentions it among the small towns of the district, probably as it was eclipsed by its neighbor Tarraco (modern Tarragona); but it may be gathered from later writers that it gradually grew in wealth and consequence, favoured as it was with a beautiful situation and an excellent harbour. (Avien. Or. Mar. 520: "Et Barcilonum amoena sedes ditium.") It enjoyed immunity from imperial burdens. (Paul. Dig. 1. t*t. 15, de Cens.) The city minted its own coins; some from the era of Galba survive. Some important Roman remains are exposed under the Plaça del Rei, entrance by the city museum, Museu d'Història de la Ciutat and the typically Roman grid-planning is still visible today on the map of the historical centre, the Barri Gòtic ("Gothic Quarter"). Some remaining fragments of the Roman walls have been incorporated in the cathedral butted up against them [2]; the basilica La Seu is credited to have been founded in 343. The city was conquered by the Visigoths in the early 5th century, by the Moors in the early 8th century, reconquered from the emir in 801 by Charlemagne's son Louis who made Barcelona the seat of Carolingian "Spanish Marches" (Marca Hispanica), a buffer zone ruled by the Count of Barcelona. Barcelona was still a Christian frontier territory when it was sacked by Al-Mansur in 985.



Barcelona CathedralThe counts of Barcelona became increasingly independent and expanded their territory to include all of Catalonia, later formed the Crown of Aragon who conquered many overseas possessions, ruling the western Mediterranean Sea with outlying territories as far as Athens in the 13th century. The forging of a dynastic link between the Crowns of Aragon and Castile marked the beginning of Barcelona's decline.

The city was devastated after the Catalonian Republic of 1640 - 1652, and again during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714. King Philip V of Spain demolished half of the merchants' quarter (La Ribera) to build a military citadel , the Ciutadella, as a way of both punishing and controlling the rebel city. Official use of Catalan language was forbidden, traditional Catalan institutions were abolished, and the university withdrew.

Barcelona and the province of Catalonia were annexed by the French Empire of Napoleon after he invaded Spain and put his brother Joseph on the Spanish throne. It was returned to Spain after Napoleon's downfall.

During the 19th century, Barcelona grew with the industrial revolution and the introduction of many new industries. During a period of weaker control by the Madrid authorities, the medieval walls were torn down and the citadel of La Ribera was converted into an urban park: the modern Parc de la Ciutadella, site of the 1888 "Universal Exposition" (World's Fair). The exposition also left behind the Arc de Triomf and the Museu de Zoologia (a building originally used during the fair as a cafe-restaurant). The fields that had surrounded the artificially constricted city became the Eixample ("extension"), a bustling modern city surrounding the old.

The beginning of the 20th century marked Barcelona's resurgence, while Catalan nationalists clamoured for political autonomy and greater freedom of cultural expression.

Barcelona was a stronghold for the anarchist cause -anarchist opposition to the call-up of reservists to fight in Morocco was one of the factors that led to the city's Tragic Week in 1909- siding with the Republic's democratically elected government during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Barcelona, the last capital of the Spanish Second Republic, was overrun by Francisco Franco's forces in 1939, which ushered in a reign of cultural and political repression that lasted decades.

The protest movement of the 1970s and the death of Franco in 1975 turned Barcelona into a centre of cultural vitality. A decline in the inner city population and displacement towards the outskirts and beyond currently raises the threat of urban sprawl.

The city has been the focus of the revival of the Catalan language. Despite massive immigration of Castilian speakers from the rest of Spain in the second half of the 20th century, there has been notable success in the increased use of Catalan in everyday life.

Barcelona was the site of the 1992 Summer Olympics. The largest event held in the city since the '92 Summer Olympics was the 2004 Universal Forum of Cultures that was held between May and September, lasting a marathon 141 days.

Major events

The Arc de Triomf in Barcelona1888 Universal Exposition (World's Fair)

1909 Tragic Week

1929 International Exposition (World's Fair)

1936 People's Olympiad, cancelled because of the Spanish Civil War

1952 Eucharistic Congress

1962 In late September, major flooding kills 800+ people in the surroundings

1982 Hosted eight matches of the twelfth Football World Cup

1987 Hipercor terrorist attack orchestrated by ETA

1992 Summer Olympics

2004 Universal Forum of Cultures

Geography



Barcelona as seen from space.Barcelona is located on the northeast coast of the Iberian Peninsula, facing the Mediterranean sea, in a plateau of about 5 km width limited by the mountain range of Collserola, the Llobregat river on the south and the Besòs river on the north. It is 160 km (100 mi) south of the Pyrenees mountain range.

