Seaport city (pop., 2001: city, 1,503,884; metro. area, 3,765,994), capital of Catalonia autonomous region, northeastern Spain.
Spain's largest port and second largest city, it is the country's principal industrial and commercial centre, as well as a major cultural centre. Traditionally said to have been founded in the 3rd century BC by the Carthaginian Hamilcar Barca (270?–229/28), for whom it may have been named, it was later ruled by the Romans and Visigoths. It was captured by the Moors с AD 715, but it was retaken by the Franks under Charlemagne in 801 and made the capital of the Spanish March (Catalonia). After Catalonia united with Aragon in 1137, Barcelona became a flourishing commercial centre and the rival of Italian ports. In the 19th century it was a cauldron for radical social movements and Catalonian separatism. It was the loyalist capital in 1937–39 during the Spanish Civil War ; its capture by Francisco Franco brought the collapse of Catalonian resistance and Catalonia's reintegration into Spain. Modern Barcelona is known for its handsome architecture, including buildings by Antoni Gaudí . It is a Catalan educational and cultural centre. It hosted the 1992 Summer Olympic Games.