Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan and simply Milan in Italy, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. The club was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin, Alfred Edwards, and four other Englishmen and has spent most of its history in the top flight of Italian football, having spent only two years in Serie B in the 1980s.
The club has won 18 officially recognized UEFA and FIFA international titles, and remains tied with Boca Juniors as having won the most in the world. Milan has won four world titles, more than any other club in the world, having won the Intercontinental Cup three times and the FIFA Club World Cup once. Milan has won the European Cup/Champions League on seven occasions;only Real Madrid has exceeded this total. The club has also won the European Super Cup a record five times and the Cup Winners' Cup twice.
Domestically, Milan has won 17 league titles, making the club the third most successful in Serie A. The club shares the position with local rivals, Internazionale, while Juventus holds the record for most league titles with 27 titles won.The club has also won the Coppa Italia five times, in addition to five Supercoppa Italiana triumphs. The UEFA Cup (Europa League) remains the only major competition for which the team are eligible to compete in that they have never won. Milan was a founding member of the G-14 group and the European Club Association that was formed following the first organization's dissolution.
Milan's home games are played at San Siro, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The stadium, which is shared with rivals Internazionale, is the largest in Italian football, with a total capacity of 80,074. The owner of the club is Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi while the vice-president is Adriano Galliani. Milan is one of the wealthiest clubs in Italian and world football.
History of A.C. Milan
The club was founded as a cricket club in 1899 by British expatriates Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin, who came from the British city of Nottingham. In honor of its origins, the club has retained the English spelling of its city's name, instead of changing it to the Italian Milano, although it was forced to do so during the fascist regime. It should be noted that the Italian pronunciation is actually MEE-lan, in the Italian style of not stressing the last syllable. Milan won its first Italian championship in 1901 and a further two in succession in 1906 and 1907.
In 1908, the club experienced a split caused by internal disagreements over the signing of foreign players, which led to the forming of another Milan-based team, Internazionale. Following these events, Milan did not manage to win a single domestic title until 1950–51. In 1963, the club ensured its first continental title by beating Benfica in the final of the European Cup.This success was repeated in 1969, and followed by an Intercontinental Cup title the same year.After the retirement of Gianni Rivera, Milan went into a period of decline, during which the club was involved in the 1980 Totonero scandal and relegated to Serie B as punishment, for the first time in its history. The scandal was centered around a betting syndicate paying players and officials to fix the outcome of matches. Milan quickly returned to Serie A but was relegated to Serie B one year later as the team ended its 1981–82 campaign in third last place.
In 1986, entrepreneur Silvio Berlusconi acquired the club and immediately invested a lot of money in the team, appointing rising coach Arrigo Sacchi at the helm of the rossoneri and signing a Dutch trio of Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard. This was the beginning of the most successful time in the club's history, as Milan won seven domestic titles, five Champions League trophies, five UEFA Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one Fifa Club World Cup.
More recently, the club was involved in the 2006 Serie A scandal where five teams were accused of fixing matches by selecting favorable referees. A police inquiry excluded any involvement of Milan managers,[citation needed] but FIGC unilaterally decided that it had sufficient evidence to charge Milan vice-president, Adriano Galliani. As a result, Milan was initially punished with a 15 point deduction and consequently did not qualify for the Champions League. An appeal saw that penalty reduced to eight points, which allowed the club to retain its 2006–07 Champions League participation. Milan subsequently won the competition, lifting the European Cup for the seventh time.
Players of A.C. Milan
As of 20 February 2010, according to official site.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
No. Position Player
1 GK Dida
4 DF Kakha Kaladze
5 DF Oguchi Onyewu
7 FW Alexandre Pato
8 MF Gennaro Gattuso (vice-captain)
9 FW Filippo Inzaghi
10 MF Clarence Seedorf
11 FW Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
12 GK Christian Abbiati
13 DF Alessandro Nesta
15 DF Gianluca Zambrotta
16 MF Mathieu Flamini
17 FW Gianmarco Zigoni
18 DF Marek Jankulovski
No. Position Player
19 DF Giuseppe Favalli
20 MF Ignazio Abate
21 MF Andrea Pirlo
22 FW Marco Borriello
23 MF Massimo Ambrosini (captain)
25 DF Daniele Bonera
30 FW Mancini (on loan from Internazionale)
31 GK Flavio Roma
32 MF David Beckham (on loan from L.A. Galaxy)
33 DF Thiago Silva
40 FW Dominic Adiyiah
44 DF Massimo Oddo
77 DF Luca Antonini
80 FW Ronaldinho
Out on loan
than one non-FIFA nationality.
No. Position Player
49 FW Davide Di Gennaro (at Livorno until June 2010)
GK Ferdinando Coppola (co-ownership with Atalanta)
GK Davide Facchin (at Pavia until June 2010)
GK Michał Miśkiewicz (at Chievo until June 2010)
GK Daniel Offredi (co-ownership with Albinoleffe)
GK Marco Storari (at Sampdoria until June 2010)
DF Davide Astori (co-ownership with Cagliari)
DF Marco Bergamini (at San Marino until June 2010)
DF Matteo Bruscagin (at Gubbio until June 2010)
DF Matteo Darmian (at Padova until June 2010)
DF Digão (at Crotone until June 2010)
DF Marcus Diniz (at Livorno until June 2010)
DF Cristiano Dus (at Pordenone until June 2010)
DF Elia Legati (co-ownership with Crotone)
No. Position Player
DF Filippo Noventa (at Monza until June 2010)
MF Giorgio Gianola (at Varese until June 2010)
MF Harmony Ikande (at Monza until June 2010)
MF Patrick Kalambay (at Como until June 2010)
MF Wilfred Osuji (at Varese until June 2010)
FW Manuel Angelilli (at Pro Vercelli until June 2010)
FW Pierre Aubameyang (at Lille until June 2010)
FW Willy Aubameyang (at Eupen until June 2010)
FW Federico Furlan (at San Marino until June 2010)
FW Emanuele Orlandi (at Carpenedolo until June 2010)
FW Alberto Paloschi (co-ownership with Parma)
FW Luca Scapuzzi (at Portosummaga until June 2010)
FW Kingsley Umunegbu (at Varese until June 2010)
For all transfers and loans pertaining to A.C. Milan for the current season, please see; Summer 2009 transfers.
Primavera and youth department
For the Primavera squad and the youth teams, see A.C. Milan Primavera.
Retired numbers
Main article: Retired numbers in association football
No. Player Position AC Milan career Notes
Official debut Last match
3 Paolo Maldini Centre-back, Left-back 20 January 1985 31 May 2009 Shall be restored if either of his sons play professionally for the club[34]
6 Franco Baresi Sweeper 23 April 1978 1 June 1997
Notable players
Main article: List of A.C. Milan players
For a list of all former and current Milan players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:A.C. Milan players.
Presidents and managers
Presidential history
Milan has had numerous presidents over the course of its history, some of which have been owners of the club while others have been honorary presidents. Here is a complete list of them.
Name Years
Alfred Edwards 1899–1909
Giannino Camperio 1909
Piero Pirelli 1909–1928
Luigi Ravasco 1928–1930
Mario Bernazzoli 1930–1933
Luigi Ravasco 1933–1935
Pietro Annoni 1935
Pietro Annoni
G. Lorenzini
Rino Valdameri 1935–1936
Name Years
Emilio Colombo 1936–1939
Achille Invernizzi 1939–1940
Umberto Trabattoni 1940–1944
Antonio Busini 1944–1945
Umberto Trabattoni 1945–1954
Andrea Rizzoli 1954–1963
Felice Riva 1963–1965
Federico Sordillo 1965–1966
Franco Carraro 1967–1971
Federico Sordillo 1971–1972
Name Years
Albino Buticchi 1972–1975
Bruno Pardi 1975–1976
Vittorio Duina 1976–1977
Felice Colombo 1977–1980
Gaetano Morazzoni 1980–1982
Giuseppe Farina 1982–1986
Rosario Lo Verde 1986
Silvio Berlusconi 1986–2004
Presidential Commission 2004–2006
Silvio Berlusconi 2006–2008
Managerial history
Below is a list of Milan coaches from 1900 until the present day.
