Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia ( Spain). It is situated in front of the Mediterranean Sea, over 120 km on the south of the montain rouge of Pyrenees and the french border, in a plain limited with the sea. In the east, coastal mountain range (“Sierra de Collserola”) in the west, the Llobregat river in the south, and the Besós river in the north. With a poblation of 1.595.110 inhabitants ( INE 2007), Barcelona is the second Spanish city most populated and tenth of the European Union. It has a density of 17.451,97 hab/km² and an area of 91.4 km². We talk two, mainly Spanish and Catalan, from the Latin, as usual language used by 50.1% and 44.1% of the population respectively.

THE HISTORY
La history of the Barcelona extends along 4,000 years, since the late Neolithic with the first remains found in the territory of the city until today. The substrate of its inhabitants brings together the Ibero or Layetana, Carthaginians, Romans, Jews, Christians Visigoths and Muslims. Barcelona has long been an industrial city. At present factories have been shifting towards the periphery, which has allowed gradually convert the old industrial districts in new residential areas and service. The most representative industrial sectors of the economy in Barcelona are the textile, chemical, pharmaceutical, automotive, electronics and printing. In services Barcelona stands out for its logistics activities, publishing and computer. Barcelona has been the scene of several global events, which have helped shape the city and give international exposure. The most significant has been the Universal Exhibition of 1888 and 1929, and the summer Olympic Games 1992.

THE WEATHER
Barcelona has a Mediterranean climate with a lot of sun hours, humid, with drought in the summer and with abundant rains during the rest of the year. The temperatures are hot during the summer and soft during the winter, with a scarce daily thermal oscillation.

THE CATALONIAN COOKING
The gastronomy of Catalonia is based on the Mediterranean diet. The typical dishes of the region are: "The escudella, the calçotada, and the salvitxada". Is also very typical from Catalonia the "Pa amb tomáquet", bread with tomato. "The alioli and the romesco" are the sauces more characteristics of the Catalonian kitchen. It is notable the wealth of stuffed that they devise in the region Osona, especially the sausage of Vic. As for the repostería, are famous the Catalonian cream, the panallets, that devise especially in November, the Menjar blanc etc... Catalonia also is distinguished for their great wine-growing tradition. The zones of the Penedés (Freixenet and Codorniu), are large production companies of a great variety of wines.