Of the first impressions you get of the city of Barcelona, the quality of light, enhanced by the morning sun reflecting on a calm Mediterranean sea, is amongst the most memorable. In the bay the wake of a supertanker, attended by a shrieking gaggle of hungry seagulls, breaks the near perfection of the mirror-like surface.
Barcelona wakes in the morning, confident of its unique position in the commercial life of Spain and dazzling in the aspirations of its inhabitants.
The origins of the city are long and complex. Early settlers included the Iberian tribe known as the Layetanos. The Romans took the city from the Carthaginians, to whom some authors attribute the origin of city’s name, in the year 201 B.C.
There followed a long period in which Barcelona, or Barcino, formed the capital of the Roman province of Laietania with the city growing around the easily defended Mount Taber. Subsequently, for nearly a century, Barcelona was the capital city of the kingdom of the Visigoths, a status that was eventually superseded by the rise of the fortunes of Toledo.
Contrary to the rest of Spain, Barcelona remained within the Moorish empire for a relatively short time. When the Arabs first landed in Al-Andaluz, the initial impetus of their armies was so strong that expeditions reached well into the kingdom of France. However, less than one hundred years after this Barcelona was retaken by Luis el Piadoso, the son of Charlemagne.
Later, the marriage between Ramon Berenguer IV and Petronila meant that the Barcelona fell under the jurisdiction of the Province of Aragón. There followed a period when Barcelona enjoyed major influence in the region.
This was driven mainly by the establishment of the city as an important port and, as a consequence, both the social and the cultural life flourished, a position that was maintained until the Barcelona’s star was eclipsed by that of Seville during the discovery and growth in importance of trade between Europe and the Americas.
>Barcelona has a long history of independence of character from its neighbouring states. During the Spanish Civil War, Barcelona formed a focus for Republican aspirations and was the headquarters of the democratically elected Republican Government. In 1977, with the death of Franco and the subsequent reinstatement of democratic freedom, Barcelona became the capital of the autonomous region of Catalonia.
The eighteenth century opened and closed with the state at war. In 1714 defeat in the War of the Spanish Succession and in 1808 the struggle against Napoleon's army in the Peninsula War.
However, the eighteenth century was also the Age of Enlightenment and enlightened despotism; the century that the German philosopher Immanuel Kant summed up as "dare to think for yourself"; a time of many changes across Europe that came to a head with the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789.
Barcelona at this time was a city in a state of flux, where old rural ways of life were making way for a modern city and industrial centre. It was the passing of the Antic Règim (ancien régime) and the beginning of the Capitalist era.
At the beginning of the twentieth century Barcelona became a capital of the cultural avant-garde, a city where the new advances in science and technology made an impact on every aspect of the daily life of its people. A new generation of industrialists and politicians started out on ambitious industrial and development plans to turn Barcelona into a modern metropolis, which they called "grosse" Barcelona.
There were fresh initiatives in education, the first city trains were built, the tramway was electrified, the streets were lit and lifts were installed in buildings. Barcelona was on its way to becoming a fast-moving vibrant city, a city characterised by the media and mass consumption.
During this time the football clubs, Barça and Espanyol, were founded, the mountains of Montjuïc and Tibidabo were developed and incorporated into the city boundary and the city grew to the east.
In contrast, the early twentieth century was a time of strife for Barcelona. The barricades and sacking of religious buildings in the Setmana Tràgica (Tragic Week) of 1909, the gangster regimes of the 1920s, the Second Republic, the military revolt and the bombs of the Civil War (1936 - 1939) left behind a defeated city, without energy or memory, to confront the long post-war period.
Today, its relations with the rest of Spain remain ambivalent. Catalan, the indigenous language spoken in Catalonia has long been elevated to official status, equivalent to that of Castillian and, even though the independence movement in Catalonia is strong, its position within Spain is governed mainly by the principals of democracy and respect for the basic freedoms of the individual.
This makes it a favoured destination for tourists and an attractive region for business investment. In the twenty first century, Barcelona’s position as the power-house of Spanish industry remains assured.
Of the first impressions you get of the city of Barcelona, the quality of light, enhanced by the morning sun reflecting on a calm Mediterranean sea, is amongst the most memorable. In the bay the wake of a supertanker, attended by a shrieking gaggle of hungry seagulls, breaks the near perfection of the mirror-like surface. 
Later, the marriage between Ramon Berenguer IV and Petronila meant that the Barcelona fell under the jurisdiction of the Province of Aragón. There followed a period when Barcelona enjoyed major influence in the region. 
However, the eighteenth century was also the Age of Enlightenment and enlightened despotism; the century that the German philosopher Immanuel Kant summed up as "dare to think for yourself"; a time of many changes across Europe that came to a head with the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789.
In contrast, the early twentieth century was a time of strife for Barcelona. The barricades and sacking of religious buildings in the Setmana Tràgica (Tragic Week) of 1909, the gangster regimes of the 1920s, the Second Republic, the military revolt and the bombs of the Civil War (1936 - 1939) left behind a defeated city, without energy or memory, to confront the long post-war period.