Collserola, part of the coastal mountain range, forms a soft rounded backdrop to the city. Its highest point, the mountain of Tibidabo, 512 m high and topped by the 288.4 m telecommunications tower of Collserolla, is visible from most of the city. The city is peppered with small hills, most of them urbanized and that gave name to the neighborhoods build upon them: Carmel (267 m.), Monterols (121 m.), Putxet (181 m.), Rovira (261 m.) and Peira (133 m.). The mountain of Montjuïc (173 m.) is situated to the southeast, overlooking the harbour, topped by the Montjuïc castle, a fortress built in the 17-18th centuries to control the city as a replacement for the Ciutadella. Nowadays, the fortress is a museum and the mountain houses former Olympic and cultural venues, as well as some well-known gardens.

To the north, the city borders the municipalities of Santa Coloma de Gramenet and Sant Adrià de Besòs; to the south it borders L'Hospitalet de Llobregat and Esplugues de Llobregat; to the east is the Mediterranean; and to the west are Montcada i Reixach and Sant Cugat del Vallès.

Cityscape



The maze in the Labyrinth ParkBarcelona contains 68 municipal parks, divided into 12 historic parks, 5 thematic (botanical) parks, 45 urban parks and 6 forest parks. [1] They range from vest-pocket parks to large recreation areas, including botanical parks. The city has a proportion of 18,1 m2 of park area per inhabitant.[2] that grows about 10 ha per year [3]. The largest parks are the Park Güell (17,18 ha), the Guinardó Park (15,89 ha), the Ciutadella Park (situated in the place of the old military citadell and that contains within the Parliament, the zoo and several museums; 17,42 ha, 31 ha with the zoo [4]), the Heuras Palace Gardens (3,50 ha) and the Labyrinth Park (9,10 ha), named after the garden maze it contains. Part of the Collserolla Park is also within the city's limits.

The area around the Catalunya Place, including the city's historical center, the Passeig de Gracia, the Rambla de Catalunya and the upper half of the Diagonal avenue is the main commercial area of the city. Barcelona has several commercial complexes, like L'Illa in the higher part of the Diagonal avenue and Diagonal Mar in the lowest, La Maquinista, Glòries in the place of the same name and the Maremagnum by the port.

Barcelona has several skyscrapers, the highest being the Hotel Arts and its twin the Torre Mapfre, with 154 m, followed by the newest Torre Agbar, with 144 m.

Climate



Climate of BarcelonaBarcelona has a Mediterranean climate, with mild, dry winters and warm, humid summers. January and February are the coldest months, averaging temperatures of 10 °C. July and August are the hottest months, averaging temperatures of 25 °C.

Demographics



Demographic evolution, 1900-2005, according to the Spanish Instituto Nacional de EstadísticaAccording to Barcelona's City Council, Barcelona's population as of 1 January 2005 was 1,593,075 people,[5] while the population of the metropolitan area was 5,292,354 (2006). The population density was 15.779 people per km².[6] 95% of the population understand Catalan, 74.6% can speak it, 75% can read it, and 47.1% can write it.[7] 13.8% of the population (219,941 people) are immigrants. The majority come from (in order) Ecuador, Peru, Morocco, Colombia, Argentina, Italy, Pakistan and China.[8]

While the vast majority of the population profess to be of the Catholic religion (208 churches), there are also a number of other groups, including various Evangelist (71 locations, mostly professed by Roma), Jehovah's Witnesses (21 Kingdom Halls) and Buddhists (13 locations).[9]

Barcelona's population peaked in 1979 with 1.906.998 people, and descended through the 80s and 90s, where more people looked for an higher quality of life in the cities of the metropolitan area. After it bottomed in 2000 with 1.496.266 people, it started to climb up again when more younger people started to return, causing a great increase in housing prices. [10]

Economy

Barcelona has a long-standing mercantile tradition. Less well known is that it was one of the earliest regions in continental Europe to begin industrialization, beginning with textile related works at the end of the 18th century but really gathering momentum in the mid 19th century, when it became a major center for the production of textiles and machinery. Since then, manufacturing has played a large role in its history. The traditional importance in textiles is still reflected in Barcelona's importance as a major fashion center. In summer 2006, Barcelona became an host for the prestigious Bread & Butter urban fashion fair. The enormous success of this edition made the organizers choose Barcelona as the only venue for the fair in future editions, even above its original location in Berlin.

As in other modern cities, the manufacturing sector has long since been overtaken by the services sector, though it remains important. The most important industries today are textile, chemistry, pharmaceutical, motor, electronic and printing. In the services sector, the most important are the logistics, publishing, telecommunications and computer sectors.

Drawing upon its tradition of creative art and craftsmanship, Barcelona is nowadays also known for its award-winning industrial design. La Fira, Barcelona's fair, organizes numerous fairs and shows, some of them among the best in Europe. Barcelona also has several congress halls, that host a quickly growing number of national and international events each year, which had also meant the opening of new hotels each year. In the later years, the Port of Barcelona has become the most important Mediterranean port for general cargo of containers and cruisers.

