Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, after Madrid, The urban area of Barcelona extends beyond the administrative city limits being the sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris & London. Barcelona is today one of the world’s leading tourist, economic, trade fair/exhibitions and cultural-sports centres, and its influence in commerce, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world’s major global cities.

The region’s leading industries today are textiles, chemical, pharmaceutical, motor, electronic, printing, logistics, publishing, telecommunications and information technology services.  Barcelona is the transport hub with one of Europe’s principal ports, Barcelona international airport, which handles above 34 million passengers per year, extensive motorway network and also is a hub of high-speed rail, particularly that which is intended to link Spain with France and the rest of Europe as the second longest in the world.

Barcelona has a Mediterranean climate, with mild, humid winters and warm, dry summers. The Barri Gòtic (Catalan for “Gothic Quarter”) is the centre of the old city of Barcelona. Many of the buildings date from medieval times, some from as far back as the Roman settlement of Barcelona. Barcelona is the home of many points of interest declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO Barcelona has a great number of museums, which cover different areas and eras. Barcelona contains sixty-eight municipal parks, parks of which twelve are historic parks, five are thematic (botanical) parks, forty-five are urban parks and six are forest parks.

Barcelona beach was listed as number one in a list of the top ten city beaches in the world according to National Geographic and Discovery Channel. Barcelona contains seven beaches, totalling 4.5 km (2.8 mi) of coastline. Sant Sebastià, Barceloneta and Somorrostro beaches, both are the largest, oldest and the most-frequented beaches in Barcelona. 

Barcelona has a well-developed higher education system of public universities. The city has a network of public schools, from nurseries to high schools, under the responsibility of a consortium led by city council. The language of instruction at public schools is Catalan.

When choosing to live in Barcelona most people choose Neighbourhoods (Barrios), Matthew James Removals most popular moves for expats are:

• Barceloneta Barrio
• Barcelona Sants Neighbourhood
• Bogatell / Ciutadella Areas
• Eixample District (Left and right)
• El Born Barrio
• El Raval Neighbourhood
• Gothic Quarter
• Gràcia Barrio
• Les Corts District
• Montjuïc
• Plaça Espanya 
• Poble Sec
• La Rambla
• Port Olympic