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Barcelona

City in SpainBarcelona is on the northeastern coast of Spain, facing the Mediterranean Sea. It fills a narrow plain between the Collserola hills and the sea, with the Llobregat River to the southwest and the Besòs River to the north.

What it's known for

Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia and one of Europe's main seaports. It is known for the buildings of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, several of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and for the football club FC Barcelona.

Fun facts

  1. The name goes back to the ancient Iberian name Baŕkeno, which the Romans wrote as Barcino.
  2. Work on the Sagrada Família church began in 1882, and Antoni Gaudí took over as its architect a year later.
  3. For the 1992 Summer Olympics, old industrial buildings along the seafront were knocked down and 3 km of beach were created.

Finding it on the globe

Go to the northeast corner of Spain, on the Mediterranean coast south of the French border: Barcelona is there, about 500 km east-northeast of Madrid.

Easy to mix up

Barcelona is often taken for Spain's capital, but the capital is Madrid, in the middle of the country.

Sources: Wikipedia: Barcelona, Wikipedia: Sagrada Família