Name Nationality Years
Herbert Kilpin 1900–1908
Daniele Angeloni 1906–1907
Technical Commission 1907–1910
Giovanni Camperio 1910–1911
Technical Commission 1911–1914
Guido Moda 1915–1922
Ferdi Oppenheim 1922–1924
Vittorio Pozzo 1924–1926
Guido Moda 1926
Herbert Burgess 1926–1928
Engelbert König 1928–1931
József Bánás 1931–1933
József Viola 1933–1934
Adolfo Baloncieri 1934–1937
William Garbutt 1937
Hermann Felsner
József Bánás
1937–1938
József Viola 1938–1940
Guido Ara
Antonio Busini
1940–1941
Mario Magnozzi 1941–1943
Giuseppe Santagostino 1943–1945
Adolfo Baloncieri 1945–1946
Giuseppe Bigogno 1946–1949
Lajos Czeizler 1949–1952
Gunnar Gren 1952
Mario Sperone 1952–1953
Béla Guttmann 1953–1954
Antonio Busini 1954
Hector Puricelli 1954–1956
Giuseppe Viani 1957–1960
Paolo Todeschini 1960–1961
Nereo Rocco 1961–1963
Luis Carniglia 1963–1964
Name Nationality Years
Nils Liedholm 1963–1966
Giovanni Cattozzo 1966
Arturo Silvestri 1966–1967
Nereo Rocco 1966–1972
Cesare Maldini 1973–1974
Giovanni Trapattoni 1974
Gustavo Giagnoni 1974–1975
Nereo Rocco 1975
Paolo Barison 1975–1976
Giovanni Trapattoni 1976
Giuseppe Marchioro 1976–1977
Nereo Rocco 1977
Nils Liedholm 1977–1979
Massimo Giacomini 1979–1981
Italo Galbiati 1981
Luigi Radice 1981–1982
Italo Galbiati 1982
Francesco Zagatti 1982
Ilario Castagner 1982–1984
Italo Galbiati 1984
Nils Liedholm 1984–1987
Fabio Capello 1987
Arrigo Sacchi 1987–1991
Fabio Capello 1991–1996
Oscar Tabárez 1996
Giorgio Morini 1996–1997
Arrigo Sacchi 1997
Fabio Capello 1997–1998
Alberto Zaccheroni 1998–2001
Cesare Maldini
Mauro Tassotti 2001
Fatih Terim 2001
Carlo Ancelotti 2001–2009
Leonardo 2009–2010
Club statistics and records
For more details on this topic, see List of A.C. Milan records and statistics.
Paolo Maldini presently holds both records for number of total and Serie A appearances for Milan with 1000 games played in total and 600 in Serie A (as of 14 May 2007, not including playoff matches), the latter being an all time Serie A record.
Milan's all time top goalscorer is a Swede, Gunnar Nordahl, who scored 221 goals for the club in 268 games. Andriy Shevchenko is in second place with 173 goals in 298 games for the club, and is the highest scoring present squad member, followed by Filippo Inzaghi, who has scored 101 goals in 220 games.
The club holds the unique record of having gone a whole season without losing a game, during the 1991–92 season. In total, that unbeaten streak lasted 58 games, starting with a 0–0 draw with Parma on 26 May 1991 and ironically ending with a 1–0 loss at home to Parma on 21 March 1993. This unbeaten streak is a Serie A record and is the third longest unbeaten run in top flight European football. It comes in behind Steaua Bucureşti's record of 104 unbeaten games and Celtic's 68 game unbeaten run.
Milan, along with Boca Juniors, has won the most FIFA recognized international club titles in the world.Milan is also ranked as the fifth best team in Europe in line with the UEFA Co-Efficient ranking system. This allows Milan to be in the number one spot for all European draws, meaning the team avoids other highly rated European teams in UEFA competitions.
Colors and badge
Milan's third kit during the 2007-08 season
Throughout the entire history of the club, it has been represented by the colors red and black. The colors were chosen to represent the players' fiery ardor (red) and the opponents' fear to challenge the team (black). Due to Milan's striped red and black shirts, the club has gained the nickname rossoneri.White shorts and black socks are worn as part of the home strip.
Milan's away strip has always been completely white. It is considered by both the fans and the club to be a lucky strip in Champions League finals, due to the fact that Milan has won six finals out of eight in an all white strip (losing only to Ajax in 1995 and Liverpool in 2005), while winning only one out of three in the home strip. The third strip changes yearly and is black with red trim for the current season, but it is rarely used.
For many years, Milan's badge was simply the Flag of Milan, which was originally the flag of Saint Ambrose.Another nickname derived from the club's colors is the Devil. An image of a red devil was used as Milan's logo at one point with a Golden Star for Sport Excellence located next to it.The star was awarded to the club when it won 10 league titles. Currently, the badge represents the club colors and the flag of the Comune di Milano, with the acronym ACM at the top and the foundation year (1899) at the bottom.
Stadium
The team's current stadium is the 80,018 seat San Siro, officially known as Stadio Giuseppe Meazza after the former player who represented both Milan and Internazionale. The name San Siro is taken from the district where it's located. San Siro has been the home of Milan since 1926, when it was privately built by the club. The stadium has been shared with Internazionale since 1946, when the other major Milanese club was accepted as joint tenant. The stadium is renowned for its fantastic atmosphere due to the closeness of the stands to the pitch. The frequent use of flares by supporters contributes to the atmosphere but the practice has occasionally caused problems.
On 19 December 2005, Milan vice-president and executive director Adriano Galliani announced that the club is seriously working towards a relocation. He said that Milan's new stadium will be largely based on the Veltins-Arena and will follow the standards of football stadiums in the United States, Germany and Spain. It will likely be a stadium for football purposes only (with no athletics track). The new stadium is supposed to be named after a sponsor. It remains to be seen if this plan will proceed or if this is just a ploy to force the owners (Comune di Milano) to sell the stadium to Milan for a nominal fee so as to proceed with extensive renovations. The possibility of Internazionale vacating San Siro may affect proceedings.
Supporters and rivalries
Milan is one of the most supported football clubs in Italy, according to research conducted by Italian newspaper La Repubblica. Historically, Milan was supported by the city's working-class and trade unionists,a section of whom were migrants from Southern Italy. On the other hand, crosstown rivals Internazionale were mainly supported by the more prosperous and typically Milanese middle-class. One of the oldest ultras groups in all of Italian football, Fossa dei Leoni, originated in Milan.Currently, the main ultras group within the support base is Brigate Rossonere. Politically, Milan ultras have never had any particular preference, but the media traditionally associated them with the left-wing, until recently, when Berlusconi's presidency somewhat altered that view.
Genoa fans consider Milan a hated rival after Genoa fan, Vincenzo Spagnolo was tragically stabbed to death by a Milan supporter in January 1995. However, Milan's main rivalry is with neighbor club, Internazionale; both clubs meet in the widely anticipated Derby della Madonnina twice every Serie A season. The name of the derby refers to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose statue atop the Milan Cathedral is one of the city's main attractions. The match usually creates a lively atmosphere, with numerous (often humorous or offensive) banners unfolded before the start of the game. Flares are commonly present and contribute to the spectacle but they have occasionally led to problems, including the abandonment of the second leg of the 2004–05 Champions League quarterfinal match between Milan and Inter on 12 April 2005, after a flare thrown from the crowd by an Inter supporter struck Milan keeper Dida on the shoulder.
Honors
Milan is one of the most successful clubs in Italy, having won a total of 29 trophies. Together with Boca Juniors,the club is the most successful in the world in terms of international competitions won, with a record of 14 European trophies and four World titles. Milan has earned the right to place a star on its club shirt in recognition of the fact that the club has won at least ten scudetti. In addition, the club is permanently allowed to display a multiple-winner badge on its shirt as it has won more than five European Cups.
A.C. Milan as a company
According to The Football Money League published by consultants Deloitte, in the 2005–06 season, Milan was the fifth highest earning football club in the world with an estimated revenue of €233.7 million. Currently, the club is also ranked as the sixth richest football club in the world by Forbes magazine, making it the richest in Italian football.
Fly Emirates is the current main sponsor for Milan's shirt starting for the 2010-11 season.
After 3 years with The Austrian online betting company, bwin.com as sponsors for Milan
Previous to Bwin deal, the German car manufacturer Opel had sponsored Milan for 12 seasons. For most of them, Opel was displayed on the front of the shirt, but in the 2003–04 and the 2005–06 seasons respectively, Meriva and Zafira (two cars from their range) were displayed.
The current shirts are supplied by German sportswear manufacturer Adidas, whose deal runs to the end of the 2017–18 season. The deal makes Adidas the official manufacturer of all kits, training equipment and replica outfits. Prior to Adidas, the Italian sports company Lotto produced Milan's sportswear.
On 14 January 2008, Milan and Adidas renewed the sponsorship contract until 30 June 2018. According to the new contract, Adidas will be responsible for 3 separate areas of sponsorship; the sponsorship on the shirt, the merchandising and the distribution of all non-football related Milan products.
Superleague Formula
A.C. Milan (Superleague Formula team)
Milan has a team in the new Superleague Formula race car series where teams are sponsored by football clubs. Robert Doornbos, formerly driving for Minardi and Red Bull Racing in the Formula One World Championship, drove for Milan in 2008. Doornbos won his first race for the team at Nürburgring, Germany. Giorgio Pantano is driving for Milan in the 2009 season and he has also won races for the team.
Futbol Club Barcelona, also known simply as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça , is a football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The team was founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, English and Spanish men led by Joan Gamper. The club has become a Catalan institution, hence the motto "Més que un club" (More than a club). The official Barça anthem is El Cant del Barça by Josep Maria Espinàs.
FC Barcelona is one of only three clubs never to have been relegated from La Liga and are the most successful club in Spanish football after Real Madrid, having won twenty La Liga titles, a record twenty-five Spanish Cups, eight Spanish Super Cups, four Eva Duarte Cups and two League Cups. They are also one of the most successful clubs in European football having won fourteen official major trophies in total, including ten UEFA competitions. They have won three UEFA Champions League titles, a record four UEFA Cup Winners' Cups, a record three Inter-Cities Fairs Cups (the forerunner to the UEFA Europa League), three UEFA Super Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup. In 2009, Barcelona became the first club in Spain to win the treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League. The club is also the only European side to have played continental football in every season since its inception in 1955. FC Barcelona became the first football team ever to win six out of six competitions in a single year thus completing the sextuple, comprising the 2008–09 La Liga, 2008–09 Copa del Rey, 2009 Supercopa de España, 2008–09 UEFA Champions League, 2009 UEFA Super Cup and 2009 FIFA Club World Cup.
