"Amigos Para Siempre" Barcelona by Ramonq

Hola

This is a cool city as well as HOT, if you could get my drift. Barcelona has gained prominence as a must-visit place after the city played host to the Summer Olympics in 1992 when it was obliged to put its best foot forward. As a result, the city's infrastructure was improved to world class standards and Barcelona now has a sophisticated air about it. Barcelona is the largest city in the Catalonia, Spain's richest province, but its importance is somewhat overshadowed by the imperial city of Madrid, the nation's capital. Barcelona and Madrid are often compared with each other and both cities appear to have a friendly and even spiteful rivalry between them; each one claiming to have the hippest nightlife, the most modern transport system, the most stylish people, and the most cultural city in Spain. I have to say that after having walked down the famous Barcelona street of Ramblas at night, this city's nightlife rocks and it's livelier than Madrid's. I couldn't believe that at 4 am, the street was still packed with nighttime revellers. Don't Barcelenos ever sleep at all?

The icon that popularly symbolises Barcelona is the cool-looking Sagrada Familia (Sacred Family) Cathedral. Designed by another Barcelon icon, Antonio Gaudi, who died before completing the church in the 1920's, Sagrada Familia has a whimsical fantasy-like architecture that challenges one's imagination. Gaudi possessed a unique Expressionist style and he built a few buildings around Barcelona which initially attracted negative feedback from acerbic critics. The word "gaudy" was coined after the architect's namesake, which now means garish, kitschy, showy and extravagant. I beg to differ but I think that Gaudi was just way before his time when Barcelona was very conservative and traditional. The highlighted feature of this wonderful structure are the twin spires that seem to defy gravity. Like a sand-castle, it seems like this cathedral was modeled by a toddler playing around with a putty who then placed many holes in the twin spires to amuse himself. The final effect is delightful and it's now Barcelona's most famous attraction.

Barcelona is tied with the Mediterranean sea. Its history dates back to around 500BC when sea-trading Phoenicians and Carthaginians formed a settlement here and named it Barcino after the Carthaginian ruler Amilcar Barca. Like all Mediterranean towns, Barcino fell under the Roman Empire and became an important outpost to repel the northern barbarians. Vestiges of the Roman city such as its fortified walls can still be seen near the gothic area of Barcelona as well as around Placa San Jaume. Roman decline made the town vulnerable and it was conquered by the Visigoth barbarians who later renamed the place Barcinona. Then the Islamic moors from North Africa invaded the place for a while but was repelled by the Franks who were Christians. Barcelona became an important frontline against the muslim jihadists. This gave rise to the formation of Catalonia and Barcelona as its principal city. Soon, the port of Barcelona thrived and its trading influence rivaled that of Venice and Genoa during the Middle Ages. Barcelona underwent a building boom and many of the romanesque chapels or churches, royal palaces and gothic civic buildings were contructed during this golden age.

By the 16th century, Catalonia had a special relationship with Castillian Spain, which was then a supreme world imperial power. But relationship with Spain became sour a century later, and Catalonia sided with other nations to sever ties with Spain. But the Spanish forces were more superior and Catalonia was humiliatingly annexed as a province of Spain in 1714 while Barcelona, became its provincial capital. Under Spain, Barcelona was designated as Spain's main port and the city flourished as a result of trading with the vash Spanish empire. This culminated in Barcelona playing host to the World Exhibition in 1888. The increase wealth stirred calls for independence from Spain and by the early 20th century, Catalanism gripped much of Barcelona but this was brutally repressed during the Franco years. Barcelona underwent an uncontrolled population boom during the 1960's when many poor peasants from all over Spain migrated into outskirts of the city whose infrastructure still leaves much to be desired. Millions of non-descript apartments circle the city and there are still pockets of misery in some areas. However, Barcelona's artistic and intellectual output surged and the city has now developed a "hip" reputation for world class innovation and creativity.

I strolled around the Rambla and the creative energy of its people can be glaringly observed. Buskers, musicians, poets and artists all vied for your attention in this 24 hour street. Some parts of Barcelona has become uber-trendy and stylish, methinks this would be the next Paris or Milan. Millions of tourists leave the city with a positive impression of the city. Hopefully, the creative juices evident in the city centre should have a flow-on effect in the outer suburbs ofBarcelona.

• Pros:Hip Culture
• Cons:Expensive
• In a nutshell:Barcelona, a non conformist city