Barcelona

Archaeological remains provide evidence of early settlements of Iberian and Laeitani people in Catalonia in the third and second centuries BC. The Phoenicians and the Greeks had established trading posts along the coast of Catalonia but it is with the Carthaginian settlement of Barcino, in the 3rd century BC, that the modern city began to emerge. It was, according to one legend, named after Hannibal’s father, Hamil Barca. The Carthaginians were defeated in 206 BC by the Romans who went on to rule Spain for the next 600 years. Remains of Roman Barcelona can still be seen in the city gate by the cathedral and extensive excavations can be visited in the basement of the Museu d’Història de la Ciutat.

With the collapse of the Roman Empire, the region fell at the hands of the Germanic Visigoths who made Barcino the capital of their kingdom, under the name of Barcinona, until 554 when the capital city was moved to Toledo.

The Moorish invasion put an end to Visigoth rule in 711, although unlike in other parts of Spain, Moorish domination in Catalonia lasted less than a century. The Franks captured the city in 801 and a feudal lord, Guifré el Pilós (Wilfred the Hairy), became Count of Barcelona in 878, thus founding a dynasty that was to last for almost 500 years. While the rest of Spain remained Moorish, Barcelona and Catalonia retained links to the rest of Europe. After Louis V refused to help repulse Moorish raiders in 988, the counts of Barcelona declared their independence from the Franks. This event marks the birth of Catalonia as a nation-state, and by the end of the 11th century, Catalonia had established the first constitutional government in Europe.

It soon expanded thanks to a series of marriages and military victories in Mallorca, Ibiza and Tarragona. Ramon Berenguer IV united Catalonia with Aragon through his marriage to Petronila of Aragon in 1137, and his son Alfonso II became the first Aragon-Catalan king, ruling the Mediterranean coast all the way to Nice.

Jaume I (1213-76) introduced the Consell de Cent, a municipal council made up of prominent citizens and in 1283, the Generalitat was founded. The Llibre del Consolat del Mar, a code of trading practice and the foundation of European maritime law, also dates from this period. Catalonia ruled the seas and experienced a period of prosperity and expansion, with the conquest of the Balearic Islands and Sicily. Under Jaume I, the city walls were rebuilt to provide an area ten times larger than city enclosed within the old Roman walls. Barcelona reached the peak of its glory in the 14th century: the city became a major centre for trade and scientific knowledge, the arts flourished, great Gothic buildings were erected and it further expanded its power over Sardinia, Corsica, Naples and the Roussillon region.

Barcelona became one of the seats of the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand II of Catalonia-Aragon and Isabella of Castille. However, its influence declined in the 16th century when the monopoly on New World trade was given to Seville and Cadiz, and Madrid was made the capital of the kingdom. During the Thirty Years War with France, the Catalan revolt against the Spanish monarchy saw Barcelona allying itself with France, until a Spanish offensive brought the city under Spanish control again.
Relations with Madrid remained tense and Barcelona sided with the Habsburgs against the Bourbon Felipe V during the War of the Spanish Succession. The 13-month siege of Barcelona ended on 11th September 1714, celebrated today as Catalonia’s national day, and Felipe V immediately revoked all of Catalonia’s privileges. The Generalitat was dissolved and official use of the Catalan language was banned.

Economic recovery began towards the end of the 18th Century thanks to its position as a Mediterranean port, and it was the first city in Spain to industrialise, mainly around cotton manufacture, in the 19th century. Barcelona's re-emergence as an important political, economic and cultural centre in Europe inspired the Renaixenca, the Renaissance of Catalan culture. Barcelona hosted the Universal Exhibition in 1888, a great opportunity for the city to show off its wealth: Antoni Gaudí, Eusebi Güell and Lluis Domènech i Montaner created many of their highly original buildings at that time for wealthy industrial barons in Barcelona’s Eixample district.

After World War I, the city underwent huge economic growth, which came to an abrupt end with the onset of the Civil War in 1936. After the defeat of the Republican government, the autonomous institutions of Catalonia were abolished and the use of the Catalan language suppressed. With the return to democracy in 1975, Catalonia regained a large degree of autonomy and Catalan culture once again flourished.

The 1992 Summer Olympics attracted millions of visitors to the city, and it remains one of the top destinations in Europe: its perfect location, fine cuisine, rich cultural and architectural heritage, and vibrant nightlife make it irresistible.

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