Fundación CIDOB - Calle Elisabets, 12 - 08001 Barcelona, España - Tel. (+34) 93 302 6495 - Fax. (+34) 93 302 6495 - [email protected] Click a littlerain. overcast with 69°F). You may not find sunshine every day, though, so beprepared for days when it may be pleasant but starting little cooler to a get (average temperatures from 15°Cto 21°C,59°F to springandautumn. inthe occurs the rainfall temperatures mostoftheyear atypicallyMediterraneanclimateandenjoyspleasantnearby forest.Thecityhas hasover4kilome Barcelona isacoastalcityand administration. districts, eachone with its owndistrict which allows council, asystem of decentralized, local 1.6 millionpeopleliveinthe cityofBarcel Carthaginians. of Nowadays, theUrbanRegion by the Spain.Barcelonawasfoundedinthe inthe3rdcenturyB.C. largest cityin The cityofBarcelonaisthecapitaland most THE CITYOFBARCELONA migration. reception areasforinternational Mediterran andwithinthe migration, international Extremadura. Duringthelastdecade, Cataloni thesouthernregi arrived inlargenumbersfrom 1970s from the ruralinterior of Spainto its industrial cities. InCatalonia, Spanish migrants population was produced due tolarge-scaleinternalmigration duringthe1960s and early the population of Catalonia was 1,984,115, and in 1970, it was 5,107,606. That increase in 7,210,508, of whichimmigrants represent anestimated 12.3% of the total population. In1900, themost populous is Catalonia known asthe is government TheCatalan Spain. thatconstitute communities autonomous the17 of one is Catalonia of coastline),and it isdivided into four provinces: Barcelona, Girona,Lleida, andTarragona. west, the ValencianCommunity to the south, andthe Mediterranean Sea to the east (580 km of Spain, Catalonia islocatedinthenortheast GENERAL OVERVIEW LOCAL INFORMATION 3a1b01e42862557e http://www.sarbus.com/paginas/aerobus_tcc. Click disabilities totravelcomfortably. • Ifyouareaccompanied by someone whois disa well inadvance,orhewi • Whenwaitingthe bus,make sure thatyo for • Besure to checkbus departure times,as theyvaryonSaturdays,Sundays, and holidays. Some advice: 12:15 a.m., and thebusesrun every6to15minutes. at theairportbus stops. The timetablefor weekda Catalunya), andviceversa.Youcanbuyaticket de (Plaça Barcelona of the centre to airport the from you takes that thebus is This Aerobus TRANSPORT inEnglish. centre, restaurantmenusareoftenavailable and informationarecommonl In the majority of shops, museums,cultural an these areofficiallanguagesinCatalonia.Some Most ofBarcelona’sinhabitants arebilingual LANGUAGE Barcelona. http://www.bcn.es/turisme/english/turisme/welcome.htm

for more information. information. formore ll not be able to stop. beabletostop. ll not Generalitat de Catalunya. Catalunya. Generalitat de y found in the two official languages and twoofficial in English.Inthecity y foundinthe round. Summers are hot and humid arehotand round.Summers autonomous regioninSpain,wi peoplemay alsospeakFrench orEnglish. php?id_idioma=3&PHPSESSID=5e2c7f6368729948 Barcelona includes5,327,872 people,and about ona, whichis divided into ten administrative a hasundergoneanunprecedented increase in and speak both CatalanandSpanish; both of The weather in October and Novemberisstill The weatherinOctoberand d social centres, and venues in the city, signs signs inthecity, centres, andvenues d social u put your hand out for the driver to see you the driverto see u putyourhandoutfor bordering France to the north, Aragon to the tothe Aragon the north, bordering Franceto tres of urban beaches as wellaslargeareasof tres ofurban populous city of Catalonia and is the second bled, thereisspace reserved forpeoplewith the bus itselforfromtheticketmachines on ons, especially fromAndalusia,Murcia,and ean, it is considered to be one of the main the main one of ean, itisconsideredtobe ys (Monday to Friday) is from 5:30 a.m. to for more information about about information formore th an official population of of th anofficialpopulation , winters mild, and most of , winters mild,andmostof Fundación CIDOB - Calle Elisabets, 12 - 08001 Barcelona, España - Tel. (+34) 93 302 6495 - Fax. (+34) 93 302 6495 - [email protected] borders Plaça Catalunya, is a de no runs that Paseo deGracia, alargeboulevard variety ofshops. SomeofthearchitectAntoni The areaaroundPlaçaCatalunya makes up thecity Nevertheless, formanyBarcelonans, theweek an aperitifon the terrace ofabaronsunny da for "tapas" isnotas going out typical asitis in of andafternoonsfindthrongs Sunday mornings number ofbarsandcafésintheareafillwith The city centre bustles with shoppers on Satu club, orelsewhere. oraconcert, followed bya show atthetheatre A typical town. the on out nights thebig still Barcelonans andmore liketogo more Although ENTERTAINMENT ANDSOCIALHABITS Banks areopenFriday onMondayto stores andshoppingcentresareopenonSaturd donotclos centres andlargerestablishments afternoon between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. and remainopen until 8:00or 8:30 p.m.Many shopping at for lunch and 10:00 a.m.andgenerallyclose The city’sshopshavelongopeninghours.Sh hours Shopping tapas be served as late as 11:30adapted tothepace ofworking p.m. It should3:00 p.m. and for dinnerbetween 9:00 and 10:0 also breakfast.People hotels calla"continental" 9:00 and 11:00 a.m.andtends to belighter than inthe rest of Europe, beingsimilar to what andNorthAmerica.Thefirs European countries In Barcelona,asintherest of Spain,people Meal times break