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Spain's
second city is now the country's hippest town. Summer gives
way to periodic lapses in sanity with week-long festa fun. But
year-round the city cooks - it's always on the biting edge of
fashion, architecture, food, style, music and good times.
The
buildings, many of which feature the work of an eccentric
genius named Gaudí, will blow you away. The art, with
significant collections by Picasso and Miró, will make
you clammy all over. The people, with their exuberance, their
duende, their persistent egalitarianism and clamour for a
separate identity, will fascinate you.
Barcelona
is one of the most dynamic and exciting cities on the western
Mediterranean seaboard, sedulously promoting itself as a European
metropolis, a link between the sub-Pyrenean peninsula and
the heartland of Western Europe. It is a city that is inconceivable
until you get there, unbelievable while you walk its streets
and unforgettable after you've gone.
Population:
1.5 million
Country: Spain
Time Zone: GMT/UTC +1, +2 during daylight-saving time (last
Sunday in March to last Sunday in October)
Telephone Area Code: none, though all Barcelona numbers start
with 93
Orientation
Barcelona's
coastline runs roughly northeast to southwest and many streets
are parallel or perpendicular to this. Two major hills - Montjuïc
and Tibidabo - provide good landmarks for orientation. The
focal point of town is La Rambla, a 1.25km (0.77mi) boulevard
running northwest and slightly uphill from Port Vell (Old
Harbour) to Plaça de Catalunya. The Plaça is
the boundary between Ciutat Vella (Old Town) and the more
recent additions further inland. L'Eixample, the city's 19th-century
answer to overcrowding in the city's confines, stretches 1.5km
(1mi) north, east and west of Plaça de Catalunya. Montjuïc
begins about 700m (763yd) southwest of the southeastern end
of La Rambla, and Tibidabo, with a landmark television tower
and golden Christ statue, is 6km (3.8mi) northwest of the
city.
The
Ciutat Vella, a warren of narrow streets, centuries-old buildings
and budget accommodation, spreads on both sides of La Rambla.
Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter) is at its heart, on the
lower half of the eastern section of the boulevard. West is
El Raval, where travellers need to be alert; its southern
part forms a seedy red-light district called Barri Xinès
(Chinese Quarter).
Port
Vell has an excellent modern aquarium and two marinas, and
at its northeastern end is La Barceloneta, the old sailors'
quarter. Beaches and a pedestrian promenade stretch northeast
from there to Port Olímpic, a harbour built for the
1992 Olympics and now home to lively bars and restaurants.
Barcelona
Flight from UK
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