Holiday Guides - Barcelona City Guide

A Guide to Barcelona

Barcelona is known as a cultural city, with an amazing heritage and an exciting range of activities on offer. Barcelona is the vibrant Catalonian capital, and the beaches offer the perfect contrast to the colourful Ramblas area with its great range of shops and restaurants.

It is a city of renowned architectural interest, from its Roman walls to the new urban planning schemes of the eighties. Particular highlights are its modernista heritage and contemporary architecture.

Each year will be dedicated to a particular theme- music, art, architecture, sport - in a programme which will culminate in 2004 with the Universal Forum of Cultures.

Barcelona affords countless possibilities for a good holiday. Over 40 museums: monographic art collections such as the Museu Picasso, the Fundació Joan Miró and the Fundacio Antoni Tàpies which hold permanent exhibitions of works by the artists As well as temporary shows; the world's finest collection of Romanesque art at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya; Temporary exhibitions of contemporary art at the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona - MACBA; and numerous art galleries.

Theatre companies of international standing - Els Comediants, La Fura dels Baus, Els Joglars, El Tricicle - and spectacular Local festivals pulsating with life and colour such as the Mercè. Major events such as the Grec summer festival, one of the most important culturefests on the European calendar.

Barcelona is famed for the wide variety of its musical events. From classical music, opera and ballet, through jazz, flamenco, pop and rock, to the most innovative festivals. In 1999 the city regained its opera house, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, and opened the Auditori with a programme featuring the most diverse genres and musical styles. In addition to these musical events we find those of the Palau de la Música Catalana, a jewel of modernista architecture.

Design is a characteristic of Barcelona. You can find design in its streets, squares, bars and restaurants. In recent years, the city has become a permanent showroom for design.

The city also has a funfair on one of its emblematic mountains: Tibidabo. It has restaurants with their own distinctive style, which offer the full flavour of Catalan cuisine and a wide variety of international cooking.

Barcelona has numerous recreational spaces, cinemas, theatres, flamenco performances, Europe's biggest aquarium, bullfights, art, music, dancing sardanas, popular festivals and much more.

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