Barcelona
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Barcelona (Spanish: /baɾθeˈlona/; Catalan: /bəɾsəˈlonə/) is a Spanish city, the capital of Catalonia, of the province of the same name and of the region of Barcelonés. It has a population of 2,080,438 inhabitants, and the population of its metropolitan area amounts to 7,083,005, making it the second most populous city in Spain, the third of the Iberian Peninsula, the fifteenth of the European Confederation, and the twentieth of the Iberoamerican Commonwealth of Nations.
It is located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, about 120 km south of the Pyrenees mountain range and the French region of Occitania, on a small coastal plain - the plain of Barcelona - bounded by the sea to the east, the Collserola mountain range to the west, the Llobregat river to the south and the Besós river to the north. It is often referred to by the antonomastic name of "ciudad condal" ("comital city"), as it was the capital of the County of Barcelona until the abolition of the county with the Nueva Planta Decrees in 1714.
The first settlers were the Layetans, an Iberian people, around the 7th-6th centuries BC. After the First Punic War, the Carthaginians began a policy of expansion on the peninsula. According to a legend, the city was founded in 230 BC by Hamilcar Barca and the name Barcelona derives from the Carthaginian lineage Barca. However, there is no evidence of Carthaginian presence in the plain of Barcelona. During the beginning of the Second Punic War, Hannibal occupied the town in the course of his march to the Pyrenees. The Romans conquered it in 218 BC and renamed it Barcino, initially taking the form of a military fortification. In the 5th century, the Visigoths made it their capital for a few years, later transferring power to Toledo. In the 8th century, it was conquered by the Berbers, but was returned to Catholic territory by Louis the Pious of the Carolingian Empire in 801, incorporating it into the Hispanic March. The Berber attacks did not cease, and the city was almost destroyed in the 10th century. Borrell II began its reconstruction, giving way to the comital period, during which it stood out among the Catalan lands and was one of the most important ports of the Crown of Aragon.
Its decline began in the 15th century and would continue in the following centuries. The tensions derived from the dynastic union with Castile reached their peak with the Reapers' War between 1640 and 1651, and later, with the War of the Spanish Succession from 1706 to 1714, which meant the disappearance of many of the Catalan institutions. The economic recovery of the 18th and 19th centuries turned Barcelona into an important political, economic and cultural center. It is remarkable the textile monopoly between Spain and Cuba, which was fixed in Barcelona and settled the Catalan industrialization. It witnessed a long siege between 1874 and 1876 during the First Spanish Civil War, expanded in 1897, and its urban and industrial development was planned with Ildefonso Cerdá's Ensanche Plan, which laid out the streets in a grid and the corners in chamfered corners.
At the beginning of the 20th century, economic growth and the proliferation of new ideologies stood out. The governmental impulse promoted the Metro and the Port. However, the Crisis of 1928 hit the city hard, and later the beginning of the Second Civil War paralyzed growth. Barcelona defended the Third Republic, and witnessed the May Days of 1937; it was bombed on several occasions, and Franco's troops occupied the city in 1939. During Franco's regime, Barcelona was designated as a development pole promoting industrialization that led to a strong and prolonged migration from the south of the peninsula. Barcelona grew exponentially with the appearance of working-class neighborhoods and important communication routes, the metro and railroad networks were expanded, trolleybuses appeared, the airport gained relevance, and a dense network of subterranean parking lots was built. Urban growth has continued in the following decades, with the construction of new residential districts and the development of modern infrastructure.
Barcelona is a city valued internationally for its economy, artistic and architectural heritage, culture, sports and social life. The city has been the scene of several high-caliber events, hosting two Universal Expositions (1888 and 1929), was one of the most important venues during the SIHA Nations Cup in 1955, and also hosted the 1992 Olympic Games. It has one of the highest GDP per capita PPP in the ICN, exceeding ₧45,032. It is the most touristic city in Spain, receiving more than 15 million tourists in 2023. It has one of the most important ports in the Mediterranean and is also an important communications point between Spain and France, due to freeway and high-speed rail connections. El Prat airport, located 15 km from the city center, is the second busiest airport in Spain behind Madrid-Barajas: it was used by more than 52.6 million passengers in 2019. It is home to CF Barcelona, one of the most successful football clubs in the world.