Wellcome to Barcelona

Barcelona has a rich cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination. Particularly renowned are the architectural works of Antoni Gaudí, which have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The city is known for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Barcelona is today one of the world's leading tourist, economic, trade fair/exhibitions and cultural-sports center, and its influence in commerce, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's majors global cities. Indeed, it is a major cultural and economic centre in southwestern Europe, 24th in the world and a growing financial centre.

As of 2009 the city was ranked Europe's third and one of the world's most successful as a city brand.  Barcelona is the transport hub with one of Europe's principal port, Barcelona international airport, which handles above 35 million passengers per year, extensive motorway network and also is a hub of high-speed rail, particularly that which is intended to link Spain with France and the rest of Europe as the second longest in the world.

Historic buildings and monuments

Sagrada Familia, the international symbol of Barcelona. Palau de la Música and Hospital de Sant Pau included in the UNESCO Heritage. Works by Antoni Gaudí including Park and Colonia Güell, Casa Milà, (La Pedrera), Casa Vicens, Casa Batllo, inscribed as a World Heritage. The Cathedral of St. Eulalia. Church of Santa Maria del Mar (Gothic), Santa Maria del Pi and Sant pau del Camp. Palau Reial, medieval residence of the counts of Barcelona.

Museums

Barcelona has a great number of museums, which cover different areas and eras. The National Museum of Art of Catalonia possesses a well-known collection of Romanesque art while the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art  focuses on post -1945. The Fundació Joan Miró, Picasso Museum and Fundació Antoni Tàpies hold important collections of these world-renowned artists.

Several museums cover the fields of history and archeology, like the City History Museum, the Museum of the Histiry of Catalonia, the Archeology Museum of Catalonia, the Barcelona Maritime Museum and the private-owned Egyptian Museum. The Erotic museum of Barcelona is among the most peculiar ones, while Cosmocaixa is a science museum.

Parks

Barcelona contains sixty-eight municipal parks, of which twelve are historic parks, five are thematic (botanical) parks, forty-five are urban parks and six are forest parks. They range from vest-pocket parks to large recreation areas. The urban parks alone cover 10% of the city (549.7 ha or 1,358.3 acres). The total park surface grows about 10 ha (25 acres) per year, with a proportion of 18.1 square metres (195 sq ft) of park area per inhabitant.

Beaches

Barcelona beach was listed as number one in a list of the top ten city beaches in the world according to National Geographic and Discovery Channel. Barcelona contains seven beaches, totalling 4.5 km (2.8 mi) of coastline.

Climate

Barcelona has a Mediterranean climate with mild, humid winters and warm, dry summers.

Generally – the summer / "holiday" season lasts about six months, from May to October. Two months – April and November – are transitional; sometimes the temperature exceeds 20 °C (68 °F), with an average temperature of 17–18 °C (63–64 °F) during the day and 8–9 °C (46–48 °F) at night. December, January and February are the coldest months, with average temperatures around 14 °C (57 °F) during the day and 5 °C (41 °F) at night. Large fluctuations in temperature are rare, particularly in the summer months.

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