Barcelona
Spain’s second-largest city (population 4.9 million) is a major commercial and industrial center and an important Mediterranean port. The Barri Gótic (Gothic quarter), as the name suggests, has buildings dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries. Highlights include the Seu (old cathedral), the Episcopal Palace, the Palau de la Generalitat and the Plaça del Rei. 
The Museo Picasso focuses on the artist’s formative years, but includes works from the Blue and Rose periods. Las Ramblas, Barcelona’s main thoroughfare, occupies the site of the ancient city walls and extends from the Plaça de Catalunya to the port. Cafes, bookstalls, flower and bird markets and street artists are just some of the attractions of this fashionable avenue. Beyond Plaça Catalunya, the Eixample (Extension) boasts a wealth of Art Nouveau and Art Deco architecture. The still incomplete church of the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family) is the masterpiece of Spain’s greatest 20th-century architect, Antoni Gaudí. Other examples of his work are the Casa Batlló, the Casa Mila and Parc Güell. The funicular to Tibidabo, the highest of Barcelona’s hills, and the cable car to Montjuic in the southern suburbs, offer spectacular views over the city. There are funfairs on both summits. Barcelona’s best museums include the Picasso (see above), the Fundació Joan Miró with works by another of Spain’s most innovative 20th-century artists, the Museum of Catalan Art, the Maritime Museum, the Zoological Museum and the Monastery of Peldralbes , which houses part of the Thyssen-Bornemisza art collection. 
A popular excursion from Barcelona (40km, 24 miles) is to the famed monastery of Montserrat and the shrine of the Black Madonna. The mountain setting, 1135m (3725ft) above the Llobregat River, is spectacular.