Library of Catalonia

El Raval (Catalan pronunciation: [əl rəˈβal]) is a neighborhood in the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona, the capital city of Catalonia. The neighborhood, especially the part closest to the old port, was formerly (informally) known as Barri Xinès or Barrio Chino, meaning "Chinatown". El Raval is one of the two historical neighborhoods that border La Rambla, the other being the Barri Gòtic; it contains some 50,000 people. An area historically infamous for its nightlife and cabarets, as well as prostitution and crime, El Raval has changed significantly in recent years and due to its central location has become a minor attraction of Barcelona. It currently has a very diverse immigrant community (47.4% of its population was born abroad, ranging from all South America, Pakistanis and Filipinos, to a more recent Eastern European community, especially from Romania). It is home to many bars, restaurants, and night spots.

The Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, often simply referred to as La Boqueria (Catalan: [lə βukəˈɾi.ə]; Spanish: La Boquería), is a large public market in the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, and one of the city's foremost tourist landmarks, with an entrance from La Rambla, not far from the Liceu, Barcelona's opera house. The market has a very diverse selection of goods.

The Virreina Palace (Catalan: Palau de la Virreina; Spanish: Palacio de la Virreina) is a building in the city of Barcelona. Situated on the famous La Rambla avenue, today it houses the headquarters of the city council's Culture Institute (Institut de Cultura de l'Ajuntament de Barcelona) and hosts various temporary art exhibitions and cultural events.The palace was built, between 1772 and 1778, for Manuel d'Amat i de Junyent, who was Viceroy of Peru between 1761 and 1776. It is named for his wife, virreina meaning vicereine in the Catalan language. The architect was Carles Grau, and the palace was built in a style between baroque and rococo. Grau, also a sculptor, created the window hoods and the vases which decorate the building's skyline.On the exterior of the palace is a statue of Our Lady of the Rosary, created by Luisa Granero in 1967.

The Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, CIDOB, is a Spanish think tank headquartered in Barcelona, devoted to research in the field of international relations. It defines itself as an "independent institution" that, "based on criteria of excellence and relevance, has as scope of study the analysis of international relations and global issues that affect governance at different levels, from international to local". CIDOB has the "goal of being a useful tool for society and institutions in Europe, Spain, and Catalonia, and their influence on the debates that inform decision-making processes in the political, economic, and social spheres". Likewise, the centre "is committed to innovation, rigor in research, public service, and collaborative work".. Legally speaking, CIDOB is a private foundation endowed with a board of trustees made up of the main public institutions and universities of Barcelona and Catalonia. Both the centre and the foundation are governed by statutes, a code of ethics, and a master plan. At present, CIDOB is the oldest think tank in Spain and one of the most influential in its area, at the European level.

Ciutat Vella (Catalan pronunciation: [siwˈtad ˈbeʎə], meaning in English "Old City") is a district of Barcelona, numbered District 1. The name means "old city" in Catalan and refers to the oldest neighborhoods in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Ciutat Vella is nestled between the Mediterranean Sea and the neighborhood called l'Eixample ("the Extension"). There are four administrative neighborhoods (some of them include former or traditional neighborhoods): La Barceloneta El Gòtic El Raval Sant Pere, Santa Caterina i la Ribera: Sant Pere Santa Caterina La Ribera

On the afternoon of 17 August 2017, 22-year-old Younes Abouyaaqoub drove a van into pedestrians on La Rambla in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain killing 13 people and injuring at least 130 others, one of whom died 10 days later on 27 August. Abouyaaqoub fled the attack on foot, then killed another person in order to steal the victim's car to make his escape.Nine hours after the Barcelona attack, five men thought to be members of the same terrorist cell drove into pedestrians in nearby Cambrils, killing one woman and injuring six others. All five of those attackers were shot and killed by police.The night before the Barcelona attack, an explosion occurred in a house in the Spanish town of Alcanar, destroying the building and killing two members of the terrorist cell, including the 40-year-old imam thought to be the mastermind. The home had more than 120 gas canisters inside which police believe the cell was attempting to make into one large bomb (or three smaller bombs to be placed in three vans which they had rented) but which they accidentally detonated.The Prime Minister of Spain, Mariano Rajoy, called the attack in Barcelona a jihadist attack. Amaq News Agency attributed indirect responsibility for the attack to the Islamic State. The attacks were the deadliest in Spain since the March 2004 Madrid train bombings and the deadliest in Barcelona since the 1987 Hipercor bombing. Younes Abouyaaqoub, the driver of the van in the Barcelona attack, was killed by police in Subirats, a town 30 miles (48 km) west of Barcelona on 21 August.A 2022 statement by former Spanish police commissioner José Manuel Villarejo appeared to suggest in the Spanish High Court that the Spanish National Intelligence Service was aware of the attacks. Others have dismissed this statement as a conspiracy theory.