Tourism



Barcelona at nightBarcelona is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, due to its good climate and its cultural offerings. Barcelona houses over 45 renowned museums and is famous for its unique contemporary architecture and the famous works of architect Antoni Gaudí. The city has 4.5 km of beaches, from the historical Barceloneta to the newest, sandless bathing zone in the Forum.

Government and administrative divisions

See also: Municipal elections in Barcelona and List of mayors of Barcelona

Barcelona is governed by a city council formed by 41 city councillors, elected for a four-year term by universal suffrage. The executive government (Comissió de Govern - Government Commission) is formed by 21 councillors. On top there's the Mayor, with 5 lieutenant-mayors and 15 city councillors, each one in charge of an area of government.

The council's seat is at the Plaça Sant Jaume, face-to-face with the Generalitat de Catalunya. Since the coming of the Spanish democracy, Barcelona has been governed by the PSC, first alone and nowadays in coalition with ERC and ICV. The second most voted party in Barcelona is CiU, followed by PP.

The city council has jurisdiction in the fields of city planning, transportation, municipal taxes, public highways security through the Guardia Urbana, city maintenance, gardens, parks and environment, facilities (like schools, nurseries, sports centres, libraries, etc.), culture, sports, youth and social welfare. Some of these competencies are not exclusive, but shared with the Generalitat de Catalunya or the central Spanish government.

Barcelona, as one of the two biggest cities in Spain, is subject to a special law articulated through the Carta Municipal (Municipal Law). A first version of this law was passed in 1960 and amended latter, but the current version was approved in March 2006.[11] This law gives the local government an special relationship with the central government and it also gives the mayor wider prerogatives by the means of municipal executive commissions.[12] It expands the powers of the city council in areas like telecommunications, city traffic, road safety and public safety. It also gives a special economic regime to the city's treasury and it gives the council voice in matters that will be decided by the central government, but that will need a favorable report from the council. [11]

Administrative divisions

Since 1984, the city is divided into 10 administrative districts, each one with its own council directed by a city councillor. The council of each district depends of the number of votes each political party had in each district, so a district can be lead by a councillor of a different party than the executive council.

The administrative divisions are based mostly on historical reasons. Several of the city's districts are former towns annexed by the city of Barcelona in the 18th and 19th centuries that still maintain their own distinct character. The official names of these districs are in Catalan language.

Districts and neighborhoods



DistrictsCiutat Vella (old city): El Raval (also known as the Barri Xinès), the Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter), La Barceloneta and the Barri de la Ribera.

Eixample: Sant Antoni, l'Eixample Esquerra ("the left side of the Eixample" with the sea at your back), l'Eixample Dreta("the right side of the Eixample"), Barri de la Sagrada Família

Sants - Montjuïc: Can Tunis, Montjuïc, Hostafrancs, Sants, Poble Sec

Les Corts

Sarrià - Sant Gervasi: Pedralbes, Sarrià, Sant Gervasi, Vallvidrera

Gràcia: Vallcarca, El Coll, La Salut, Gràcia, El Camp d'en Grassot

Horta-Guinardó: Horta, El Carmel, La Teixonera, El Guinardó (Alt i Baix)

Nou Barris: Can Peguera, Porta, Canyelles, Ciutat Meridiana, Guineueta, Prosperitat, Vallbona, Verdum, Vilapicina, Roquetes, Trinitat Vella, Trinitat Nova, Torre Baró, Torre Llobeta and Turó de la Peira.

Sant Andreu: Barri del Congrés, Sant Andreu de Palomar

Sant Martí: Fort Pius, Sant Martí de Provençals, Poble Nou, La Verneda, el Clot

Education

Barcelona, like Spain in general, has a well-developed higher education system of public universities. Most prominent among these is the University of Barcelona, a world-renowned research and teaching institution with campus around the city. Barcelona is also home to the Technical University of Catalonia, the newer Pompeu Fabra University and, in the private sector, the Ramon Llull University. The Autonomous University of Barcelona, another public university, is located in Bellaterra, a town in Barcelona's metropolitan area.

The city has a network of public schools, from nurseries to high schools, under the responsibility of the city council (though the student subjects are responsibility of the Generalitat de Catalunya). There are also many private schools, some of them Roman Catholic. Like other cities in Spain, Barcelona now faces the integration of a large number of immigrant children from Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Culture

Barcelona's culture is rich, stemming from the city's 2000 years of history. To a greater extent than the rest of Catalonia, where Catalonia's native Catalan is more dominant, Barcelona is a bilingual city: Catalan and Spanish are both official and widely spoken. The Catalan spoken in Barcelona, Central Catalan, is the one closest to standard Catalan. Since the arrival of democracy, the Catalan culture (repressed during the dictatorship) has been promoted, both by recovering works from the past and by stimulating the creation of new works.

