69 Fun Facts About Barcelona

Barcelona is the capital of which autonomous community of Spain?

It is Spain's second-most populous municipality after Madrid, with about 1.7 million people inside the city limits.

Which architect designed the Sagrada Família, Park Güell and Casa Batlló?

He was struck by a tram in 1926 and, taken for a beggar, was not helped straight away; he is buried in the Sagrada Família's crypt.

In what year did construction of the Sagrada Família begin?

Gaudí took over from the original architect the following year and worked on it until his death.

Which pope consecrated the Sagrada Família and proclaimed it a basilica in 2010?

A different pope blessed the completed central Tower of Jesus Christ in June 2026, on the centenary of Gaudí's death.

Roughly how much of the Sagrada Família was finished when Gaudí died in 1926?

Anarchists burned the crypt and workshop in 1936, destroying many of his original plans.

With its 172.5 m central tower completed in 2026, the Sagrada Família holds which world record?

It is also the most-visited monument in Spain.

Gaudí was struck by what on his daily walk to church in June 1926?

Passers-by assumed the shabby old man was a beggar; he died three days later.

Gaudí's mosaic technique using broken ceramic pieces is called what?

You can see it on the dragon at Park Güell and across the façade of Casa Batlló.

Because of its rough-hewn façade, Casa Milà is popularly known by what nickname?

It means 'the stone quarry'. Built 1906-1912, it was the last private residence Gaudí designed and boasts a self-supporting façade and an underground garage.

Casa Batlló sits on a row of rival Modernista buildings on the Passeig de Gràcia known as what?

Four striking and strikingly different houses by different architects stand side by side.

Which industrialist and patron commissioned Gaudí to design Park Güell?

Building ran from 1900 to 1914; Gaudí lived in one of the show houses there from 1906 to 1925.

Which Gaudí building, built 1883-85 in Gràcia in an orientalist style, is considered his first major project?

It was added to the UNESCO list in 2005 alongside the Sagrada Família's Nativity façade.

How many of Gaudí's works were declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites between 1984 and 2005?

Park Güell, Palau Güell and Casa Milà came first in 1984; four more followed in 2005.

What was the origin of Barcelona's name, according to the ancient coin inscriptions?

The romantic story that Hannibal's father founded and named the city has no ancient evidence behind it.

The Roman colony on the site of Barcelona was known by what name?

The Roman forum sat roughly where Plaça de Sant Jaume is now, so the seat of power has not moved in 2,000 years.

The city is nicknamed the Ciutat Comtal, or City of Counts, because it was the seat of what?

The counts of Barcelona grew steadily more independent of the Frankish kings who installed them after 801.

The 1137 marriage of Ramon Berenguer IV to Petronilla joined the County of Barcelona with which kingdom?

Their son Alfonso II inherited both, creating what became the Crown of Aragon.

Founded in 1401, Barcelona's Taula de Canvi is often called Europe's oldest what?

It narrowly predates the Bank of Venice (1402) and the Bank of Genoa (1407).

The name of the broad hill above the harbour, spelled Montjuich in medieval sources, means what?

A medieval Jewish cemetery on the hill was declared a Cultural Asset of National Interest in 2007.

Which civil engineer designed the Eixample, Barcelona's grid of octagonal blocks with chamfered corners?

The city council preferred another plan; the Spanish government imposed Cerdà's, adding to Madrid-Barcelona friction.

What does the Catalan word Eixample mean in English?

It filled the plain between the walled old city and outlying towns such as Gràcia and Sants.

Barcelona's Arc de Triomf was built as the entrance to which event?

Unusually for a triumphal arch it is red brick in the Neo-Mudéjar style, and it commemorates a trade fair, not a war.

Where was the 1929 International Exposition staged?

It left the city the Palau Nacional, the Magic Fountain, the Poble Espanyol and the stadium later used for the 1992 Olympics.

Which architect's German Pavilion for the 1929 Barcelona exposition was rebuilt in 1986?

It gave the world the Barcelona chair; the reconstruction stands on the original Montjuïc site.

The Magic Fountain below the Palau Nacional pushes water through roughly how many jets?

Its highest spout reaches about 170 feet, and it was another 1929 exposition project.

Barcelona's tree-lined pedestrian street runs 1.2 km from Plaça de Catalunya to a statue of whom?

Lorca called La Rambla 'the only street in the world which I wish would never end'.

La Rambla forms the boundary between the Barri Gòtic and which neighbourhood to the west?

The Palau Güell, Gaudí's mansion for his patron, is just off it in the Raval.

What is the name of the big covered food market opening onto La Rambla near the Liceu opera house?

Officially the Mercat de Sant Josep, its current building was begun in 1840.

On the opening night of the 1893 season, what happened at the Liceu opera house?

About twenty people died. The theatre burned in 1861 and again in 1994, and was rebuilt both times.

The 60-metre monument at the foot of La Rambla was erected for which occasion?

It marks the fact that Columbus reported to Ferdinand and Isabella in Barcelona after his first voyage.

How tall is Tibidabo, the highest point of the Collserola ridge above the city?

It carries the Sagrat Cor church, an amusement park and the Torre de Collserola, and its funicular was the first in Spain.

Barcelona lies on a plain between the Collserola hills and the mouths of the Besòs and which other river?

The port is being doubled in size by diverting the Llobregat's mouth two kilometres south.

Barcelona's cathedral honours the Holy Cross and which teenage martyr, the city's co-patron?

Legend has her rolled down a street in a barrel of knives; the street is still called Baixada de Santa Eulàlia.

Santa Maria del Mar, built 1329-1383 in the Ribera district, is an outstanding example of which style?

It went up at the height of the region's maritime power and is famous for its unusual purity of style.

The Palau de la Música Catalana, a UNESCO-listed concert hall, was designed by which architect?

