| Barcelona |
| — Municipality — |
|
From upper left: Barcelona skyline, Castell dels Tres Dragons, Port of Barcelona, Sagrada Família, Camp Nou, Mar Bella beach |
|
|
Nickname(s): Ciutat Comtal (City of Counts),
Barna, BCN |
|
Location of Barcelona within Spain
|
|
Location of Barcelona within Catalonia
|
Coordinates:  41°23′N 2°11′E / 41.383°N 2.183°E / 41.383; 2.183Coordinates:
Click the blue globe to open an interactive map.
41°23′N 2°11′E / 41.383°N 2.183°E / 41.383; 2.183 |
| Country |
 Spain |
| Autonomous Community |
 Catalonia |
| Province |
Barcelona |
| Comarca |
Barcelonès |
| Districts |
|
| Government |
| • Type |
Mayor-council |
| • Body |
Ajuntament de Barcelona |
| • Mayor |
Xavier Trias (CiU) |
| Area |
| • Municipality |
101.9 km2 (39.3 sq mi) |
| • Urban |
803 km2 (310 sq mi) |
| Elevation(AMSL) |
12 m (39 ft) |
| Population (2009) |
| • Municipality |
1,621,537 (city limits)
3,218,071 (Greater Barcelona) |
| • Density |
15,991/km2 (41,420/sq mi) |
| • Urban |
4,223,000  |
| • Urban zone |
4,440,629 |
| • Metro |
5,083,000 |
| Demonym |
Barcelonan or Barcelonian
barceloní, barcelonina (ca)
barcelonés, barcelonesa (es) |
| Time zone |
CET (UTC+1) |
| • Summer (DST) |
CEST (UTC+2) |
| Postal code |
08001–08080 |
| Area code |
+34 (Spain) 93 (City) |
| Official language(s) |
Catalan and Spanish |
| Website |
www.barcelona.cat |
Barcelona (
English /bɑrsɨˈloʊnə/,
Catalan: [bərsəˈɫonə],
Spanish: [barθeˈlona]) is the capital 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 km
2 (39 sq mi). The urban area of Barcelona extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of between 4,200,000
[1] and 4,500,000
[2] within an area of 803 km
2 (310 sq mi),
[1] being the
sixth-most populous urban area in the
European Union after
Paris,
London,
the Ruhr,
Madrid and
Milan. About five million
[3][4][5][6] people live in the
Barcelona metropolitan area. It is also the largest metropolis on the
Mediterranean Sea. 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).
Founded as a Roman city, Barcelona became the capital of the
County of Barcelona. After merging with the
Kingdom of Aragon, Barcelona became one of the most important cities of the
Crown of Aragon.
Besieged several times during its history, Barcelona has a rich
cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre and a major
tourist destination. Particularly renowned are the architectural works
of
Antoni Gaudí and
Lluís Domènech i Montaner, which have been designated UNESCO
World Heritage Sites. The headquarters of the
Union for the Mediterranean is located in Barcelona. The city is known for hosting the
1992 Summer Olympics as well as world-class
conferences and expositions and also many
international sport tournaments.
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.
[7][8] Indeed, it is a major cultural and economic centre in southwestern Europe (
Iberian Peninsula), 26th in the world (after
Moscow, before
Dubai)
[9] and a growing financial centre (
Diagonal Mar and
Gran Via). It is the
fourth economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union and 35th in the world with an output amounting to €177 billion.
[10] As of 2009 the city was ranked Europe's third and one of the world's most successful as a city brand.
[11]
At the same time, the city was ranked Europe's fourth best city for
business and fastest improving European city, with growth improved by
17% per year.
[12] 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.
[13]
The name
Barcelona comes from the ancient Iberian
Phoenician Barkeno, attested in an ancient coin inscription in
Iberian script as
,
[14] in
Ancient Greek sources as
Βαρκινών,
Barkinṓn;
[15] and in
Latin as
Barcino[citation needed],
Barcilonum[16] and
Barceno.
[17][citation needed]
During
the Middle Ages, the city was variously known as
Barchinona, Barçalona, Barchelonaa, and
Barchenona.
Some sources say that the city may have been named after the Carthaginian general
Hamilcar Barca, who was supposed to have founded the city in the 3rd century BC.
[18]
Barcelona's name is sometimes abbreviated as 'Barna'. Nowadays,
foreign people sometimes mistakenly refer to Barcelona as 'Barça', the
name of the popular F.C. Barcelona sports club. Some people (mainly in
Spanish/Catalan)also use the BCN acronym.
[edit] History
The founding of Barcelona is the subject of two different legends.
The first attributes the founding of the city to the mythological
Hercules. 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.
[19]
In 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,
[20] or, in full,
Colonia Faventia Julia Augusta Pia Barcino[21] or
Colonia Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino.
