Hotels in Barcelona, Spain

A little about Barcelona...

Barcelona is the capital and most populous city of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, with a population of 1,605,602 in 2006. It is located on the Mediterranean coast (41°23'N, 2°11'E), between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs, and is limited to the west by the Serra de Collserola ridge (512 m). Barcelona is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination and has a rich cultural heritage. Particularly renowned are architectural works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner that have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Barcelona contains 68 municipal parks, divided into 12 historic parks, 5 thematic (botanical) parks, 45 urban parks and 6 forest parks. They range from vest-pocket parks to large recreation areas. The parks cover 10% of the city (549.7 ha), growing about 10 ha per year, with a proportion of 18.1 m² of park area per inhabitant.

Of Barcelona's parks, Montjuïc is the largest, with 203 ha located on the mountain of the same name. It is followed by Ciutadella Park (situated in the place of the old military citadel and which houses the Parliament building, the zoo and several museums; 31 ha including the zoo), the Guinardó Park (19 ha), Park Güell (designed by Antoni Gaudí; 17.2 ha), Oreneta Castle Park (also 17.2 ha), Diagonal Mar Park (13.3 ha, inaugurated in 2002), Nou Barris Central Park (13.2 ha), Can Dragó Sports Park and Poblenou Park (both 11.9 ha) and the Labyrinth Park (9.10 ha), named after the garden maze it contains. A part of the Collserolla Park is also within the city limits.

Barcelona has seven beaches, totalling 4.5 km (2.8 mi) of coastline. Sant Sebastià and Barceloneta beaches, both 1100 m in length, are the largest, oldest and the most frequented beaches in Barcelona.

Barcelona has a well-developed higher education system of public universities. Most prominent among these is the University of Barcelona, a world-renowned research and teaching institution with campuses around the city. Barcelona is also home to the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, the newer Pompeu Fabra University and, in the private sector, the Ramon Llull University encompassing internationally renowned institutions like ESADE Business School. The Autonomous University of Barcelona, another public university, is located in Bellaterra, a town in the Metropolitan Area.

Barcelona is served by a comprehensive local public transport network that includes a metro, a bus network, two separate tram networks (one of them, the Tramvia blau, connects to the Tibidabo funicular), and several funiculars and aerial cable cars. The Barcelona Metro network comprises nine lines, identified by an "L" followed by the line number as well as by individual colours. Most of the network is operated by the Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB), but three lines are FGC commuter lines that run through the city. When finished, the L9 will be the longest underground metro line in Europe with 42.6km.