Barcelona holds a long-standing rivalry with Real Madrid, with matches between the two teams referred to as "El Clásico". Unlike many other football clubs, the fans of FC Barcelona own and operate the club. The club is the world's second richest football club (€365m) in terms of revenue, only surpassed by Real Madrid.
History of FC Barcelona
On 22 October 1899, Joan Gamper placed an advert in Los Deportes declaring his wish to form a football club. A positive response resulted in a meeting at the Gimnasio Solé on 29 November where eleven players attended: Walter Wild, later to become the first director of the club, Lluís d'Ossó, Bartomeu Terradas, Otto Kunzle, Otto Maier, Enric Ducal, Pere Cabot, Carles Pujol, Josep Llobet, John Parsons and William Parsons. As a result Foot-Ball Club Barcelona was born.
Sports Notice: Our friend and companion Hans Gamper... former Swiss [football] champion, being keen on organising some football games in the city asks anyone who feels enthusiastic enough about the sport to present themselves at the office of this newspaper any Tuesday or Friday evening between the hours of 9 and 11pm.
Legend has it that Gamper was inspired to choose the club blue and red colours by FC Basel's crest. However, the Swiss team Gamper played for, FC Excelsior in his home canton of Zürich, and Merchant Taylors' School in Crosby, Merseyside, England have also been credited with or claimed to be the inspiration. FC Barcelona quickly emerged as one of the leading clubs in Spain, competing in the Campeonato de Cataluña and the Copa del Rey. In 1902, the club won its first trophy, the Copa Macaya, and also played in the first Copa del Rey final, losing 2–1 to Bizcaya.
In 1908, Joan Gamper became club president for the first time as he took over the presidency in order to save the club from disappearing altogether. The club had not won anything since the Campeonato de Cataluña in 1905 and as a result got into financial trouble. Gamper was subsequently club president on five separate occasions between 1908 and 1925 and spent 25 years at the helm. One of his main achievements was to help Barça acquire its own stadium and thus achieve a means of generating stable income.
On 14 March 1909, the team moved into the Carrer Indústria, a stadium with a capacity of 8,000. Gamper launched a campaign to recruit more club members and by 1922, the club had over 10,000. This led to the club moving again, this time to Las Cortes, which they inaugurated the same year. Las Cortes had an initial capacity of 22,000, which was later expanded to 60,000.
Gamper recruited Jack Greenwell as the first full-time manager in Barcelona's history. This saw the club's fortunes begin to improve on the field. During the Gamper era FC Barcelona won eleven Campeonato de Cataluña, six Copa del Rey and four Pyrenees Cups and enjoyed its first "golden age".
Rivera, Republic and Civil War (1923–1957)
On 14 June 1925 in a spontaneous reaction against Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, the crowd in the stadium jeered the Royal March. As a reprisal, the ground was closed for six months and Gamper was forced to relinquish the presidency of the club. In 1928, victory in the Spanish Cup was celebrated with a poem titled "Oda a Platko", which was written by a member of the Generation of '27, inspired by the heroic performance of the Barcelona keeper. On 30 July 1930, Gamper committed suicide after a period of depression brought on by personal and financial problems.
Although they continued to have players of the standing of Josep Escolà, the club now entered a period of decline, in which political conflict overshadowed sport throughout society. Barça faced a crisis on three fronts: financially, politically and in sporting terms. Although the team won the Campionat de Catalunya in 1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1936 and 1938, success at a national level (with the exception of the 1937 disputed title) evaded them.
A month after the Spanish Civil War began in 1936, club president Josep Sunyol was murdered by rebel soldiers near Guadarrama. In the summer of 1937, the squad was on tour in Mexico and the United States, where it was received as an ambassador of the Second Spanish Republic. That tour led to the financial security of the club, but also resulted in half the team seeking asylum in Mexico and France. On 16 March 1938, the fascists dropped a bomb on the club's offices which caused significant damage. A few months later, Barcelona was under fascist occupation and as a symbol of the 'undisciplined' Catalanism, the club, now down to just 3,486 members, faced a number of serious problems.
After the Civil War, the Catalan flag was banned and football clubs were prohibited from using non-Spanish names. These measures led to the club having its name forcibly changed to Club de Fútbol Barcelona and the removal of the Catalan flag from the club shield.
In 1943, Barcelona faced rivals Real Madrid in the semi-finals of Copa del Generalísimo. The first match at Les Corts was won by Barcelona 3–0. Before the second leg, Barcelona's players had a changing room visit from Franco's director of state security. He 'reminded' them that they were only playing due to the 'generosity of the regime'. Real Madrid dominated the match, thrashing Barça 11–1.
Despite the difficult political situation, CF Barcelona enjoyed considerable success during the 1940s and 1950s. In 1945, with Josep Samitier as coach and players like César, Ramallets and Velasco, they won La Liga for the first time since 1929. They added two more titles in 1948 and 1949. In 1949, they also won the first Copa Latina. In June 1950, Barcelona signed Ladislao Kubala, who was to be an influential figure at the club.
On a rainy Sunday of 1951, the crowd left Les Corts stadium after a 2–1 win against Santander by foot, refusing to catch any trams and surprising the Francoist authorities. The reason was simple: at the same time a tram strike was taking place in Barcelona, receiving the support of blaugrana fans. Events such as this made FC Barcelona represent much more than just Catalonia and many progressive Spaniards see the club as a staunch defender of rights and freedoms.
Coach Fernando Daucik and Ladislao Kubala, regarded by many as the club's best ever player, inspired the team to five different trophies including La Liga, the Copa del Generalísimo, the Copa Latina, the Copa Eva Duarte and the Copa Martini Rossi in 1952. In 1953, they helped the club win La Liga and the Copa del Generalísimo again.
Club de Fútbol Barcelona (1957–1974)
With Helenio Herrera as coach, a young Luis Suárez, the European Footballer of the Year in 1960, and two influential Hungarians recommended by Kubala, Sándor Kocsis and Zoltán Czibor, the team won another national double in 1959 and a La Liga and Fairs Cup double in 1960. In 1961, they became the first club to beat Real Madrid in a European Cup play-off. However, they lost 3–2 to Benfica in the final.
The 1960s were less successful for the club, with Real Madrid monopolising La Liga. The completion of the Camp Nou, finished in 1957, meant the club had little money to spend on new players. On the upside, the 60s saw the emergence of Josep Fusté and Carles Rexach and the club won the Copa del Generalísimo in 1963 and the Fairs Cup in 1966. Barça restored some pride by beating Real Madrid 1–0 in the 1968 Copa del Generalísimo final at the Bernabéu in front of Franco, with Salvador Artigas, a former republican pilot in the civil war, as coach. With the end of Franco's dictatorship in 1974 the club changed its official name back to Futbol Club Barcelona and reverted the crest to its original design, again including the Catalan flag.
The 1973–74 season saw the arrival of a new Barça legend Johan Cruyff. Already an established player with Ajax, Cruyff quickly won over the Barça fans when he told the European press he chose Barça over Real Madrid because he could not play for a club associated with Francisco Franco. He further endeared himself when he chose a Catalan name, Jordi, for his son. Next to players of quality like Juan Manuel Asensi, Carles Rexach and the talented Hugo Sotil, he helped the club win the 1973–74 season for the first time since 1960, defeating Real Madrid 5–0 at the Bernabéu along the way. He was crowned European Footballer of the Year in his first year at the club.
Núñez and the stabilization years (1978–2000)
In 1978 Josep Lluís Núñez became the first elected president of FC Barcelona, and since then the members of Barcelona have elected the club president. The process of electing a president of FC Barcelona was closely tied to Spain's transition to democracy in 1974 and the end of Franco's dictatorship. Núñez main objective was to develop Barça into a world-class club by giving to it stability both on and off the pitch. His presidency was to last for 22 years and it deeply affected the image of Barcelona, as Núñez held to a strict policy regarding wages and discipline, letting players such as Maradona, Romario and Ronaldo go rather than meeting their demands.
On 16 May 1979, the club won its first Cup Winners Cup by beating Fortuna Düsseldorf 4–3 in Basel in a final was watched by more than 30,000 travelling blaugrana fans. In June 1982, Diego Maradona was signed for a then world record fee of £3 million (€3.4 million) from Boca Juniors. In the following season, under coach Menotti, Barcelona won the Copa del Rey, beating Real Madrid. However, Maradona's time with Barça was short-lived and he soon left for Napoli. At the start of the 1984–85 season, Terry Venables was hired as manager and he won La Liga with stellar displays by German midfielder Bernd Schuster. The next season, he took the team to their second European Cup final, only to lose on penalties to Steaua Bucureşti during a dramatic evening in Seville.
After the 1986 FIFA World Cup, the English top-scorer Gary Lineker was signed along with goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta, but the team could not achieve success as Schuster was excluded from the team. Terry Venables was subsequently fired at the beginning of the 1987–88 season and replaced with Luis Aragonés. The season finished with the players rebelling against president Núñez, this event being known as the Hesperia mutiny, and a 1–0 victory at the Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad.