forlunchintheafternoon. three-hour to a. The workdaygenerallybeginsat8:00or9:00 Working hours CUSTOMS CONCERNING TIMES detailedinformation for more and 800 buses thatserveover80differentrout Barcelona has an extensivepublic transportne Subway andBus Click in theheartofcity.Thereareday-re Catalonia, Spain, andEurope. Bothlineshavea travel around There aretworailwaylinesto Train pass. or 10-fare the ticket at ticketmachinesin all subway stations.Each well as2-,3-, 4-, and5-day passes. Individualti Individual fares canbe paid on buses.There arealso 10-fare passes that canbepurchased, as by forpayment • Toreceivechange temperature • Choiceofsoundlevelandinterior • Acleanvehicleanda ofroute Choice • Customers’ rights: taxi byphone. callingfora andonmainairport, athotels, streets;orby indi the cab of the top lighton city (thegreen aboutBarcelona has 11,000yellow-and-blackthemay find cabs.You ataxi in on anystreet Taxi bars) where you can eat at any hour oftheday. bars) atanyhour where youcaneat http://w3.bcn.es/XMLServeis/XMLHomeLinkPl/0,4022,173198596_173206177_3,00.html smartly-dressed driver on transport in Barcelona. in on transport life and oftenopenforlunchat1:30 p.m., while dinner may partment store (similartoThe from 9:00a.m.to 2:00p.m. 20-euro notes; no tip isrequired tip 20-euro notes;no turn passes andmultiple travel cards. ops inBarcelonaopentheirdoorsbetween9:00 people looking for abr for looking people rday afternoonsandevenings, andtheenormous sit down for lunch sometime between2:00and sit downforlunchsometime end also means getting out of the city. of end alsomeans gettingout benotedthattherearerestaurants(especially normally have their meals later than in other normallyhavetheirmeals laterthaninother other citiesinSpain, but itiscustomarytohave evening out beginswithdinneratarestaurant, evening out out during the week,Fridays outduring andSaturdays are time that you rideon the busor subway, stamp e atmidday. Manyshopsandalldepartment m. and lasts until about 8:00 p.m.,with a two- m. andlastsuntilabout8:00 twork, which includesa largesubway network Barcelona and fromBarcelonatotherestof Barcelona Gaudí’s most famous buildings arefound on rth ofPlaçaCatalunya. rth and from thereontoadiscotheque,bar, jazz and from central stationinPlaçade Catalunya,located ays, while almostallshopscloseonSundays. ys, orinside iftheweather doesnotpermit. ckets, aswellallpasses, canbe purchased t mealofthedayisusually eatenbetween es. Therearealsoseve cates that it is free); at taxi stands at the cates that itisfree);attaxistandsthe 1:30or2:00p.m.Theyopen againinthe strollers allaroundthecity. InBarcelona, strollers 0 p.m. Nevertheless, restaurant hours are 's historical centre and alsohostsawide's historical centre Bay in Canada) that has long Bay inCanada) that has long eak andrefreshment. El Corte Ingles, whichEl CorteIngles, ral streetcar routes. routes. ral streetcar

Fundación CIDOB - Calle Elisabets, 12 - 08001 Barcelona, España - Tel. (+34) 93 302 6495 - Fax. (+34) 93 302 6495 - [email protected] Barcelona contains 68municipal parks,divided in which isbythe port. located at opposite ends of Avinguda Diagonal; LaMaquinista; Glòries; andMaremagnum, shopping hours. Barcelonaalsohasseveralcommerc on themountainofsame name. It is fo parks, 45 urban parks,and 6 forest parks.Of Ba available. locatedatPlaça InformationOfficeis A Tourist Tourist Information necessary to 10-15%. leave with usuallyonly Tipping isdiscretionary, and Tipping Emergency: 112 Police: 092 Directory Assistance: 11811 General information for 010 Barcelona: General information for Catalonia: 012 numbers telephone Important type). two-pin Plugs areofroundtwo-pintype.Youwillneed Spanish appliances operate on acurrent of 220volts. sockets All follow European standards. Electricity supply withdrawing cash. machines forthepurposeof door). Certain types of Canadian bank cards is indicated by thelogosdisplayed outside shops and businesses (usually ontheentrance Photo IDisusuallyrequiredwhenpayingby cred Credit cards are widely acceptedin Barcelon equivalent to 1.58Canadian about dollars: 1$CAD =0.63EUR. states equivalentEuropean ofthe Union.Oneeuro to is 100(euro)cents andiscurrently is al euro(€),which isthe The officialcurrency Currency OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION beaches. Mar Bella.Barcelon Nova Icària,Bogatell,and largest, oldest,andthemostfrequentedbeach Barcelona also has seven beaches, totalling 4.5 limits. isalsowithinthecity Collserolla Park several museums aresituated), and Park Güell a bynumerous hotels, restaurants, andshops. llowed byCiutadella Pa so theofficial currencyof 13of the 27member rcelona's parks, Montjuïc is the largest, located rcelona's parks,Montjuïcisthelargest,located de Catalunya. Free city and transport maps are transportmaps de Catalunya.Freecityand will also work in Barcelona automated tellerwill also work inBarcelonaautomated km ofcoastline.TheBarceloneta beachis the it card.Ifandwhichcr hotel clerks and restaurant waiters. It isnot andrestaurantwaiters.It hotel clerks an adaptor forCanadian a’s beachesareamong Spain’sbest-quality in Barcelona.Otherpopularcitybeachesare (designed by architect Antoni Gaudí). The Gaudí). (designed by architect Antoni to 12 historic parks, ial complexes, like L'Illa and Diagonal Mar, ial complexes,likeL'IllaandDiagonalMar, edit cardsareaccepted rk (where the zoo and rk (wherethezooand 5 thematic (botanical) thematic 5 plugs (fromto three