Barcelo'na, the second largest and the most important manufacturing city in Spain, in the province of the same name, is beautifully situated on the Mediterranean between the mouths of the Llobregat and the Besos, in the midst of a district as luxuriant as a garden. By rail it is 228 miles E. of Saragossa and 439 ENE. of Madrid. The ramparts and citadel have given place to the expansion of the city, and the ground formerly covered by the citadel has been laid out in gardens. The castle of Montjuich commands the town from the south, and the arsenals near by comprise infantry and cavalry barracks for 7000 men. Barcelona is divided into two parts—the old town and the new—by the Rambla (river-bed), which has been formed into a beautiful promenade. There is another fine promenade, the Muralla del Mar, or sea-wall. The streets of the old town, forming the north-west division, are crooked, narrow, and ill paved. The buildings are chiefly of brick, four or five stories high, with flat roofs. Those of the new are much more modern in appearance, spacious, and regular. There is a large suburb to the SE. of the town, called Barceloneta, where the seafaring portion of the population chiefly reside. The suburbs of Gracia (35,000 inhabitants), to the NW., and Sarria, are favourite holiday and summer evening resorts of the inhabitants. Barcelona is the see of a bishop. It has a university (1430; rebuilt 1873) attended by 2500 students, and colleges and schools; public libraries, in one of which there is a splendid collection of MSS.; several hospitals and other charitable institutions; a dozen theatres, one of them capable of holding 4000 spectators; numerous ancient and elegant churches; eighteen convents, and a cathedral which, begun in 1298, is not yet completed. Electric lighting has been introduced, and an International Exhibition was held here in 1888. Barcelona manufactures silk, woollens, cottons, lace, hats, firearms, hardware, blocks from stone-dust, &c., which form its principal exports. Its fabrics are inferior to English goods, and it is said that they are exported to England and reimported with British marks and labels. The staple imports are raw cotton, coffee, sugar, and other colonial produce; also wheat, spirits, timber, salt-fish, hides, wax, iron, and coal. Its export trade is largely confined to fruits, vegetables, wines, silk, oil, and salt. Next to Cadiz, it is the most important port in Spain. The number of ships annually entering and leaving the port is about 4000, with a tonnage of 1,700,000. The harbour was extended and its entrance improved in 1875, but great engineering skill and constant dredging have been required to convert the open roadstead into a safe harbour. The annual imports average 10 to 12 millions sterling; but the decadence of the export trade has become every year more pronounced, its value being returned in 1886 at £105,000. The city has excellent railway communication, with lines of tramway for street traffic. Steamers run to various Mediterranean ports, including the Balearic Islands. In 1864 the population was 190,000; in 1868 it had been reduced (mainly by cholera) to 167,095; (1878) 249,106; (1887) 268,223; (1893, with suburbs, estimated) 318,000. It is the headquarters of Catalan literature and Catalan art (Fortuny, &c.). — The province of Barcelona has an area of 2950 sq. m., and a population of upwards of 900,000.
Barcelona is a place of great antiquity, and associated with many historical events. Local tradition fixes the date of its foundation 400 years before the Romans; and it is said to have been refounded by Hamilcar Barca, the father of Hannibal, from whom its ancient name, Barcino, was derived. An important city under the Romans, Goths, and Moors, Barcelona in 878 became an independent sovereignty, under a Christian chief of its own, whose descendants continued to govern it, and to hold the title of Counts of Barcelona until the 12th century, when its ruler adopted the title of King of Aragon, to which kingdom it was annexed. During the middle ages, Barcelona became a flourishing seaport, rivalled in the Mediterranean by Genoa only. To its commercial code, framed in the 13th century, much deference was paid by the whole of Europe; and it was at this time 'a city of commerce, conquest, and courtiers; of taste, learning, and luxury; and the Athens of the troubadour.' It was one of the first cities of Spain into which printing was introduced. Columbus was received here in 1493 by Ferdinand and Isabella, after his discovery of America. Here also a ship was launched in 1543, which was moved by means of steam. In 1640 it appealed to France against the tyranny of Philip IV.; but it turned against that country in the war of the Spanish Succession, and adhered to Austria. In 1705 the fortress of Montjuich was surprised and captured by Lord Peterborough, and the city surrendered shortly afterwards. In 1714, after a most heroic defence, it was stormed by the Duke of Berwick, on behalf of Louis XIV., and given over to fire and sword. Napoleon perfidiously obtained possession of it in 1808; and with one or two reverses, and in the face of great difficulties, it was held by the French until the treaty of peace concluded in Paris in 1814. For 13 years, Barcelona remained quiet under the iron rule of España; but in 1827 its old turbulent spirit returned, and it rose in favour of Don Carlos. Since that time Barcelona has generally supported the government. But a Progressist rebellion in 1856 caused much bloodshed, and in 1874 the Federalists raised an insurrection here.