In 1988, Johan Cruyff returned to the club as manager and he assembled the so-called Dream Team. He used a mix of Spanish players like Josep Guardiola, José Mari Bakero and Txiki Begiristain while signing international stars such as Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup, Romário and Hristo Stoichkov.
Under Cruyff's guidance, Barcelona won four consecutive La Liga titles from 1991 to 1994. They beat Sampdoria in both the 1989 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final and the 1992 European Cup final at Wembley with a legendary free kick goal from Dutch international Ronald Koeman. They also won a Copa del Rey in 1990, the European Super Cup in 1992 and three Supercopa de España. With 11 trophies, Cruyff became the club's most successful manager to date. He also became the club's longest consecutive serving manager, serving 8 years. Cruyff's fortune was to change and in two seasons, he failed to win any trophies and fell out with president Núñez, resulting in his departure.
Cruyff was briefly replaced by Bobby Robson, who took charge of the club for a single season in 1996–97. He recruited Ronaldo from his previous club, PSV and delivered a cup treble winning the Copa del Rey, UEFA Cup Winners Cup and the Supercopa de España. Despite his success, Robson was only ever seen as a short-term solution, while the club waited for Louis van Gaal to become available.
Like Maradona, Ronaldo only stayed a short time as he left for Internazionale. However, new heroes such as Luís Figo, Patrick Kluivert, Luis Enrique and Rivaldo emerged and the team won a Copa del Rey and La Liga double in 1998. In 1999, the club celebrated its 'centenari', winning the Primera División title and Rivaldo became the fourth Barça player to be awarded European Footballer of the Year. Despite this domestic success, the failure to emulate Real Madrid in the Champions League led to van Gaal and Núñez resigning in 2000.
Exit Núñez, enter Laporta (2000–present)
The departures of Núñez and van Gaal were as nothing compared to that of Luís Figo. As well as club vice-captain, Figo had become a cult hero and was considered by Catalans to be one of their own. However, Barça fans were distraught by Figo's decision to join arch-rivals Real Madrid and during subsequent visits to the Camp Nou Figo was given an extremely hostile reception, including one occasion, when a piglet's head was thrown at him from the crowd. The next three years saw the club in decline and managers came and went, including a short second spell by Louis van Gaal. President Gaspart did not inspire confidence off the field either and in 2003, he and van Gaal resigned.
ValdésOleguerMárquezPuyol (C)GioDecoEdmílsonvan BommelRonaldinhoGiulyEto'o
2006 UEFA Champions League Final starting lineup
After the disappointment of the Gaspart era, the combination of a new young president Joan Laporta and a young new manager, former Dutch and Milan star Frank Rijkaard, saw the club bounce back. On the field, an influx of international players, including Ronaldinho, Deco, Henrik Larsson, Ludovic Giuly, Samuel Eto'o, and Rafael Márquez, combined with home grown Spanish players, such as Carles Puyol, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi Hernández and Víctor Valdés, led to the club's return to success. Barça won La Liga and the Supercopa de España in 2004–05, and stars Ronaldinho and Eto'o were voted first and third in the FIFA World Player of the Year awards.
In the 2005–06 season, Barcelona repeated their league and Supercup successes. The pinnacle of the league season arrived at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in a 3–0 win over Real Madrid, Frank Rijkaard's second victory at the Bernabéu, making him the first Barça manager to win there twice. Ronaldinho's performance was so impressive that after his second, which was Barça's third, goal some Real Madrid fans felt compelled to applaud him. In the Champions League, Barça beat English club Arsenal 2–1 in the final. Trailing 1–0 to a 10-man Arsenal and with less than 15 minutes left they came back to win 2–1, with substitute Henrik Larsson, in his final appearance for the club, setting up goals for Samuel Eto'o and fellow substitute Juliano Belletti, for the club's first European Cup victory in 14 years.
Despite being the favourites and starting strongly, Barcelona finished the 2006–07 season without trophies. A pre-season US tour was later blamed for a string of injuries to key players, including leading scorer Eto'o and rising star Lionel Messi. There was open feuding as Eto'o publicly criticized coach Frank Rijkaard and Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho also admitted that lack of fitness affected his form. In La Liga, Barça were in first place for much of the season, but inconsistency in the New Year saw Real Madrid overtake them to become champions. Barça advanced to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, winning the first leg against Getafe 5–2, with a goal from Messi, bringing comparison to Diego Maradona, but then lost the second leg 4–0. They took part in the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup, but were beaten by a late goal in the final against Brazilian sides Internacional. In the Champions League, Barça were knocked out of the competition in the last 16 by eventual runners-up Liverpool on away goals.
Barcelona finished 2007–08 season third in La Liga and reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League and Copa del Rey, both times losing to the eventual champions: Manchester United and Valencia, respectively. The day after a 4–1 defeat to Real Madrid, Joan Laporta announced that Barça B coach Josep Guardiola would take over Frank Rijkaard's duties after 30 June.
Sextuple winning year (2009)
In the pre-season of 2008–09, a motion of no confidence was raised against club president Joan Laporta. This motion received 60% support, just short of the 66% required to oust him, prompting eight of the directors to resign.
As well as appointing Guardiola, Laporta also made major changes to the playing staff, selling Gianluca Zambrotta, Deco, Edmílson and Ronaldinho. Nearly €90 million was spent rebuilding the squad, with Begiristain and Laporta purchasing Seydou Keita, Piqué, Martín Cáceres, Dani Alves and Hleb. Despite this, the club retained its home-grown nucleus of players, such as captain Puyol, Messi, Xavi, Víctor Valdés and Iniesta.
On 17 January 2009, Barça set the record for the most points obtained in the first half of a La Liga season (50) after winning 16, drawing two and losing just one of their first 19 league games. The club also reached the Copa del Rey final for the first time since 1998 after defeating Mallorca in the semi-finals. Six days later, on 23 January, the International organisation IFFHS ranked Barça first in their list of the greatest football clubs of the last 18 years. The All-time Club World Ranking was determined by taking into account all the results of the national championships, the national cup competitions, the club competitions of the six continental confederations and the FIFA.
For the second time that season, Barça played Real Madrid in El Clásico, this time at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Barça won the historic match 2–6, which amounted to the most goals ever scored in El Clásico by Barcelona and the biggest margin of victory for Barça at the Bernabéu since the 1970s, when Johan Cruyff led Barça to win 0–5. On 6 May 2009, just days after the comprehensive victory over their biggest rivals, Barcelona played against Chelsea in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals. Following a goalless first leg, Chelsea led the second leg at Stamford Bridge 1–0 from the eighth minute, until injury time, when Andrés Iniesta scored a dramatic equaliser in the 93rd minute from the edge of the penalty area, sending Barcelona through to the final on away goals.
On 13 May, Barça beat Athletic Bilbao 4–1 at the Mestalla to win the Copa del Rey for a record 25th time. Just days later, as Real Madrid lost to Villarreal, the domestic double was confirmed for Barcelona and the club was crowned La Liga champions for the 2008–09 season.
With a largely homegrown squad in which seven players of the starting 11 were products of their youth system, Barça defeated the defending champions Manchester United 2–0 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 27 May 2009, to earn their third UEFA Champions League title and achieve the treble, having already won the La Liga and Copa del Rey in that season. This was the first time a Spanish team ever completed the treble.
After signing Zlatan Ibrahimović for a club record fee of €69 million, Barça went on to win the 2009 Supercopa de España against Athletic Bilbao (5–1 on aggregate) and the 2009 UEFA Super Cup against Shakhtar Donetsk (1–0), becoming the first European club to win both domestic and European Super Cups following a treble. In December 2009, Barça won the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, thus become the first team ever to accomplish the sextuple.
Rivalries
There is often a fierce rivalry between the two strongest teams in a national league, and this is particularly the case in La Liga, where the game between Barça and Real Madrid is known as El Clásico. From the start, the clubs were seen as representatives of two rival regions in Spain: Catalonia and Castile, as well as of the two cities themselves. The rivalry projects what many regard as the political and other tensions felt between Catalans and the Castilians.
During the dictatorships of Primo de Rivera and (especially) of Francisco Franco (1939–1975), all regional cultures were openly suppressed, for instance all of the languages spoken in Spanish territory, except Spanish (Castilian) itself, were officially banned. Symbolising the Catalan people's desire for freedom, Barça became 'more than a club' (Més que un Club) for the Catalans. According to Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, the best way for the Catalans' to demonstrate their identity was by joining Barça. It was less risky than joining a clandestine anti-Franco movement and allowed them to express their dissidence.
On the contrary, Real Madrid was widely seen as the embodiment of the sovereign oppressive centralism and the fascist regime at management level and beyond (Santiago Bernabeu, the former club president for whom the Merengues' stadium is named, fought with the los nacionales). However, during the Spanish Civil War itself, members of both clubs like Josep Sunyol and Rafael Sánchez Guerra suffered at the hands of Franco supporters.
During the 1950s, the rivalry was exacerbated further when the clubs disputed the signing of Alfredo di Stéfano, who finally played for Real Madrid and was key in the subsequent success achieved by the club. The 1960s saw the rivalry reach the European stage when they met twice at the knock-out stages of the European Cup.