Pomponius Mela[22] 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.
[23] It enjoyed immunity from imperial burdens.
[24] The city minted its own coins; some from the era of
Galba survive.
Basilica of La Mercè (Mare de Déu de la Mercè)
Some important Roman ruins are exposed under the
Plaça del Rei, its entrance located by the city museum (
Museu d'Història de la Ciutat); the typically Roman grid plan 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.
[25] The cathedral, also known as the 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 all
Hispania. After being conquered by the
Arabs in the early 8th century, it was reconquered in 801 by
Charlemagne's son
Louis, who made Barcelona the seat of the Carolingian "
Hispanic March" (
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 in
dynastic union[26][27] by the marriage of
Ramon Berenguer IV and
Petronilla of Aragon, their titles 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 and ruled 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 Bank of Barcelona,
probably the oldest public bank in Europe, was established by the city
magistrates in 1401. It originated from necessities of the state, as did the
Bank of Venice (1402) and the
Bank of Genoa (1407).
[28]
The marriage of
Ferdinand II of Aragon and
Isabella I of Castile in 1469 united the two royal lines.
Madrid
became the centre of political power whilst the colonisation of the
Americas reduced the financial importance (at least in relative terms)
of Mediterranean trade. Barcelona had always been 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 halved the city's population.
[29]
The fortress at Montjuïc, most southerly point from which measurements were made when calculating the
meridional definition of the metre
In the 18th century, a fortress was built at
Montjuïc that overlooked the harbour. In 1794, this fortress was used by the French astronomer
Pierre François André Méchain for observations relating to a survey stretching to
Dunkirk that provided the official basis of the measurement of a metre.
[30] The definitive metre bar, manufactured from platinum, was presented to the French legislative assembly on 22 June 1799. The
Napoleonic wars left the province ravaged, but the postwar period saw the start of industrialization.
The city was a Republican stronghold during the
Spanish Civil War,
and the fall of the city on 26 January 1939 caused a mass exodus of
civilians who fled to the French border. 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,
[31] 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
Andalusia,
Murcia and
Galicia), which in turn led to rapid urbanisation. Barcelona hosted the Olympic Games in 1992, which helped revitalize the city.
[32]
A panoramic view of Barcelona (click to enlarge)
[edit] Geography
Barcelona is located on the northeast coast of the
Iberian Peninsula, facing the
Mediterranean Sea, on a
plain 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.
[33] This plain covers an area of 170 km
2 (66 sq mi),
[33] of which 101 km² (38.9 sq mi)
[34] are occupied by the city itself. It is 120 km (75 mi) south of the
Pyrenees and the
Catalan border with France.
Tibidabo, 512 m (1,680 ft) high, offers striking views over the city
[35] and is topped by the 288.4 m (946.2 ft)
Torre de Collserola, a
telecommunications tower
that is visible from most of the city. Barcelona is peppered with small
hills, most of them urbanised, that gave their name to the
neighbourhoods built upon them, such as
Carmel (267 m),
Putxet (181 m) and Rovira (261 m). The escarpment of
Montjuïc
(173 m), situated to the southeast, overlooks the harbour and is topped
by Montjuïc castle, a fortress built in the 17–18th centuries to
control the city as a replacement for the Ciutadella. Today, the
fortress is a museum and Montjuïc is home to several sporting and
cultural venues, as well as Barcelona's biggest park and gardens.
The city borders on the municipalities of
Santa Coloma de Gramenet and
Sant Adrià de Besòs to the north; the
Mediterranean Sea to the east;
El Prat de Llobregat and
L'Hospitalet de Llobregat to the south; and
Sant Feliu de Llobregat,
Sant Just Desvern,
Esplugues de Llobregat,
Sant Cugat del Vallès, and
Montcada i Reixac to the west.
| Barcelona |
| — Municipality — |
|
From upper left: Barcelona skyline, Castell dels Tres Dragons, Port of Barcelona, Sagrada Família, Camp Nou, Mar Bella beach |
|
|
Nickname(s): Ciutat Comtal (City of Counts),
Barna, BCN |
|
Location of Barcelona within Spain
|
|
Location of Barcelona within Catalonia
|
| Coordinates: 41°23′N 2°11′E / 41.383°N 2.183°E / 41.383; 2.183Coordinates:
Click the blue globe to open an interactive map.
