Busy in Barcelona

Like almost all Western European countries, the first to settle modern day Barcelona were the Romans in 3 B.C., who named their settlement Barcino. A succession of crusades saw the Visigoths, Moors, and Franks take power before the Muslims took hold of Spain in 9 A.D. Wilfred the Hairy conquered neighboring regions to the original Barcino, effectively establishing Catalonia, eventually making Barcelona the center of power. He was the patriarch of a five-century dynasty that failed to gain control over Catalonia from the Muslims. Eventually, Count Ramon Berenuer IV of Barcelona married Petronilla of Aragon, thus annexing Catalonia into the Crown of Aragon.

The new power of Aragon seized the city of Valencia and the Balearic Islands from the Muslims, who now controlled Sicily, Sardinia, and Greece. The Black Plague (Yersinia pestis, for those who are curious) weakened the Aragon powers and William the Hairy's last descendant died without leaving an heir. A Castile noble took over the Crown of Aragon, merged the country with his own, and left the kingdom of Catalonia to fend for themselves in a newly developing mercantile world. Catalonia and its allies lost the War of Spanish Succession from 1702-13, bestowing power to the triumphant Bourbon king Felipe V. Felipe V forbade the the teaching of Catalan, decimated the existing legal system, and built an immense fort to oversee the entire city of Barcelona.

During the Industrial Revloution, Barcelona rose to power again as the commercialization of wine-making, corking, and manufacturing led Barcelona to the forefront of Spanish industry. The Renaixença, or Renaissance, spurred heavy interest in political activism, foreshadowing the political instability to come for Barcelona.

To compound the problems of World Wars, the gap between rich and poor was widening as Castilian aristocrats, like the patrons of Antoni Gaudi, maintained the majority of the country's wealth while the country's poorest population was almost doubling. The end of the first and second world wars spurred a fight between leftist and rightest ideological parties, including numerous assassinations, gang fights, and executions.

In 1931, Catalonia declared independence but was crushed in 1934 when a right-wing government won power in Madrid. Left-wing radicals rose to popularity again in 1936, contributing to the onset of the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), where General Franco triumphed, unfortunately for the Catalonians. Italian fascists regularly bombed Barcelona, which was the acting capital of Spain, during the Spanish occupation of Mallorca.

Anarchists and the Partido Obrero de Unificacion Marxista (POUM) ruled Barcelona until 1937. From 1937 to 1950, socialist rule begat lootings, assassinations, public spurnings of religion and religious figures. Over 1200 priests, monks, and nuns were killed and the churches they occupied were burned. Stalin eventually sent in communist troops who killed 1500 to quench anarchist violence in Barcelona.

When Franco finally died, Catalonia was granted regional independence in 1977. Barcelona began to rebuild, to spruce up the old city and to build a new region of the city to hail its rebirth. The 1992 Olympics were held in Barcelona and the government invested millions of dollars to erect historical monuments, build museums, clean parks and streets, and develop waterfront property. The city continues to rebuild to this day.

It is important to note that Barcelona is a mixed bag of Roman, Castilian, Moorish, and Spanish heritage, making the Catalans a rich, unique culture. While I am proud to say that I can speak Spanish decently well, Catalan is the official language of Barcelona and contains many words that I will have to learn to use. For instance, in North American Spanish, we say please by saying "por favor", but Catalonians say "si us plau", which is more similar to the French "s'il vous plait". We can safely assume that most Catalonians can speak Spanish, so if I screw up in conversation, they likely won't be offended.

The shortlist of must-see sights in Barcelona always contains Antoni Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia, an unfinished church built as three parts: The Nativity, the Passion, and the Glory. The Glory is being finished by architects who have studied Gaudi's style and will attempt to emulate his creations in the last part of the church. If we make it up to the top of the towers, we can visit the peregrine falcons who have taken safe haven high above the city since 1999. We probably should not stop at his most famous work, though. There is lots of Gaudi to go around, including Casa Museu Gaudi in Park Guell, mansions of the aristocrats, and frescoes around the city.



Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya was once a temporary palace but now stands as a national museum for Catalan art, including Gaudi frecoes and Romanesque frescoes preserved from the 11th and 12th centuries. For the more modern minimalist side to me, we should also visit the Modernista and Noucentista exhibits, which are coincidentally located right beside the museum restaurant ... Actually, Barcelona's many museums can be accessed by one large underground route via tunnels and the Metro, so it has been suggested we save the museum part of our trip for one long, rainy day.

Sonar is a music festival featuring world famous DJs who spin electronica and house music, as well as experimental acts right out of the heart of Europe. This festival is world-famous happens exclusively during the month of June. I would say that we are one lucky bunch to be going exactly then! Somebody remind me to buy tickets beforehand.

Papabubble is a candy store located in Barri Gotic and La Rambla, famous for their penis-shaped candy. Actually, this quarter is full of sexual innuendo, including Museu de l'Erotica and La Condoneria (literally, condom store. It's labelled like a freakin' pharmacy!) Biocenter is a vegetarian restaurant in El Raval, which includes an option called "combinat", which serves a hot vegetarian meal with free buffet salad. The same district houses the club called Moog, the name of its overused synth, which includes a thumping downstairs dance club and an upstairs indie retro lounge kept quiet for conversation. The hours? 11:30pm to 5am, with 8 euro cover.



La Ribera contains Museu de la Xocolata, which showcases the history of chocolate cultivation, harvesting, and manufacturing. The best part of the museum includes a chocolate model of La Sagrada Familia and Winnie the Pooh!! We should definitely aim for the peak time of demonstrations and tastings. La Vinya del Senyor is a wine bar which highlights Barcelona's famous drink - cava - and over 300 wines. The adjacent tapas bar doesn't hurt either ... but this bar closes at 1am, so we shall have to find a different place to play after.

And don't even get me started on the shopping. We should take in some flamenco, some chocolate y churros for our morning, and always eat tapas on the street. Between the beaches, the sights, and the nightlife, I have a feeling we will be BUSY in Barcelona.

¡Chau, mis amigos!