El Derbi Barceloní
Barça's local rival has always been Espanyol. Blanc-i-blaus, being one of the clubs granted royal patronage, were founded exclusively by Spanish football fans, unlike the multinational nature of Barça's primary board. The founding message of the club was clearly anti-Barcelona, as they disapprovingly saw FC Barcelona as a team of foreigners. Their original ground was in the well-off district of Sarrià.
Traditionally, especially during the Franco regime, Espanyol was seen by the vast majority of Barcelona's citizens as a club which cultivated a kind of compliance to the central authority, in stark contrast to Barça's revolutionary spirit. In 1918 Espanyol started a counter-petition against autonomy, which at that time had become a pertinent issue. Later on, an Espanyol supporter group would join the Falangists in the Spanish civil war, siding with the fascists. Despite these differences in ideology, the derbi has always been more relevant to Espanyol supporters than Barcelona ones due to the difference in objectives. In recent years, the rivalry has become less political, as Espanyol translated its official name and anthem from Spanish to Catalan.[
Though it is the most played local derby in the history of La Liga, it is also the least balanced of them all, with Barcelona being overwhelmingly dominating. In the league table, Espanyol have only managed to end above Barça on three occasions in almost 70 years and the only all-Catalan Copa del Rey Final in 1957 was won by Barça. Espanyol has, however, the consolation of achieving the largest margin win with a 6–0 in 1951. Espanyol achieved a shock 2–1 win against Barça during the 2008–09 season, becoming the first team to defeat Barcelona at Camp Nou in their treble-winning season.
Records
For more details on this topic, see List of FC Barcelona records and statistics.
Migueli presently holds both records for number of total and Liga appearances for Barcelona with a total of 548 games played in total, and 391 in La Liga. This record could be broken by the player with most international caps, Xavi, who as of May 9, 2010 has played 352 league games and 527 games in all competitions.
FC Barcelona's all-time highest goalscorer in all competitions (incl. friendlies) is Paulino Alcántara with 357 goals. The record league scorer is Cesár Rodriguez, who scored 195 goals in La Liga between 1942 and 1955, a record not likely to be broken anytime soon, as the current leading league scorer Lionel Messi has scored 88 times in La Liga. Only three people has managed to score over 100 league goals at Barcelona: Cesár Rodriguez (195), Ladislao Kubala (131) and recently departed Samuel Eto'o (108).
On 2 February 2009, Barcelona reached a total of 5,000 La Liga goals. The goal was converted by Lionel Messi in a game against Racing Santander, which Barça won 2–1. Later that year, on 18 December 2009, Barcelona beat Estudiantes 2–1 to win their sixth title in a year and became the first ever football team to complete the sextuple. Of other title records Barcelona holds the record for most Copa del Rey titles (25) and a joint record with Real Madrid for the most Spanish Supercups with 8 titles.
Barcelona's highest home attendance is 120,000 for a European Cup quarter-final against Juventus on 3 March 1986. The modernisation of Camp Nou during the 1990s and the introduction of all-seater stands mean that the record will not be broken for the foreseeable future as the current legal capacity of Camp Nou is 98,772.
Sponsorship
Since its founding, Barcelona has never worn corporate advertisements on their shirt. On 14 July 2006, the club announced a five year agreement with UNICEF, which includes having the UNICEF logo on their shirts. The agreement has the club donate €1.5 million per year to UNICEF (0.7 percent of its ordinary income, equal to the UN International Aid Target, cf. ODA) via the FC Barcelona Foundation.
Barcelona, is the capital and the most populous city of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, after Madrid, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of 101.4 km2 (39 sq mi). The urban area of Barcelona extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of between 4,200,000 and 4,500,000 on an area of 803 km2 (310 sq mi), being the sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris, London, Ruhr area, Madrid and Milan. About five million people live in the Barcelona metropolitan area. It is also Europe's largest metropolis on the Mediterranean coast. It is the main component of an administrative area of Greater Barcelona, with a population of 3,218,071 in an area of 636 km² (density 5,060 hab/km²). It is located on the Mediterranean coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs and is bounded to the west by the Serra de Collserola ridge (512 m/1,680 ft).
Barcelona is today one of the world's leading tourist, economic, trade fair/exhibitions and cultural-sports centres, and its influences in commerce, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities. Indeed, it is a major economic centre and a growing financial centre (Diagonal Mar area and Gran Via); one of Europe's principal Mediterranean ports, can be found here as well as Barcelona international airport, which handles about 30 million passengers per year. It also boasts an extensive motorway network and is a hub of high-speed rail, particularly that which will link France with Spain. Barcelona is the 16th-most-visited city in the world and 4th most visited in Europe after Paris, London, and Rome, with several million tourists every year. Barcelona is the 16th most "livable city" in the world according to lifestyle magazine Monocle.[9] Similarly, according to Innovation Analysts 2thinknow, Barcelona occupies 13th place in the world on Innovation Cities™ Global Index. It is the 4th richest city by GDP in the European Union and 35th in the world with an output amounting to €177 billion, a figure nonetheless smaller than alternative estimates. Consequently, its GDP per capita output stands at €35,975 – some 44% higher than the European Union average. Similarly, the city of Barcelona stands in 29th place in a list of net personal earnings headed by Zurich. The city is Europe's 3rd and one of the world's most successful as a city brand, both in terms of reputation and assets. Barcelona is 7th most important fashion capital in the world. Also, the city is Europe's 4th best business city and fastest improving European city, with growing improved by 17% per year.
Founded as a Roman city, Barcelona became the capital of the Counts of Barcelona. After merging with the Kingdom of Aragon, it became one of the most important cities of the Crown of Aragon. Besieged several times during its history, Barcelona is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination and has a rich cultural heritage. Particularly renowned are architectural works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner that have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The city is well known in recent times for the 1992 Summer Olympics. The headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean is located in Barcelona.
As the capital of Catalonia, Barcelona houses the seat of the Catalan government, known as the Generalitat de Catalunya; of particular note are the executive branch, the parliament, and the Supreme Court of Catalonia. The city is also the capital of the Province of Barcelona and the Barcelonès comarca (shire).
Names
The name Barcelona comes from the ancient Iberian Phoenician Barkeno, attested in an ancient coin inscription in Iberian script as , in Ancient Greek sources as Βαρκινών, Barkinṓn; and in Latin as Barcino, Barcilonum and Barceno.
During the Middle Ages, the city was variously known as Barchinona, Barçalona, Barchelona, and Barchenona.
Some sources say that the city could have been named after the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca, who was supposed to have founded the city in the 3rd century BC.
History of Barcelona
The founding of Barcelona is the subject of two different legends. The first attributes the founding of the city to the mythological Hercules 400 years before the building of Rome. The second legend attributes the foundation of the city directly to the historical Carthaginian Hamilcar Barca, father of Hannibal, who named the city Barcino after his family, in the 3rd century BC.
About 15 BC, the Romans redrew the town as a castrum (Roman military camp) centred on the "Mons Taber", a little hill near the contemporary city hall (Plaça de Sant Jaume). Under the Romans, it was a colony with the surname of Faventia, or, in full, Colonia Faventia Julia Augusta Pia Barcino or Colonia Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino. Mela mentions it among the small towns of the district, probably as it was eclipsed by its neighbour Tarraco (modern Tarragona); but it may be gathered from later writers that it gradually grew in wealth and consequence, favoured as it was with a beautiful situation and an excellent harbour. It enjoyed immunity from imperial burdens.[25] The city minted its own coins; some from the era of Galba survive.
Some important Roman ruins are exposed under the Plaça del Rei, entrance by the city museum (Museu d'Història de la Ciutat), and the typically Roman grid-planning is still visible today in the layout of the historical centre, the Barri Gòtic ("Gothic Quarter"). Some remaining fragments of the Roman walls have been incorporated into the cathedral. The cathedral, also known as basilica La Seu, is said to have been founded in 343. The city was conquered by the Visigoths in the early 5th century becoming for a few years the capital of the whole Hispania. Afterwards by the Arabs in the early 8th century, reconquered in 801 by Charlemagne's son Louis who made Barcelona the seat of Carolingian "Spanish Marches" (Marca Hispanica), a buffer zone ruled by the Count of Barcelona.
The Counts of Barcelona became increasingly independent and expanded their territory to include all of Catalonia. In 1137, Aragon and the County of Barcelona merged by dynastic union by the marriage of Ramon Berenguer IV and Petronilla of Aragon and their titles were finally borne by only one person when their son Alfonso II of Aragon ascended to the throne in 1162. His territories were later to be known as the Crown of Aragon which conquered many overseas possessions, ruling the western Mediterranean Sea with outlying territories in Naples and Sicily and as far as Athens in the 13th century. The forging of a dynastic link between the Crowns of Aragon and Castile marked the beginning of Barcelona's decline.
The marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile in 1469 united the two royal lines. The centre of political power became Madrid and the colonisation of the Americas reduced the financial importance (at least in relative terms) of Mediterranean trade. Barcelona was always the stronghold of Catalan separatism and was the center of the Catalan Revolt (1640–52) against Philip IV of Spain. The great plague of 1650–1654 had halved the city's population. The Napoleonic wars left the province ravaged, but the postwar period saw the start of industrialization.