41°23′N 2°11′E / 41.383°N 2.183°E / 41.383; 2.183 |
| Country |
Spain |
| Autonomous Community |
Catalonia |
| Province |
Barcelona |
| Comarca |
Barcelonès |
| Districts |
|
| Government |
| • Type |
Mayor-council |
| • Body |
Ajuntament de Barcelona |
| • Mayor |
Xavier Trias (CiU) |
| Area |
| • Municipality |
101.9 km2 (39.3 sq mi) |
| • Urban |
803 km2 (310 sq mi) |
| Elevation(AMSL) |
12 m (39 ft) |
| Population (2009) |
| • Municipality |
1,621,537 (city limits)
3,218,071 (Greater Barcelona) |
| • Density |
15,991/km2 (41,420/sq mi) |
| • Urban |
4,223,000 |
| • Urban zone |
4,440,629 |
| • Metro |
5,083,000 |
| Demonym |
Barcelonan or Barcelonian
barceloní, barcelonina (ca)
barcelonés, barcelonesa (es) |
| Time zone |
CET (UTC+1) |
| • Summer (DST) |
CEST (UTC+2) |
| Postal code |
08001–08080 |
| Area code |
+34 (Spain) 93 (City) |
| Official language(s) |
Catalan and Spanish |
| Website |
www.barcelona.cat |
Barcelona (
English /bɑrsɨˈloʊnə/,
Catalan: [bərsəˈɫonə],
Spanish: [barθeˈlona]) is the capital 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 km
2 (39 sq mi). The urban area of Barcelona extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of between 4,200,000
[1] and 4,500,000
[2] within an area of 803 km
2 (310 sq mi),
[1] being the
sixth-most populous urban area in the
European Union after
Paris,
London,
the Ruhr,
Madrid and
Milan. About five million
[3][4][5][6] people live in the
Barcelona metropolitan area. It is also the largest metropolis on the
Mediterranean Sea. 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).
Founded as a Roman city, Barcelona became the capital of the
County of Barcelona. After merging with the
Kingdom of Aragon, Barcelona became one of the most important cities of the
Crown of Aragon.
Besieged several times during its history, Barcelona has a rich
cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre and a major
tourist destination. Particularly renowned are the architectural works
of
Antoni Gaudí and
Lluís Domènech i Montaner, which have been designated UNESCO
World Heritage Sites. The headquarters of the
Union for the Mediterranean is located in Barcelona. The city is known for hosting the
1992 Summer Olympics as well as world-class
conferences and expositions and also many
international sport tournaments.
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.
[7][8] Indeed, it is a major cultural and economic centre in southwestern Europe (
Iberian Peninsula), 26th in the world (after
Moscow, before
Dubai)
[9] and a growing financial centre (
Diagonal Mar and
Gran Via). It is the
fourth economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union and 35th in the world with an output amounting to €177 billion.
[10] As of 2009 the city was ranked Europe's third and one of the world's most successful as a city brand.
[11]
At the same time, the city was ranked Europe's fourth best city for
business and fastest improving European city, with growth improved by
17% per year.
[12] 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.
[13]
The name
Barcelona comes from the ancient Iberian
Phoenician Barkeno, attested in an ancient coin inscription in
Iberian script as
,
[14] in
Ancient Greek sources as
Βαρκινών,
Barkinṓn;
[15] and in
Latin as
Barcino[citation needed],
Barcilonum[16] and
Barceno.
[17][citation needed]
During
the Middle Ages, the city was variously known as
Barchinona, Barçalona, Barchelonaa, and
Barchenona.
Some sources say that the city may have been named after the Carthaginian general
Hamilcar Barca, who was supposed to have founded the city in the 3rd century BC.
[18]
Barcelona's name is sometimes abbreviated as 'Barna'. Nowadays,
foreign people sometimes mistakenly refer to Barcelona as 'Barça', the
name of the popular F.C. Barcelona sports club. Some people (mainly in
Spanish/Catalan)also use the BCN acronym.
[edit] History
The founding of Barcelona is the subject of two different legends.
The first attributes the founding of the city to the mythological
Hercules. 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.
[19]
In 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,
[20] or, in full,
Colonia Faventia Julia Augusta Pia Barcino[21] or
Colonia Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino.
Pomponius Mela[22] 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.
[23] It enjoyed immunity from imperial burdens.
[24] The city minted its own coins; some from the era of
Galba survive.
Basilica of La Mercè (Mare de Déu de la Mercè)
Some important Roman ruins are exposed under the
Plaça del Rei, its entrance located by the city museum (
Museu d'Història de la Ciutat); the typically Roman grid plan 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.
[25] The cathedral, also known as the 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 all
Hispania. After being conquered by the
Arabs in the early 8th century, it was reconquered in 801 by
Charlemagne's son
Louis, who made Barcelona the seat of the Carolingian "
Hispanic March" (
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 in
dynastic union[26][27] by the marriage of
Ramon Berenguer IV and
Petronilla of Aragon, their titles 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 and ruled 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 Bank of Barcelona,
probably the oldest public bank in Europe, was established by the city
magistrates in 1401. It originated from necessities of the state, as did the
Bank of Venice (1402) and the
Bank of Genoa (1407).
