BARCELONA

city, capital of Anzotegui estado (state), northeastern Venezuela. On the west bank of the Never River, 3 miles (5 km) inland from the Caribbean Sea and about 200 miles (320 km) east of Caracas, it lies in the Barcelona Gap, through which the Llanos (plains) extend from the interior to the sea. Barcelona is an important cattle-shipping centre as well as an outlet for coffee grown in the high interior valleys and for the important oil fields nearest the northern Venezuelan coast. Although the city's commercial and industrial development has been erratic, it has prospered as a part of the BarcelonaGuantaPuerto La Cruz industrial complex. The nation's principal coalfields (lignite and semibituminous) are nearby. Pop. (1988 est.) 226,805. city, seaport, and capital of Barcelona province and of Catalonia autonomous region, Spain. Located in the northeastern part of the country, 90 miles (150 km) south of the French frontier, it is Spain's major Mediterranean port and commercial centre and is famed for its great individuality, cultural interest, and physical beauty. Barcelona is built on a gentle slope facing southeast to the Mediterranean Sea, in a fertile plain between the Bess and Llobregat rivers. The mountain-ringed city has a mild and agreeable climate. Economic life centres on manufacturing, shipping, and tourism. Dominant industries produce automobiles, heavy machinery, chemicals, and textiles. As the hub of Catalonian industrial activity, Barcelona contributes greatly to Spain's economic output. The city has an active stock exchange and is an international banking and finance centre. More than 100 regular shipping lines link the city with other world ports. The main axis of the old town is formed by the Ramblas, a series of spacious, tree-lined avenues, leading north to the commercial centre, Plaza de Catalua, and south to the Paseo Martimo and the seafront. To the north is the new town, the Ensanche (Extension). Industrial plants extend beyond the residential and commercial areas. The oldest part of the city is built on a small hill, Mount Taber, and some of its Roman walls are still visible. Fine Gothic buildings remain, including the cathedral (built between 1289 and the late 15th century) and a nearby 6th-century basilica, as well as the Church of Santa Maria del Mar. Royal and episcopal palaces house the archives of the city and of the crown of Aragon. Monuments include a 197-foot (60-metre) column built as a tribute to Christopher Columbus and the Church of the Holy Family, which was begun in 1882. Though unfinished, this huge and elaborate church features openwork spires that dominate the skyline and is the best-known work of the Catalonian architect Antonio Gaud. The language of Catalonia, Catalan, has a long literary tradition and has deeply marked the political, social, and cultural history of the area. (See Catalan language; Catalonia.) The University of Barcelona (1450) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (1968) are among the city's educational and research institutions. Libraries include the Library of Catalonia and the University Library. Outstanding museums include the Museum of Catalonian Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Maritime Museum, and the Picasso Museum. City transportation is facilitated by an urban belt of rapid transit, including subways, tunnels, buses, cable cars, and freeways. Railways connect the city with the suburbs as well as with the rest of Spain and with France, while the airport at Prat del Llobregat serves international flights. Area city, 35 square miles (91 square km); metropolitan area, 184 square miles (477 square km). Pop. (1986 est.) city, 1,699,231; (1981 prelim.) metropolitan area, 3,096,748. province, in the autonomous community (region) of Catalonia, northeastern Spain, formed in 1833 from a number of districts stretching between the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean coast. Its area is 2,986 sq mi (7,733 sq km). The province follows the axis of the Ro Llobregat basin, from which its regions are symmetrically arranged. No province has a more diverse landscape; it is a cross section of many varied geological zones, namely, the Pyrenees, the scarps and basins of the interior of Catalonia, the Serralada interior, the central depression, the Serralada del Mar, and the coastal plains. The economy is as varied as the landscape. In the mountainous northern tableland near Berga, lignite is mined, and cement, of which the province is Spain's leading producer, is manufactured. Southwest, in the Cardona Valley, salt has been exploited since Roman times; and there are important potash deposits (discovered in 1912) near Suria. The fertile plains of Vich and Barcelona (around the provincial capital of Barcelona) yield grapes, as does the area around Villafranca, in the south. Grains are cultivated throughout the central depression. The coastal plain area around the Llobregat river delta is Barcelona province's market garden, with more than 50,000 ac (20,200 ha) under intensive cultivation. Tourism is a growing economic concern because of the mild climate and the Mediterranean beaches. Barcelona, long the principal Catalan province, is the heart of the greatest industrial concentration of Spain, and its main city is the chief seaport. It produces three-quarters of the textile manufactures and a high proportion of the output of the chemical and engineering industries. Exports include table and sparkling wines and manufactured goods. The province has utilized the hydroelectric power sources of the Pyrenees and its strategic location to good advantage. Pop. (1982 est.) 4,949,892. city, seaport, and capital of Barcelona province and of the Catalonia autonomous region of Spain. Located in the northeastern part of the country, 90 miles (150 kilometres) south of the French border, it is Spain's major Mediterranean port and commercial centre and is famed for its individuality, cultural interest, and physical beauty. On his visit to the city in 1862, Hans Christian Andersen remarked that Barcelona was the Paris of Spain. The city is, indeed, a major cultural centre with a remarkable history. It abounds with archives, libraries, museums, and buildings of interest, and it contains superb examples of modernist and Art Nouveau decor and architecture. Since the late 1970s, with the official recognition of the Catalan language and the granting of significant levels of regional self-government, cultural life has been revitalized, bringing with it a new awareness of the depth and variety of Catalan culture. This vitality combines with the striking physical setting of Barcelona, between scenic mountains and the Mediterranean Sea, its benign climate which fosters street life, and its significance as an economic power and a major port, to create a city of infinite variety. Additional reading Among volumes on Barcelona in the series Enciclopdia catalana Aedos, written in Catalan, are Augustn Durn Y Sanpere et al., Histria de Barcelona (1975); and Pau Vila Dinars and Llus Cassasas Sim, Barcelona i la seva rodalia al llargo dels temps (1974). Augustn Durn Y Sanpere, Barcelona i la seva historia, 3 vol. (197275), covers the history, culture, and economic aspects of the city. Later works in English and Spanish tend to include Barcelona within the scope of Catalonia overall, or as part of a broader canvas. A good starting point for geographical research is provided in Montserrat Galera Monegal, Bibliografa geografca de la ciudad de Barcelona (1973 ), a multivolume work. An informative and well-illustrated article on the city is Pasqual Maragall, Barcelona, in Gran enciclopdia catalana, vol. 3, pp. 188225 (1971). Robert Ferras, Barcelone: Croissance d'une mtropole (1977), is lavishly supplied with charts, maps, and statistical data. Serviceable guidebooks include All Barcelona, 4th ed. (1982). For the more informed visitor there are Jos Pamias Ruiz (ed.), Gua urbana de Barcelona, 2 vol., 22nd ed. (198182); Bertram Strauss and Frances Strauss, Barcelona Step by Step (1974); Jaume Fabre and Josep M. Huertas, Tots els barris de Barcelona, 7 vol. (197677). See also Alexandre Cirici, Barcelona, City of Art (1975; originally published in Catalan, 1973). Timothy John Connell