In the eighteenth century a fortress was built at Montjuïc that overlooked the harbour. In 1794, this fortress was used by the French astronomers Pierre François André Méchain for observations relating to a survey stretching to Dunkirk that provided the basis of the metre. The definitive metre bar, manufactured from platinum, was presented to the French legislative assembly on 22 June 1799.
The resistance of Barcelona to Franco's coup d'état was to have lasting effects after the defeat of the Republican government. The autonomous institutions of Catalonia were abolished and the use of the Catalan language in public life was suppressed. Barcelona remained the second largest city in Spain, at the heart of a region which was relatively industrialised and prosperous, despite the devastation of the civil war. The result was a large-scale immigration from poorer regions of Spain (particularly Andalucia, Murcia and Galicia), which in turn led to rapid urbanisation. Barcelona hosted the Olympic Games in 1992, which helped revitalize the city.
Barcelona is located on the northeast coast of the Iberian Peninsula, facing the Mediterranean Sea, on a plateau approximately 5 km (3 mi) wide limited by the mountain range of Collserola, the Llobregat river to the southwest and the Besòs river to the north. This plateau has 170 km2 (66 sq mi), of which 101 km² (38.9 sq mi) are occupied by the city itself. It is 120 km (75 mi) south of the Pyrenees and the Catalonian border with France.
Climate of Barcelona
Barcelona has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa), with mild, humid winters and warm, dry summers.
Its average annual temperature is 20 °C (68 °F) during the day and 11 °C (52 °F) at night. Average annual temperature of sea is about 18 °C (64 °F). In the coldest month – January, typically the temperature ranges from 8 to 17 °C (46 to 63 °F) during the day, 2 to 10 °C (36 to 50 °F) at night and the average sea temperature is 13 °C (55 °F).[38] In the warmest month – August, the typically temperature ranges from 25 to 31 °C (77 to 88 °F) during the day, about 20 °C (68 °F) at night and the average sea temperature is 25 °C (77 °F).[38] Generally – "summer's" / "holiday" season lasts about six months, from May to October. Two months – April and November – are transitional, sometimes temperature exceeds 20 °C (68 °F), with average temperature of 17–18 °C (63–64 °F) during the day and 8–9 °C (46–48 °F) at night. December, January and February are the coldest months, with average temperatures around 14 °C (57 °F) during the day and 5 °C (41 °F) at night. Large fluctuations in temperature are rare, particularly in summer months. Sunshine duration is 2,524 hours per year, from 138 (average 4.5 hours of sunshine at day) in December to 310 (average 10 hours of sunshine at day) in July.
Main sights of Barcelona
Many of the buildings date from medieval times, some from as far back as the Roman settlement of Barcelona. Catalan modernisme architecture (often known as Art Nouveau in the rest of Europe), developed between 1885 and 1950 and left an important legacy in Barcelona. A great number of these buildings are World Heritage Sites. Especially remarkable is the work of architect Antoni Gaudí, which can be seen throughout the city. His best known work is the immense but still unfinished church of the Sagrada Família, which has been under construction since 1882, and is still financed by private donations. As of 2007, completion is planned for 2026.
Barcelona was also home to Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion. Designed in 1929 for the International Exposition for Germany, it is an iconic building that came to symbolize modern architecture as the embodiment of van der Rohe's aphorisms "less is more" and "God is in the details." The Barcelona pavilion was intended as a temporary structure, and was torn down in 1930 less than a year after it was constructed. A modern re-creation by Spanish architects now stands in Barcelona, however, constructed in 1986.
Barcelona won the 1999 RIBA Royal Gold Medal for its architecture, the first (and as of 2009, only) time that the winner has been a city, and not an individual architect.
Historic buildings and monuments in Barcelona
Palau de la Música Catalana and Hospital de Sant Pau, designed by Lluís Domènech i Montaner, included in the UNESCO Heritage List list in 1997.
Works by Antoni Gaudí, including Park Güell, Palau Güell, Casa Milà (La Pedrera), Casa Vicens, Sagrada Família (Nativity façade and crypt), Casa Batlló, Crypt in Colonia Güell. The first three works were inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1984. The other four were added as extensions to the site in 2005.
The Cathedral of St. Eulalia
Church of Santa Maria del Mar (Gothic)
Gothic church of Santa Maria del Pi
Church of Sant Pau del Camp
Palau Reial Major, medieval residence of the counts of Barcelona and the Kings of Aragon
The Columbus Monument
Forum Building, an example of contemporary architecture
The Arc de Triomf, a triumphal arch built in 1888
Medieval church of Sant Pau del Camp
Museums in Barcelona
Barcelona has a great number of museums, which cover different areas and eras. The National Museum of Art of Catalonia possesses a well-known collection of Romanesque art while the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art focuses on post-1945 Catalan and Spanish art. The Fundació Joan Miró, Picasso Museum and Fundació Antoni Tàpies hold important collections of these world-renowned artists.
Several museums cover the fields of history and archeology, like the City History Museum, the Museum of the History of Catalonia, the Archeology Museum of Catalonia, the Barcelona Maritime Museum and the private-owned Egyptian Museum. The Erotic museum of Barcelona is among the most peculiar ones, while Cosmocaixa is a science museum that received the European Museum of the Year Award in 2006.
Parks in Barcelona
Barcelona contains 68 municipal parks, divided into 12 historic parks, 5 thematic (botanical) parks, 45 urban parks and 6 forest parks. They range from vest-pocket parks to large recreation areas. The urban parks alone cover 10% of the city (549.7 ha/1,358.3 acres). The total park surface grows about 10 ha (25 acres) per year, with a proportion of 18.1 square metres (195 sq ft) of park area per inhabitant.
Of Barcelona's parks, Montjuïc is the largest, with 203 ha located on the mountain of the same name. It is followed by Parc de la Ciutadella (situated in the place of the old military citadel and which houses the Parliament building, the Barcelona Zoo and several museums; 31 ha/76.6 acres including the zoo), the Guinardó Park (19 ha/47.0 acres), Park Güell (designed by Antoni Gaudí; 17.2 ha/42.5 acres), Oreneta Castle Park (also 17.2 ha/42.5 acres), Diagonal Mar Park (13.3 ha/32.9 acres, inaugurated in 2002), Nou Barris Central Park (13.2 ha/32.6 acres), Can Dragó Sports Park and Poblenou Park (both 11.9 ha/29.4 acres) and the Labyrinth Park (9.10 ha/22.5 acres), named after the garden maze it contains. A part of the Collserolla Park is also within the city limits.
Beaches of Barcelona
Beach in Barcelona gained status as the best urban beach in the World according to National Geographic and Discovery Channel, with total third best beach in the World. Barcelona contains seven beaches, totalling 4.5 km (2.8 mi) of coastline. Sant Sebastià and Barceloneta beaches, both 1,100 m (3,610 ft) in length, are the largest, oldest and the most frequented beaches in Barcelona. The Olympic Port separates them from the other city beaches: Nova Icària, Bogatell, Mar Bella, Nova Mar Bella and Llevant. These beaches (ranging from 400 to 640 m/1,300 to 2,100 ft) were opened as a result of the city restructuring to host the 1992 Summer Olympics, when a great number of industrial buildings were demolished. At present, the beach sand is replenished from quarries given that storms regularly remove large quantities of material. The 2004 Universal Forum of Cultures left the city a large concrete bathing zone on the eastmost part of the city's coastline.
The area around the Plaça Catalunya makes up the city's historical centre and, alongside the upper half of Avinguda Diagonal, is the main commercial area of the city. Barcelona has several commercial complexes, like L'Illa in the higher part of the Diagonal avenue and Diagonal Mar in the lowest, La Maquinista, Glòries in the place of the same name and the Maremagnum by the port.
Barcelona has several skyscrapers, the tallest being the Hotel Arts and its twin the Torre Mapfre, both 154 m (505 ft) high, followed by the newest, Torre Agbar 144 m (472 ft). Barcelona is situated 125 km from the ski resorts of the Pyrenées. The skyline of the city is decorated in winter by the summit (1,712 m (5,616.80 ft) high) of the Montseny massif, normally covered by snow.
Demographics of Barcelona
According to Barcelona's City Council, Barcelona's population as of 1 June 2006 was 1,673,075 people, while the population of the urban area was 4,210,000. It is the central nucleus of the Barcelona metropolitan area, which relies on a population of 5,083,000.
The population density of Barcelona was 15,779 inhabitants per square kilometre (40,870 /sq mi), with Eixample being the most populated district. 62% of the inhabitants were born in Catalonia, with a 23.5% coming from the rest of Spain. Of the 13.9% from other countries, a proportion which has more than tripled since 2001 when it was 3.9%, the majority come from (in order) Ecuador, Peru, Morocco, Colombia, Argentina, Pakistan and China.
As the national language, Spanish is understood almost universally in Barcelona. 95% of the population understand Catalonia's native Catalan language, while 74.6% can speak it, 75% can read it, and 47.1% can write it, thanks to the linguistic immersion educational system. While most of the population state they are Roman Catholic (208 churches), there are also a number of other groups, including Evangelical (71 locations, mostly professed by Roma), Jehovah's Witnesses (21 Kingdom Halls) and Buddhists (13 locations), and a number of Muslims due to immigration.