[28]
The marriage of
Ferdinand II of Aragon and
Isabella I of Castile in 1469 united the two royal lines.
Madrid
became the centre of political power whilst the colonisation of the
Americas reduced the financial importance (at least in relative terms)
of Mediterranean trade. Barcelona had always been 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 halved the city's population.
[29]
The fortress at Montjuïc, most southerly point from which measurements were made when calculating the
meridional definition of the metre
In the 18th century, a fortress was built at
Montjuïc that overlooked the harbour. In 1794, this fortress was used by the French astronomer
Pierre François André Méchain for observations relating to a survey stretching to
Dunkirk that provided the official basis of the measurement of a metre.
[30] The definitive metre bar, manufactured from platinum, was presented to the French legislative assembly on 22 June 1799. The
Napoleonic wars left the province ravaged, but the postwar period saw the start of industrialization.
The city was a Republican stronghold during the
Spanish Civil War,
and the fall of the city on 26 January 1939 caused a mass exodus of
civilians who fled to the French border. 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,
[31] 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
Andalusia,
Murcia and
Galicia), which in turn led to rapid urbanisation. Barcelona hosted the Olympic Games in 1992, which helped revitalize the city.
[32]
A panoramic view of Barcelona (click to enlarge)
[edit] Geography
Barcelona is located on the northeast coast of the
Iberian Peninsula, facing the
Mediterranean Sea, on a
plain 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.
[33] This plain covers an area of 170 km
2 (66 sq mi),
[33] of which 101 km² (38.9 sq mi)
[34] are occupied by the city itself. It is 120 km (75 mi) south of the
Pyrenees and the
Catalan border with France.
Tibidabo, 512 m (1,680 ft) high, offers striking views over the city
[35] and is topped by the 288.4 m (946.2 ft)
Torre de Collserola, a
telecommunications tower
that is visible from most of the city. Barcelona is peppered with small
hills, most of them urbanised, that gave their name to the
neighbourhoods built upon them, such as
Carmel (267 m),
Putxet (181 m) and Rovira (261 m). The escarpment of
Montjuïc
(173 m), situated to the southeast, overlooks the harbour and is topped
by Montjuïc castle, a fortress built in the 17–18th centuries to
control the city as a replacement for the Ciutadella. Today, the
fortress is a museum and Montjuïc is home to several sporting and
cultural venues, as well as Barcelona's biggest park and gardens.
The city borders on the municipalities of
Santa Coloma de Gramenet and
Sant Adrià de Besòs to the north; the
Mediterranean Sea to the east;
El Prat de Llobregat and
L'Hospitalet de Llobregat to the south; and
Sant Feliu de Llobregat,
Sant Just Desvern,
Esplugues de Llobregat,
Sant Cugat del Vallès, and
Montcada i Reixac to the west.
[edit] Climate
Barcelona has a
Mediterranean climate[36] (
Köppen climate classification:
Csa),
[37] 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. The average annual temperature of the sea is about
18 °C (64 °F).
In the coldest month – January, the temperature typically 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 typical 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 – the summer / "holiday" season lasts about six months, from
May to October. Two months – April and November – are transitional;
sometimes the temperature exceeds
20 °C (68 °F),
with an 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 the summer months.
Barcelona has average several rainy days per month (≥ 1 mm) and
annual average relative humidity is 72%, ranging from 69% in July to 75%
in October. 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.
[39]
Barcelona has a
Mediterranean climate[36] (
Köppen climate classification:
Csa),
[37] 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. The average annual temperature of the sea is about
18 °C (64 °F).
In the coldest month – January, the temperature typically 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 typical 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 – the summer / "holiday" season lasts about six months, from
May to October. Two months – April and November – are transitional;
sometimes the temperature exceeds
20 °C (68 °F),
with an 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 the summer months.
Barcelona has average several rainy days per month (≥ 1 mm) and
annual average relative humidity is 72%, ranging from 69% in July to 75%
in October. 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.
[39]
Full name: Luis Lionel Andrés Messi 
In the 2003-2004 season, when he was still only 16, Messi made his
first team debut in a friendly with Porto that marked the opening of the
new Dragao stadium. The following championship-winning season, Messi
made his first appearance in an official match on October 16, 2004, in
Barcelona's derby win against Espanyol at the Olympic Stadium (0-1).
He was offered the chance to play for the Spain national football team,
but declined, prefering to wait for the opportunity to play for the
country of his birth. In June 2004 he got his chance, playing in a U-20
friendly match against Paraguay.
Messi picked up the Golden Boot as top scorer with 6 goals, and the
Golden Ball for the best player of the tournament. Despite his youth,
Lionel has already drawn comparisons with Diego Maradona, arguably the
best football player of all time.
11 Peristiwa dalam Sejarah Islam yang Terjadi di Bulan Ramadan
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