The Barcelona International Centre of Photography (El Centre Internacional de Fotografia Barcelona, in Catalan language, CIFB) was a singular initiative in the photographic culture of Spain in the second half of the 1970s, becoming a pioneering institution in the formation, study, exhibition, distribution and production of the photographic image. The professional career of its initiator, Albert Guspi (1943-1985), an important innovator and central figure within the new photographic scene of the seventies, culminated in the creation of the CIFB. Despite its brief five-year existence, the CIFB became a reference in the reformation of photographic culture during the Spanish transition to democracy.

The Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (Catalan: Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, IPA: [muˈzɛw ˈðaɾt kuntəmpuˈɾani ðə βəɾsəˈlonə], MACBA) is a contemporary art museum situated in the Plaça dels Àngels, in El Raval, Ciutat Vella, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The museum opened to the public on November 28, 1995. Previous directors include Daniel Giralt-Miracle (1988–1994), Miquel Molins Nubiola (1995–1998), Manuel J. Borja-Villel (1998–2007), Bartomeu Marí (2008-2015), and Ferran Barenblit (2015-2021), while the current director is Elvira Dyangani Ose.

Liceu is a Barcelona Metro station situated under the La Rambla between Gran Teatre del Liceu and Mercat de la Boqueria in the Barri Gòtic, part of Barcelona's district of Ciutat Vella. It is served by TMB-operated Barcelona Metro line L3.The station consists of a single level, on which there are two tracks served by two side platforms. The station has two pairs of street entrances, with one pair at the Teatre del Liceu end of the station and the other at the Mercat end. Each entrance in a pair leads only to one of the two platforms, and there is no connection between the two platforms without exiting the station and returning to street level.The station was opened on 15 July 1925 as the southern terminus of the Gran Metropolitano de Barcelona from Lesseps station. At first it just had entrances at the Teatre del Liceu end of the station, but in the 1960s new accesses were added at the other end of the station. In 1946, the line was extended a short distance south to Fernando station, which closed when the line was further extended to Drassanes station in 1968. The station was completely rebuilt between 2007 and 2008 to make it more accessible.Liceu is the first station of Barcelona Metro network with a themed decoration. The walls are illuminated and decorated with pictures of leaves of the London Plane trees that can be found on La Rambla. There is also a ceramic mural made by the Escola Massana in the station's southern vestibule.

The siege of Barcelona of 1697 was successfully conducted during the Nine Years' War by France. Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme, commanding some 32,000 troops (reinforced with troops from the ended Italian front of the war), forced the garrison, under Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt, to capitulate on 10 August. Nevertheless, it had been a hard fought contest: according to John Lynn, French casualties totalled around 9,000, while the losses on the Spanish side were 12,000 killed, wounded, or lost, although Antonio Espino López has set the figure for Spanish losses at 4,500 killed and 800 wounded, and the French casualties at 15,000, including 52 engineers.

The Sala Parés is the oldest art gallery in Barcelona, Spain. Initially an art store, established in 1840 by Joan Parés, it slowly evolved into a gallery and formally became one in 1877.

The Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (also known by its acronym, CCCB) is an arts centre in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Situated in the Raval district, the Centre’s core theme is the city and urban culture. The CCCB organizes exhibitions, debates, festivals and concerts, film cycles, courses, lectures, and other activities.