In 1900, Barcelona had a population of 533,000 people, which grew steadily but slowly until 1950, when it started absorbing a high number of people from other less-industrialized parts of Spain. Barcelona's population peaked in 1979 with 1,906,998 people, and fell throughout the 1980s and 1990s as more people sought a higher quality of life in outlying cities in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. After bottoming out in 2000 with 1,496,266 people, the city's population began to rise again as younger people started to return, causing a great increase in housing prices.
Population density in Barcelona
Note: This text is entirely based on the municipal statistical database provided by the city council.
Barcelona is one of the most densely populated cities in Europe. For the year 2008 the city council calculated the population to 1,628,090 living in the 102.2 km2 sized municipality, giving the city an average population density of 15,926 inhabitants per square kilometre.
In the case of Barcelona though, the land distribution is extremely uneven. Half of the municipality or 50.2 km2, all of it located on the municipal edge is made up of the ten least densely populated neighbourhoods containing less than 10% of the city's population, the uninhabited Zona Franca industrial area and Montjuïc forest park. Leaving the remaining 90% or slightly below 1.5 million inhabitants living on the remaining 52 square kilometres at an average density close to 28,500 inhabitants per square kilometre.
Of the 73 neighbourhoods in the city, 45 had a population density above 20,000 inhabitants per square kilometre with a combined population of 1,313,424 inhabitants living on 38.6 km2 at an average density of 33,987 inhabitants per square km. The 30 most densely populated neighbourhoods accounted for 57.5% of the city population occupying only 22,7% of the municipality, or in other words, 936,406 people living at an average density of 40,322 inhabitants per square kilometre. The city's highest density is found at and around the neighbourhood of la Sagrada Família where four of the city's most densely populated neighbourhoods are located side by side, all with a population density above 50,000 inhabitants per square kilometre.
Economy of Barcelona
The Barcelona metropolitan area comprises over 66% of the people in one of the richest regions in Southern Europe – Catalonia, with a GDP PPP per capita amounting to €30,700 European Union's GDP PPP per capita). Furthermore, the Barcelona metropolitan area has a GDP amounting €177 billion what is equivalent to €35,975 in per capita terms.
Barcelona has a long-standing mercantile tradition. Less well known is that the region was one of the earliest to begin industrialization in continental Europe, beginning with textile related works from the mid 1780s but really gathering momentum in the mid 19th century, when it became a major centre for the production of textiles and machinery. Since then, manufacturing has played a large role in its history. The traditional importance in textiles is reflected in Barcelona's repeated attempts to become a major fashion centre. In summer 2000, the city became a host for the prestigious Bread & Butter urban fashion fair until 2009 when it was announced that it would be held again on Berlin. This was a hard blow for the city as the fair brought €100 m to the city in just three days. There have been many attempts to launch Barcelona as a fashion capital, notably Gaudi Home. The Brandery, an urban fashion show, is held in Barcelona twice a year.
As in other modern cities, the manufacturing sector has long since been overtaken by the services sector, though it remains very important. The region's leading industries today are textiles, chemical, pharmaceutical, motor, electronic, printing, logistics, publishing, telecommunications and information technology services.
Drawing upon its tradition of creative art and craftsmanship, Barcelona is nowadays also known for its award-winning industrial design.
Government and administrative divisions
Barcelona is governed by a city council formed by 41 city councilors, elected for a four-year term by universal suffrage. As one of the two biggest cities in Spain, Barcelona is subject to a special law articulated through the Carta Municipal (Municipal Law). A first version of this law was passed in 1960 and amended later, but the current version was approved in March 2006. According to this law, Barcelona's city council is organized in two levels: a political one, with elected city councilors, and one executive, which administrates the programs and executes the decisions taken on the political level.This law also gives the local government a special relationship with the central government and it also gives the mayor wider prerogatives by the means of municipal executive commissions. It expands the powers of the city council in areas like telecommunications, city traffic, road safety and public safety. It also gives a special economic regime to the city's treasury and it gives the council a veto in matters that will be decided by the central government, but that will need a favourable report from the council.
The Comissió de Govern (Government Commission) is the executive branch, formed by 24 councilors, led by the Mayor, with 5 lieutenant-mayors and 17 city councilors, each in charge of an area of government, and 5 non-elected councilors. The plenary, formed by the 41 city councilors, has advisory, planning, regulatory, and fiscal executive functions. The six Commissions del Consell Municipal (City council commissions) have executive and controlling functions in the field of their jurisdiction. They are composed by a number of councilors proportional to the number of councilors each political party has in the plenary. The city council has jurisdiction in the fields of city planning, transportation, municipal taxes, public highways security through the Guàrdia Urbana (the municipal police), city maintenance, gardens, parks and environment, facilities (like schools, nurseries, sports centres, libraries, and so on.), culture, sports, youth and social welfare. Some of these competencies are not exclusive, but shared with the Generalitat de Catalunya or the central Spanish government.
The executive branch is led by a Chief Municipal Executive Officer which answers to the Mayor. It is made up of departments which are legally part of the city council and by separate legal entities of two tipes: autonomous public departments and public enterprises.
Districts of Barcelona
Since 1987, the city has been divided into 10 administrative districts (districtes in Catalan, distritos in Spanish), each one with its own council led by a city councillor. The composition of each district council depends on the number of votes each political party had in that district, so a district can be led by a councillor from a different party than the executive council.
The districts are based mostly on historical divisions. Several of the city's districts are former towns annexed by the city of Barcelona in the 18th and 19th centuries that still maintain their own distinct character. The official names of these districts are in the Catalan language.
Education in Catalonia
Barcelona has a well-developed higher education system of public universities. Most prominent among these is the University of Barcelona, a world-renowned research and teaching institution with campuses around the city. Barcelona is also home to the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, and the newer Pompeu Fabra University,and, in the private sector the IESE Business School, as well as the largest private educational institution, the Ramon Llull University, which encompasses internationally-prestigious schools and institutes such as the ESADE Business School. The Autonomous University of Barcelona, another public university, is located in Bellaterra, a town in the Metropolitan Area. The Open University of Catalonia, a private Internet-centered open university, is also based in Barcelona.
The city has a network of public schools, from nurseries to high schools, under the responsibility of a consortium led by city council (though the curriculum is the responsibility of the Generalitat de Catalunya). There are also many private schools, some of them Roman Catholic. Most such schools receive a public subsidy on a per-student basis, are subject to inspection by the public authorities, and are required to follow the same curricular guidelines as public schools, though they charge tuition. Known as escoles concertades, they are distinct from schools whose funding is entirely private (escoles privades).
The language of instruction at public schools and escoles concertades is Catalan, as stipulated by the 2009 Catalan Education Act. Spanish may be used as a language of instruction by teachers of Spanish literature or language, and foreign languages by teachers of those languages. An experimental partial immersion programme adopted by some schools allows for the teaching of a foreign language (English, generally) across the curriculum, though this is limited to a maximum of 30% of the school day. No public school or escola concertada in Barcelona may offer 50% or full immersion programmes in a foreign language, nor does any public school or escola concertada offer International Baccalaureate programmes.
Like other cities in Spain, Barcelona now faces the integration of a large number of immigrant children from Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Culture of Barcelona
Barcelona's cultural roots go back 2000 years. To a greater extent than the rest of Catalonia, where Catalonia's native Catalan is more dominant, Barcelona is a bilingual city: Catalan and Spanish are both official languages and widely spoken. The Catalan spoken in Barcelona, Central Catalan, is the one closest to standard Catalan. Since the arrival of democracy, the Catalan culture (very much repressed during the dictatorship of Franco) has been promoted, both by recovering works from the past and by stimulating the creation of new works. Barcelona is designated as a world-class city by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network.
Entertainment and performing arts in Barcelona
Barcelona has many venues for live music and theatre, including the world-renowned Gran Teatre del Liceu opera theatre, the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, the Teatre Lliure and the Palau de la Música Catalana concert hall. Barcelona also is home to the Barcelona and Catalonia National Symphonic Orchestra (Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, usually known as OBC), the largest symphonic orchestra in Catalonia. In 1999, the OBC inaugurated its new venue in the brand-new Auditorium (l'Auditori). It performs around 75 concerts per season and its current director is Eiji Oue.
Yearly two major pop music festivals take place in the city, the Sónar Festival and the Primavera Sound Festival. The city also has a thriving alternative music scene, with groups such as The Pinker Tones receiving international attention.
Media in Barcelona
El Periódico de Catalunya and La Vanguardia are Barcelona's two major daily newspapers (both with Catalan and Spanish editions) while Sport and El Mundo Deportivo (both in Spanish) are the city's two major sports daily newspapers, published by the same companies. The city is also served by a number of smaller publications such as Ara, Avui and El Punt (in Catalan), by nation-wide newspapers with special Barcelona editions like El Pais and El Mundo (both in Spanish), and by several free newspapers like 20 minutos, ADN and Què (all bilingual).
Several major FM stations include Catalunya Ràdio, RAC 1, RAC 105 and Cadena SER. Barcelona also has several local TV stations, among them BTV (owned by city council) and 8TV (owned by the Godó group, that also owns La Vanguardia). The headquarters of Televisió de Catalunya, Catalonia's public network, are located in Sant Joan Despí, in Barcelona's metropolitan area.
