Barcelona is a legendary city covered with myths and legends. Of course, with its oddities and good and sad facts. Any tourist before visiting Catalonia should know some interesting facts about it.
The population density in the city is very large: 16,000 people per square kilometer. By this indicator, the city takes 48th place in the world. And 75% of the city’s population actively uses the regional Catalan language, but of course they know spanish.
The unofficial symbols of the Catalans are a donkey or a cat. And the first animal deserved the popular love for its hard work, and the second – the fact that in the English version the word (cat) coincides with the first three letters of the name of the province (Catalonia).
The Central Boulevard Las Ramblas consists of 5 blocks : Canaletes, Estudis, Sant Josep, Caputxins and Santa Mònica. The Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, often simply referred to as La Boqueria, the oldest indoor market in Barcelona is located on La Ramblas. Its total length is 1.2 km.
At the beginning of the pedestrian Rambla (next to the port) is a monument to Columbus. The height of the monument is 60 meters. Inside it there is an elevator, which raises visitors to the observation deck. By the way, the length of the index finger of Columbus is almost one meter, and it stands back to the capital of Spain – Madrid.
There is six transport zones around Barcelona. The further you go – the more expensive the ticket.
Today in Barcelona, there are 12 abandoned stations between subway and commuter trains, and more and more fans of adventure and mystery come to Barcelona to visit these Ghost Metro stations. In 2011, a special scary metro tour started that went through the Lau Pau and Sagrada Familia Line.
The Opera House “Liseo” is the most luxurious in the whole of Europe. In 1994 the building was completely destroyed by fire. He was rebuilt on the donations of the towns people. Monserrat Caballé, José Carreras, Placido Domingo conducted charity concerts, and the proceeds were given for the restoration of the opera house
Spanish artist Pablo Picasso spent his formative adolescence artist apprenticeship years in Barcelona.The Picasso museum located the gothic Palau Aguilar houses 4,251 works and focuses on the artist’s work from his formative years through his Blue Period.
Stadium “Camp Nou” is the largest in Europe, and can hold up to 100 thousand people. Its height is 48 meters, and the area is 55,000 square meters. It is located in the heart of the city, close to it all the transport routes. Evacuation of all people in case of danger is provided for 5 minutes.
Barcelonans are crazy about football . The city is home to one of the world’s largest and richest football clubs, FC Barcelona. The club’s Camp Nou stadium in Europe’s largest, with a capacity of 100,000. More 1.5 million people visit the attached FC Barcelona Museum each year, making it Barcelona’s most-visited museum.
April 23rd is Saint Georges Day /La Diada de San Jordi, the national festival day in Barcelona and throughout the Catalonia region. On this day, Catalonians give their loved ones roses and books, similar to Valentine’s Day. Inspired by this tradition, UNESCO declared April 23rd as the International Day of Books. Thousands of stands of roses and bookstalls are set up for the occasion. Around 4 million roses and 800,000 books are purchased on this day.
The most crowded street in Spain is Portal de l’Angel, the main shopping street in Barcelona. On average, 3,500 people walk down this street every hour.
Gaudi’s Alive House. Antoni Gaudi is considered as one of the great architects who greatly influenced buildings in the city. Casa Mila is one of his marvelous creations and is also known as the Alive House because its architecture makes it look like a living organism. In 1984 UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site.
Flamenco is not popular. Flamenco is a very popular dance form in Spain. But, in Barcelona, it is not so popular and people don’t appreciate it as much as in the rest of the Spain. They prefer contemporary rock-n-roll.
First Choice for Eiffel Tower. Lastly, Barcelona was the first choice to build Eiffel Tower, but the project was rejected.
Sad facts:
Barcelona has been leading the number of pocket thefts for many years. Most often they steal on the Ramblas and Plaza Catalunya.
A car accident in the city occurs every 19 minutes. Police in places where the greatest number of tragedies on the roads happen, establishes black signs that call for vigilance.
To ensure public order in the city, the authorities increased the amount of fines. So, for consumption of alcohol on the street you will have to pay the amount of 1,5 thousand euros. Illegal trade is punishable by a fine of 500 euros. The application of graffiti on the walls – 3000 euros.
