Located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, Barcelona is Spain’s second largest city with 1.6 million residents.
Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, an autonomous community of Spain that consists of four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona.
Both Catalan and Spanish are official languages in Barcelona. While Spanish is spoken more frequently, Catalan is understood by 95 percent of Barcelona residents.
Barcelona has a Mediterranean climate with mild, humid winters and warm, dry summers. Winter temperatures range from 39 to 63 °F, compared to summertime temperatures between73 to 90 °F. Frosts and snow are rare.
Each year, 8 million tourists visit Barcelona, making it Europe’s third most-visited city after London and Paris.
With its key location on the Mediterranean Sea, the Port of Barcelona is Europe’s largest cruise port, with approximately 3.6 million cruisers passing through the port each year.
The Barcelona Maritime Museum is located in the historic Barcelona Royal Shipyard, a former military building dating to the 13th century, with a Roman graveyard found underneath that structure.
There are two stories about the founding of Barcelona. One version claims the city was founded by Hercules, 400 years before the building of Rome.
The second version attributes the founding of Barcelona to Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca, father of Hannibal, who named the city Barcino after his family in the Third century BC.
A typical Roman grid plan is still visible today in Barcelona’s Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter.) Some remaining fragments of the Roman walls have been incorporated into the Basilica La Seu cathedral founded in 343.