Sports in Barcelona
Barcelona has a long sporting tradition and hosted the highly successful 1992 Summer Olympics as well as several matches during the 1982 FIFA World Cup (on the two stadiums). It has also hosted, among others, the final of European Champions League (1989, 1999), Eurobasket (1973, 1997), Euroleague (1969, 1998, 2003, 2011), 2003 EuroHockey Nations Championship and the 1951, 1954, 1957, 1979 European Roller Hockey Championship, 1958 European Judo Championships, 1970 European Water Polo Championship, 1970 European Aquatics Championships, 1976 European Taekwondo Championships, 1980 European Karate Championships, 1987 European Wushu Championships, 1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships, 2002 Euro Beach Soccer Cup, 2003 World Aquatics Championships, 2007 European Baseball Championship, 2010 European Athletics Championships and some other. Also, the city aspires to organize the 2022 Winter Olympics. The opening, closing, medal ceremonies and indoor sports would be held in Barcelona, while outdoor sports would be held in ski resorts in the Pyrenees, maintly La Molina.
FC Barcelona is a sports club best known worldwide for its football team, one of the largest in Europe, four-time winner (last one in 2011) of the UEFA Champions League and the only men's club in the world to accomplish a sextuple. FC Barcelona also has teams in the Spanish basketball ACB league (Regal FC Barcelona), the handball ASOBAL league (FC Barcelona Handbol), and the roller hockey league (FC Barcelona Hoquei), all of them winners of the highest European competitions. The club's museum is the second most visited in Catalonia. Twice a season, FC Barcelona and cross-town rivals RCD Espanyol contest in the local derby in La Liga, while its basketball section has its own local derby in Liga ACB with nearby Joventut Badalona. Barcelona also has other clubs in lower categories, like CE Europa and UE Sant Andreu.
Barcelona has two UEFA elite stadiums (): FC Barcelona's Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe with a capacity of 100,000 and the publicly owned Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, with a capacity of 55,000; used for the 1992 Olympics. Also, the city has several smaller stadiums such as Mini Estadi, Estadio Narcís Sala with a capacity of 15,000 and Nou Sardenya with a capacity of 7,000. In the suburbs of Barcelona there is a third UEFA elite stadium () - Estadi Cornellà-El Prat, with a capacity of 40,000.
Several major road running competitions are organized year-round in Barcelona: the Barcelona Marathon every March with a participants of over 10,000 in 2010, the Cursa de Bombers in April, the Cursa de El Corte Inglés in May (with about 60,000 participants each year)[citation needed], the Cursa de la Mercè, the Cursa Jean Bouin, the Milla Sagrada Família and the San Silvestre.
The Open Seat Godó, a 50-year-old ATP World Tour 500 Series tennis tournament, is held annually in the facilities of the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona (Barcelona Royal Tennis Club). Also, each Christmas, a swimming race across the port is organized. Near Barcelona, in Montmeló, the 131,000 capacity Circuit de Catalunya / Circuit de Barcelona racetrack hosts the Formula One World Championship, Formula One Spanish Grand Prix, Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix, Spanish GT Championship and GP2 Series. In Barcelona very popular is skateboarding and bicycling. In the city and the metropolitan area is tens of kilometers of bicycle paths.
Top sport clubs in Barcelona:
Club Primary league Sport Venue Established Capacity
FC Barcelona La Liga Football Camp Nou 1899 100,000
RCD Espanyol[70] La Liga Football Estadi Cornellà-El Prat 1900 40,500
FC Barcelona Bàsquet ACB Basketball Palau Blaugrana 1926 7,585
FC Barcelona Handbol Asobal Handball Palau Blaugrana 1942 7,585
FC Barcelona Ice Hockey SEdHH Ice hockey Palau de Gel 1972 1,256
FC Barcelona Hoquei OK Liga Roller hockey Palau Blaugrana 1942 7,585
FC Barcelona Futsal Primera División de Futsal Futsal Palau Blaugrana 1986 7,585
FC Barcelona Rugby División de Honor de Rugby Rugby CDMVdHT 1924 no data
Barcelona Dragons World League American football Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys 1991 (withheld) 56,000
Barcelona Búfals LNFA American football Estadio Narcís Sala 1987 15,000
Transport in Barcelona
Barcelona is served by Barcelona Airport, about 17 km (11 mi) from the centre of Barcelona. It is the second-largest airport in Spain, and the largest on the Mediterranean coast. It is a main hub for Vueling Airlines, and also a focus for Spanair and Air Europa. The airport mainly serves domestic and European destinations, but some airlines offer destinations in Latin America, Asia and the United States. The airport is connected to the city by highway, commuter train (Barcelona Airport railway station) and scheduled bus service. A new terminal (T1) has been built, and entered service on 17 June 2009.
Sabadell Airport is a smaller airport in the nearby town of Sabadell, devoted to pilot training, aerotaxi and private flights. Some low-cost airlines, such as Transavia.com and Ryanair, prefer to use Girona-Costa Brava Airport, situated about 90 km (56 mi) to the north of Barcelona and the Reus Airport, situated 77 km (48 mi) to the south, though they offer some flights from Barcelona El Prat Airport
Port of Barcelona
The Port of Barcelona has a 2000-year old history and a great contemporary commercial importance. It is Europe's ninth largest container port, with a trade volume of 2.57 million TEU's in 2008. The port is managed by the Port Authority of Barcelona. Its 7.86 km2 (3 sq mi) are divided into three zones: Port Vell (the Old Port), the commercial port and the logistics port (Barcelona Free Port). The port is undergoing an enlargement that will double its size thanks to diverting the mouth of the Llobregat river 2 km (1¼ mi) to the south.
The Port Vell area also houses the Maremagnum (a commercial mall), a multiplex cinema, the IMAX Port Vell and Europe's largest aquarium - Aquarium Barcelona, containing 8,000 fish and 11 sharks contained in 22 basins filled with 6 million litres of sea water. The Maremagnum, due to being situated a designated tourist zone, is the only commercial mall in the city that can open on Sundays and public holidays.
Public transport
Barcelona is served by a comprehensive local public transport network that includes a metro, a bus network, two separate modern tram networks, a separate historic tram line, and several funiculars and aerial cable cars. The Barcelona Metro network comprises eleven lines, identified by an "L" followed by the line number as well as by individual colours. Most of the network (nine lines) is operated by the Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB), but three lines are FGC commuter lines that run through the city. When finished, the L9 will be the second longest underground metro line in Europe with 42.6 km; only shorter than London's 76 km Central Line.
The Estació del Nord (Northern Station), a former railway station that was renovated for the 1992 Olympic Games, now serves as the terminus for long-distance and regional bus services.
Barcelona taxi
Another company, TRAMMET, operates the city's two modern tram networks, known as Trambaix and Trambesòs. The historic tram line, the Tramvia Blau,connects the metro to the Funicular del Tibidabo (both operated by TMB). The Funicular de Tibidabo climbs the Tibidabo hill, as does the Funicular de Vallvidrera (FGC). The Funicular de Montjuïc (TMB) climbs the Montjuïc hill. The city has two aerial cable cars: one to the Montjuïc castle and Port Vell Aerial Tramway that runs via Torre Jaume I and Torre Sant Sebastià over the port.
Barcelona has a metered taxi fleet governed by the Institut Metropolità del Taxi (Metropolitan Taxi Institute), composed of more than 10,000 cars. Most of the licences are in the hands of self-employed drivers. With their black and yellow livery, Barcelona's taxis are easily spotted.
On 22 March 2007,[76] Barcelona's City Council started the Bicing service, a bicycle service understood as a public transport. Once the user has their user card, they can take a bicycle from any of the 100 stations spread around the city and use it anywhere the urban area of the city, and then leave it at another station. The service has been a success, with 50,000 subscribed users in three months.
Railway of Barcelona
Barcelona is a major hub for RENFE, the Spanish state railway network, and its main intercity train station is Barcelona-Sants station. The AVE high-speed rail system – designed for speeds of 300 km/h (186 mph) – was extended from Madrid to Barcelona (Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line) in 2008. Generally, Barcelona has high-speed rail links with major cities of Spain. A high-speed rail connecting Barcelona and France – LGV Perpignan–Figueres will be launched in 2012. Rodalies and the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) run Barcelona's widespread commuter train service.
Roads and highways of Barcelona
City cuts three international routes, including European route E15 (north-south), European route E90 (west-east) and European route E09. Also, Barcelona has a comprehensive network of motorways and highways throughout the city and metropolitan area, including A-2, A-7/AP-7, C-16, C-17, C-31, C-32, C-33, C-60. City is circled by three half ring roads or bypasses, Ronda de Dalt (on the mountain side), Ronda del Litoral (along the coast) and Ronda del Mig (separated into two parts: Travessera de Dalt in the north and the Gran Via de Carles III), two partially covered[80] fast highways with several exits that bypass the city.
The city's main arteries include Diagonal Avenue, which crosses the city diagonally, Meridiana Avenue which leads to Glòries and connects with Diagonal Avenue and Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, which crosses the city from east to west, passing through the centre of the city.
