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INTRODUCTION
| WHAT TO SEE | WHEN TO GO
Introduction to
Barcelona
It’s tempting to say that there’s nowhere like Barcelona
– there’s certainly not another city in Spain to touch it for
sheer style, looks or energy. The glossy mags and travel
press dwell enthusiastically on its outrageous architecture,
designer shopping, hip bars and vibrant cultural scene,
but Barcelona is more than just this year’s fad. It’s a
confident, progressive city, one that is tirelessly self-
renewing while preserving all that’s best about its past.
As neighbourhoods are rebuilt with panache, and locals
and visitors alike pursue the latest, most fashionable
sensation, there’s also an enduring embrace of the things
that make life worth living – the daily market visit, strolling
down the famous Ramblas, a lazy harbourside lunch,
frenetic festival nights, a Sunday by the beach or a ticket
for FC Barcelona’s next big game.
It’s no accident that Barcelona is the least
Spanish city in the country.With the return to
democracy following the death of Franco, the
various regions were allowed to consolidate
their cultural identities through varying degrees
of political autonomy.
Catalunya
(Catalonia in
English), of which Barcelona is the capital, has
a historical identity going back as far as the ninth century, when the first
independent County of Barcelona was established, and through the long
period of domination by Castile, and even during the Franco dictatorship
when a policy of cultural suppression was pursued, it proved impossible to
stifle Catalan identity. Barcelona itself has long had the reputation of being
at the forefront of Spanish political activism, and of radical design and
architecture, but these cultural distinctions are rapidly becoming secondary
to the city’s position as one of the most dynamic commercial centres in
the country.