Top 20 Facts about the city of Barcelona

By Mutari wikimedia

Top 20 Facts about the city of Barcelona

At the mention of the name Barcelona, football and the camp Nou stadium automatically come to mind. There is more to Barcelona than just football.  

It is the capital and largest city of Catalonia and one of the four provinces that make Catalonia. The other three are Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona.

Barcelona is the second-most populated city in Spain with 7.6 million inhabitants and the sixth most inhabited urban area in the European Union.

Catalan and Spanish are both official languages in Barcelona but the former is more widely spoken.

The Catalonia region is abundant with natural wealth; long beautiful coastlines, mountains and 18 natural protected parks and sites. 

Here are some facts about the city of Barcelona. 

1. Camp Nou Stadium and FC Barcelona

The camp Nou stadium is the most popular attraction in Barcelona. Thanks to the famous football club Barcelona and its museum by the same name.

The stadium has a seating capacity of 99,354 spectators. The club has millions of fans worldwide and are fondly referred to as the Catalan titans. 

The Club was founded in 1899 by a group of European football players led by Joan Gamper.  The club has risen from amateur ranks to being the best performing in La liga. 

The FC Barcelona museum at Camp Nou was the most visited in Barcelona In 2011, and the third most visited museum in the whole of Spain, with 1.6 tourists.

2. A modernist housing project turned to a park

Photo by Theodor Vasile on Unsplash

Park Güell is a public park on Carmen Hill in Barcelona. It has gardens and modernist designed houses.

It was intended to be a housing project but failed to attract investors leading to its stall. 

The idea of the park was borrowed from the 1900 estate designs in England by two architects, Antoni Gaudi and Eusebi Güell.

The park is currently the most visited in Barcelona. Gaudi lived in one of the houses until his death, it was later turned into a museum.

3. Barcelona’s rocky to sandy beaches 

This city was voted as one with the best beach in the world by National Geographic.

It was not always like this for Barcelona. The city created an artificial beach in the wake of the 1992 Olympics that it hosted.

Before that, the waterfront was rocky and was frequented by fishermen.

Today, the city boasts of 7 blue flagged beaches stretching over 4.5 Km coastline. The beach is lined with bars, restaurants and hotels, quite ideal for a beach vacation.

4. Human towers in the streets of Barcelona

Photo by Angela Compagnone on Unsplash

It is quite common to spot a group of costumed people on the streets in Barcelona forming a human tower. 

This is an old Catalan tradition dating back to the 18th century and is now on the UNESCO intangible World Heritage list. 

The Catalans used it as a competitive sport, consisting of three parts. The current castell as it is called, is similar to the original structure.   

5. Europe’s largest Supercomputer is in Barcelona

Barcelona is home to the largest supercomputing public research center.  

The center was opened in 2005 and in 2017 was ranked as the 13th largest center in the world.

The MareNostrum sits on a space the size of half a basketball court and weights 39 tons. 

Its located in a building that was previously a chapel at the Polytechnic University of Barcelona.

6. It has the largest Park in Spain

El Parc de Collserola is the biggest metropolitan park in the world. The park occupies a 500 acre of land. It is 22 times larger than Central Park in New York.

It is close to the Tibidabo hill in the metropolitan area of the city and is20 minutes from the City by train.

It became an official natural park of Spain in 2009. The park Collserola ocean green stretches to the Mediterranean coastline.

There are walking and cycling trails, and farmhouse restaurants.  

7. The Museu de Carrosses Fúnebres in Barcelona

Barcelona City is has one unique museum, the museum of funeral Carriages around the Montjuïc cemetery area. The museum has 13 hearses dating back to the early 19th century.

The museum was founded in the 70s by Cristobal Torra who was a manager at a municipal funeral home. He wanted to preserve the unused municipality hearses and funeral cars. 

Some carriages that stand out in the museum is the ‘stove’ that was used to carry the bodies of the affluent and the ‘black widow’, a carriage designed to carry the family of the deceased. 

8. Barcelona celebrates Valentine’s Day differently

April 23 is a special day in Barcelona. It is known as the Dia de Sant Jordi and is a national holiday.

The day is a celebration of saint Jordi who saved a beautiful princess from being eaten by s dragon.

On this day, lovers and friends exchange gifts. The men hand a rose flower to a woman while she hands him a book as a sign of eternal love. 

This day also coincides with the international book day that is widely celebrated in Barcelona and Spain.  

9. 200 years of ongoing construction at Sagrada Familia

By Bernard Gagnon – wikimedia

The Basilica de la Sagrada Familia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. What is of interest in the site is that it has been under construction for the past 200 years.

The estimated date of completion is 2026, the construction of the church began in 1882 by the architect Antoni Gaudi who took over from  Francisco de Paula del Villar. 

Gaudi’s architectural design emphasized on the heights of the building. He intended to emulate the Montjuic mountain that is 984 feet (0.3 km) above sea level.