He also designed the Hospital de Sant Pau; both were listed together in 1997.

The bullet-shaped Torre Glòries, formerly the Torre Agbar, was designed by which French architect?

Its original owner was the Barcelona water company's holding group, hence 'Agbar'.

Barcelona's main annual festival, La Mercè, honours which figure?

The feast day is 24 September; the giants and the sardana joined the parades in 1902.

What are the human towers built at Catalan festivals called?

UNESCO added them to its intangible heritage list in 2010.

In a correfoc, participants dressed as what run through the streets with fireworks?

Spectators wear hats and scarves and try to get as close to the sparks as they dare.

On Sant Jordi's day, 23 April, Catalans traditionally exchange which two gifts?

It is a working day but so popular it counts as a national holiday, and it doubles as Catalonia's Valentine's Day.

What is the traditional Catalan circle dance that spread across the region from the late 19th century?

Dancers hold hands facing inward; the modern sardana llarga runs 12 to 13 minutes.

Pa amb tomàquet, the staple of Catalan tables, is bread rubbed with tomato and dressed with what?

Rubbed garlic is optional; it is eaten from breakfast to dinner and often under a slice of cured ham.

About 95 percent of cava, the region's sparkling wine, is produced in which wine area?

The village of Sant Sadurní d'Anoia is home to the biggest houses, Codorníu and Freixenet.

Barça's famous three-word Catalan motto, 'Més que un…', translates into English as what?

Unusually for a big club, it is owned and run by its supporters.

Who led the group of Swiss, Catalan, German and English footballers who founded FC Barcelona in 1899?

The club's museum is Catalonia's third most-visited attraction.

What does Camp Nou, the name of Barça's stadium, mean?

It opened in 1957 and its record crowd of 120,000 came for a 1986 game against IFK Göteborg.

Which Dutch star joined Barcelona in 1973 for a record fee and later managed its early-1990s side?

He said he could not play for a club associated with Franco, and named his son Jordi after Catalonia's saint.

Barcelona won their first European Cup in 1992 at Wembley with a free kick from which player?

Cruyff's side also won four straight La Liga titles from 1991 to 1994.

In 2009 Barcelona became the first European club to win how many competitions in a single calendar year?

That was Pep Guardiola's first season, in which they also won Spain's first continental treble.

How old was Lionel Messi when he made his competitive debut for Barcelona in 2004?

By 2011-12 he was the club's all-time top scorer.

The 1992 Olympic cauldron in Barcelona was lit by what unusual method?

Paralympic archer Antonio Rebollo aimed over the cauldron so a miss would land outside the stadium; the arrow did.

The Barcelona Games were the first Summer Olympics free of boycotts since which year?

They were also the first after the Cold War and saw South Africa readmitted after 32 years.

Which 1992 US basketball squad, the first with NBA players, was inducted whole into the Hall of Fame?

Jordan, Magic and Bird all played; before 1992 the Americans had used college players.

Preparing for the 1992 Olympics, Barcelona created roughly how much new beach?

Hotel rooms doubled between 1990 and 2004 and the city's global image was transformed.

Freddie Mercury's 1987 duet 'Barcelona', later used for the 1992 Games, was recorded with which soprano?

Reissued in July 1992 after Mercury's death, it climbed to number two in the UK.

What kind of buildings house the Museu Picasso, the only Picasso museum created in his lifetime?

They stand on Montcada Street in La Ribera and hold more than 4,000 works, including his teenage Science and Charity.

The café Els Quatre Gats, a haunt of the young Picasso, opened in 1897 in which building?

Its name means 'The Four Cats'; it shut in 1903 for lack of money and was later restored.

A foundation devoted to which Barcelona-born painter opened on the hill above the harbour in 1975?

A second museum for him opened in Palma, his adopted home, in 1981.

Nova Cançó singer Joan Manuel Serrat is nicknamed after which Barcelona neighbourhood?

'El noi del Poble-sec', the boy from Poble-sec, was born there in 1943.

How many track gauges does Barcelona's metro use in total?

Metre gauge on line 8, old Iberian broad gauge on line 1 and standard gauge everywhere else; only Tokyo's Toei also uses three.

In March 1938 Barcelona was bombed for three days by aircraft from which two countries?

At least 1,300 people died; the city fell to Franco in January 1939 and Catalan was then suppressed in public life.

Barcelona won the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for architecture in 1999. Why was that unusual?

As of 2015 it remains the only time a city has won.

Which sea-facing hill is called Barcelona's birthplace, with 3rd-century-BC coins at its foot?

Its castle later served as a prison and execution ground; the 1929 fair and 1992 Games were staged on its slopes.

Roughly how far south-west of the city centre is Barcelona's El Prat airport?

It handled more than 50 million passengers in 2018 and is a hub for Vueling.

What percentage of Barcelona's population can speak Catalan, according to the 2013 linguistic census?

Spanish is the most spoken language, but Catalan is understood by 95 percent and is used for all metro-station names.

Barcelona's motto for the 1992 Games was 'Amics per sempre'. What does that mean?

Nearly all the venues remain in use, and London 2012 studied the Barcelona legacy model.

Which order's chapter did Charles V hold in Barcelona in 1519, leaving knights' arms on the cathedral choir stalls?

He had come to be invested as Count of Barcelona.

By one tradition, which Carthaginian general founded Barcelona and named it after his family?

Hamilcar was Hannibal's father, but there is no evidence the Roman name Barcino was actually linked to the Barcid family. Greek myth credited the founding to Hercules instead.

Which telecommunications tower, 288 m tall, tops Tibidabo and is visible from most of Barcelona?

The tower crowns the 512 m hill above the city; a heritage tram, the Tramvia Blau, still runs up towards the Tibidabo funicular.