Fashion Capital of Spain
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain and is located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It is widely known as the fashion capital of Spain. It is the capital of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. It is one of Spain’s most important cities on account of its predominance in commerce, the arts, sports and international trade.
History of Barcelona
There are two schools of thought regarding the founding of the city. One school of thought is that it was founded by Hercules and the other school of thought is that it was founded by Hamilcar Barca, the father of Hannibal. The name Barca itself comes from the Barca Family of Carthage.
The city has an abundance of parks, beaches and buildings of great architectural importance. The person who exerted the greatest influence on the buildings in this city was Antonio Gaudi. His most famous work is the La Sagrada Familia, a Roman Catholic church.
The main entrance of the church has a donkey in it and Gaudi is supposed to have used as a model the donkey belonging to a woman selling sand. The hosting of the Olympic Games in 1992 helped in shifting industries away from the beach side and making the beaches a major tourist attraction. The Barrio Gothic is the centre of the old city and is noted for its medieval architecture
Interesting facts about the city
Barcelona has large portions of the city devoted to pedestrians and walking is the preferred mode of transport. The Portal del Angel is the most walked street in all of Spain and it attracts almost 3500 people every hour.
Barcelona is also host to FC Barcelona, the football club which has the biggest privately-owned stadium in the world and is a major tourist attraction.
St.George’s Day is the national feast day of the city, when people traditionally exchange books and other gifts, prompting the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to declare April 23 as the international day of books.
Las Rambas is a 2-kilometer stretch of road which attracts several tourists to walk and take in the sights, smells and the feel of the city. Barcelona also hosts the Spanish Grand Prix of Formula 1 racing, aside from the annual European Balloon Festival. The festival of La Merced, which is dedicated to the patron saint of Barcelona, the Virgin of Mercy, is one of the biggest celebrations of the year which is hosted by the city.
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