10. Barcelona’s Diverse Economy Drivers

Barcelona’s economy thrives from the motor vehicle industry, electrical engineering, publishing, wine production and other consumer goods. 

The city’s strategic location on the Mediterranean Sea near the French border that makes it a principal industrial and commercial center of Spain.

Some traditional industries still thrive in Barcelona such as shipbuilding, skilled handicrafts, textile. The finance industry is also important in Barcelona.

The city is a popular tourist destination, with tourism being among the top earners of the economy. 

11. Abandoned haunted metro stations in Barcelona

Barcelona Metro. Photo by Nenad Radojčić on Unsplash

There are 12 metro stations that are no longer in use in Barcelona for various reasons. 

3 of them have been closed down for being unnecessarily close to other metro lines, 3 were never opened or used by the public, the Banc station was built at the headquarters of a few banks and it was used by banking institutions. The rest were moved to nearby locations.

The abandoned stations have drawn the attention of many with tales of ghosts being seen walking in the subways.

There are tours offered to these stations giving their histories and the tales of walking shadows at the Gaudi station. 

12. Barcelona was the recipient of the royal gold medal for architecture

Barcelona received the royal gold medal for architecture in 1999, it is the first and only city to ever get this award.

This award is usually given to honor individuals or a group for their contribution to international architecture. It is has been a tradition by the Royal Institute of British Architects since 1848.

Barcelona received the award after the tremendous work done in preparations for the 1992 Olympics. 

13. Eixample perfect tram corners

Photo by Kaspars Upmanis on Unsplash

This city is recognized around the world for its modern architecture. Architects travel to the city to get inspiration. 

One attraction in the city is the Eixample tram grid system. The streets were designed in the 19th century by Ildefons Cerdà a public planner. 

The building blocks in Eixample all have their corners cut off to accommodate the steam trams when navigating a corner, but the tram idea was never realized.

An aerial view of Eixample shows the perfect and symmetrical design of the buildings that all easy navigation of cars and pedestrians.

14. Over 20 Michelin Stars restaurants

Barcelona has more than 20 Michelin star restaurants placing it as a favorite gastronomy destination. 

The availability of fresh seafood and other fresh ingredients has brought with it creative chefs that bring out their best skills in presenting the traditional and modern Catalan cuisine. 

Some top chefs in the city are Albert and Ferran Adrià, Joan Roca and Cristian Escribà.

15. The city might be older than Rome

It is believed that Barcelona was inhabited earlier than the city of Rome. Ruins found in the city date back to more than 5000BC.  

There are different myths explaining the origin of the city. The first is that Hercules founded the city, 400 years before Rome was built.

While the other is that a general by the name Hamilcar Barca named the city after his family. 

16. Eiffel Tower would have been in Barcelona

Barcelona city council are said to have turned down the offer of having the Eiffel Tower erected in their city. The council believed that it was going to be an eyesore.

Gustave Eiffel had offered to design the tower for the World Exposition of Barcelona in 1888.

The design received criticism from the French artists before it got constructed in Paris. It is now the most visited monument in the world.

17. Flamenco is not famous in Barcelona as it is in Spain

Spain is famous for its flamenco dancing and bullfighting. This is not the case in Barcelona.

The Catalans, however, have their own traditional contemporary dance style known as the Sardana. 

Sardana performances are usually held at the Barcelona cathedral, Placa sant Jaum and Parc de la Ciutadella on scheduled days. Bullfighting was banned in Catalonia 2010.

18. 5 avenues make up Las Ramblas Boulevard

Las Ramblas is a famous 2-kilometer boulevard in Barcelona.

The street is located in the Gothic Quarter in the city. It has many restaurants serving Spanish cuisine and souvenir shops.

It is a famous meeting point and is very busy during the day and at night. There are at least 150, 000 people that take walks along the streets in a day.

The street is divided into five separate avenues that have a smooth flow. 

19. Maritime Museum in Barcelona

The maritime museum in Barcelona is one of the most interesting places to visit. It is located at a former shipyard of Drassane at the edge of the old town.

There is a large collection of ships and boats exhibited at the museum from the medieval times. 

A reproduction of a 16th-century galley is a must-see at the museum. It is a 60-metre-long royal vessel Admirals of Juan de Austria that was part of the  Battle of Lepanto on 7 October 1571. 

20. Cycling or Walking; most preferred in Barcelona

Driving in the city is not that smooth as there are reported accidents every 19 seconds.

This has led many city dwellers to opt for a safer way of movement, walking or cycling on the designated paths and lanes.

The city has more than320 acres of land dedicated to pedestrians.

There are also cycling clubs in the city that go for upcountry rides on the rural roads in Catalonia avoiding the congested city roads. 

 Barcelona has a bike system called bicing. A bicycle-sharing system where only residents can rent a bicycle from the city council using a bicing card from a designated station.