Barcelona has a number of theaters, including the world-renowned Gran Teatre del Liceu opera theater, the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya and the Palau de la Música Catalana concert hall. The GREC festival takes place every summer and brings to Barcelona highly renowned performers and companies.

Museums



Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA)Barcelona houses a great number of museums, which cover different areas and eras. The City History Museum, situated in a medieval building that used to be a royal residence, explains the story of the city, and includes a visit to the Roman ruins in the museum's basement. It also comprises the Museum-Monastery of Pedralbes, one of the best examples of Catalan Gothic architecture, the Museum-House Verdaguer, dedicated to poet Jacint Verdaguer, the Park Güell Interpretation Center and several other minor sites. [13]

The Museum of the History of Catalonia, open in 1996, covers the story of Catalonia since prehistoric times and administers the monuments that belong to the Generalitat de Catalunya.[14] The Archaeology Museum of Catalonia covers the story of Catalonia up to the Middle Ages, and of the cultures it came it contact with, and also runs several other archaeological sites in Catalonia.[15]

The National Museum of Art of Catalonia possesses a well-known collection of Romanesque art, including wall-paintings from Romanesque churches and chapels around Catalonia that have been transferred to the museum, Gothic art from the 13th-15th centuries, Renaissance and Baroque art from the 16th-18th centuries, Modern art from the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century, as well as the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection.

The Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, usually known as MACBA (acronym of Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona), focuses on post-1945 Catalan and Spanish art, though it also includes foreign works. Adjacent to the MACBA, the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, or CCCB, hosts temporary exhibitions, a cinema, concerts and other cultural events.

The works of Joan Miró are found in the museum of the Fundació Joan Miró, together with guest exhibitions from other museums around the world, while the Picasso Museum features early works by Pablo Picasso and his "Las meninas" series. The Fundació Antoni Tàpies holds a collection of Tàpies works.

The Erotic museum of Barcelona[16] is the first Museum of erotic art and culture where the visitor can contemplate the development of eroticism through the various artistic and cultural facets of the human being. The Museum's assets consist of more than 800 pieces of great historical value, spanning various cultures' erotic manifestations of both a ritual / religious as well as recreational nature.

Architecture



The Sagrada Família churchCatalonian modernisme architecture, developed between 1885 and 1950, left an important legacy in Barcelona. A great part of them are World Heritage Sites.

Especially remarkable is the work of architect Antoni Gaudí, which can be seen around the city. His best known work is the immense but still unfinished temple of the Sagrada Família, which has been under construction since 1882, and is still financed by private donations. The Sagrada Família is billed for completion in 2026. Other examples of his work are the Palau Güell, the Park Güell, the Casa Milà (La Pedrera) and the Casa Batlló.

Another notable architect was Lluís Domènech i Montaner, who designed the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Hospital de Sant Pau and the Casa Lleó Morera. Josep Puig i Cadafalch's Casa Ametller can also be seen in the Passeig de Gràcia.

Barcelona won the 1999 RIBA Royal Gold Medal for its architecture. This is notably the first, and as of 2006, only time the winner has been a city, and not an architect.

World Heritage Sites in Barcelona

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Barcelona:

Palau de la Música Catalana and Hospital de Sant Pau, included on the list on 1997.

Works of Antoni Gaudí, including Park Güell, Palau Güell, Casa Milà, Casa Vicens, Sagrada Família (Nativity façade and crypt), Casa Batlló, Crypt in Colonia Güell. The first three works were inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1984. The other four were added as extensions to the site in 2005.

Media

El Periódico de Catalunya (Catalan and Spanish editions) and La Vanguardia (Spanish) are Barcelona's two major daily newspapers while Sport and El Mundo Deportivo (both in Spanish) are the city's two major sports daily newspapers, published by the same companies. The city is also served by a number of smaller publications such as Avui and El Punt (both in Catalan), by nation-wide newspapers with special Barcelona editions like El Pais and El Mundo (both in Spanish), and by several free newspapers like Metro, ADN and 20 minutos (bilingual).

Several major FM stations include Catalunya Ràdio, RAC 105 and Cadena SER. Barcelona it also has several local TV stations, among them BTV (owned by the city council) and TD8 (owned by the Godó group, that also owns La Vanguardia). The headquarters of Televisió de Catalunya, Catalonia's public network, are located in Sant Joan Despí, in Barcelona's metropolitan area.

Answer 5

I went there for 2 weeks in Nov 06 and loved the city. I really could love there, I loved the people, culture and way of life. You are going to have a great time  !!  And may not want to come back.