Barcelona offers you more than 2.000 years of fascinating history. How it all started is a bit unsure, but it’s likely the city was founded by Carthaginians in about 230 BC. Because of this, we’re able to find a lot of legends about how the city received its name. One story tells us that Barcelona was named after the father of Hannibal and another that one of the boats of Hercules' expedition leaded to this name.

After the Carthaginians, it were the Romans, Visigoths, Moors and Franks that conquered the city. In 988 the counts of Barcelona declared their independence from the Franks. This is celebrated as Catalonia’s birth as a nation state. In 1137 Ramon Berenguer IV set the scene for a golden age. From that time it expanded and after and on its highest peak it had Sardinia, Corsica and even Athens under its control. Also during this period, lots of Gothic buildings and monuments rose, like for instance the cathedral.

After many ups and downs, the late 18th and 19th century was a better period for Barcelona. The city flourished thanks to the industrial revolution. Barceloneans removed the medieval city walls and started an extension of the city. New districts with straight lanes and unique buildings in the Modernista style arose, including several masterpieces by famous Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi. The Universal Exposition in 1888 left the city more monuments we still can enjoy, like the Arc de Triomf and the Museu de Zoologia. In the late 19th century Catalans were allowed again to speak Catalan and enjoy their culture.

A sad historical highlight took place in 1909: the Tragic Week, a call-up of reservists was the cause of protests, which ended in a destruction of religious buildings and killings of workers on the streets. Catalan nationalists proclaimed Catalonia a republic in 1931, but just got support from Madrid after five years, thanks to a leftwing win of the Spanish general elections. Catalonia received genuine autonomy. But, with Franco in power, the public use of Catalan was banned again.

In 1978 Madrid made Catalonia an autonomous community, with Barcelona as capital. Since then the Catalan parliament can make decisions about matters, such as agriculture, education, health, industry, trade and tourism. In 1992 the Olympic Games brought new life to the city, including a new harbour and modern facilities.