Barcelona is the capital city of the autonomous community of Catalonia in north-eastern Spain. The city rests on the Mediterranean coast and it boasts a population of 1,593,075 inhabitants. It is thought that Hamilcar Barca, father of Hannibal, the Carthaginian politician and statesman, originally founded the city. Since than, the city has been under the control of the Romans, the Visigoths, the Moors and the Napoleonic French Empire. Following the fall of Napoleon, the city was returned to Spanish rule. At the start of the 20th century, Catalan nationalists began the struggle for autonomous rule, which was finally granted in 1978 following the death of Franco.

This rich history is apparent in many of Barcelona