Barcelona.

Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, built on a grid of wide avenues laid out in the nineteenth century and framed by the Collserola hills and the Mediterranean Sea. Antoni Gaudí's buildings mark the city's skyline and streets: the unfinished Sagrada Família basilica, the tiled terraces of Park Güell, and the undulating façades of Casa Batlló and Casa Milà. The Gothic Quarter holds narrow medieval lanes and squares that open onto Roman wall fragments, with the cathedral rising above them. La Boqueria market, just off La Rambla, sells fresh produce and seafood from stalls that have traded for generations. Beyond the old town, neighborhoods keep their own character: Gràcia's small squares and independent shops, the multicultural streets of El Raval, and the orderly blocks of the Eixample with its modernist details. Catalan is spoken alongside Spanish, and the culture shows in local festivals, choral singing, and the human towers known as castells. Beaches at Barceloneta and beyond give the city a coastal rhythm, with promenades that fill with walkers and cyclists in the evening. Small bars serving vermouth and tapas sit between the markets and museums, filling the gaps between the well-known sights.