Vila de Gràcia

The Castellers de la Vila de Gràcia (Catalan pronunciation: [kəstəˈʎez ðə lə ˈβilə ðə ˈɣɾasiə]), created in 1996, are a colla castellera, based in Vila de Gràcia that makes human castles. They made their first public presentation in 1997 supported by the groups Castellers de Terrassa, the Castellers de Sants and the Castellers de Sant Andreu de la Barca. The colour of their shirts is navy blue.The first 4 de 8 ( a human castle 8 stories high with 4 people in each level) unloaded by the Castellers de Gràcia (to unload a castle means to start and finish the castle without falling ) was achieved on August 17, 2003 in the Plaça de la Vila de Gracia. Their best performance, done on October 24, 2014 in Barcelona is 3 de 9 amb folre, 4 de 9 amb folre, 3 de 8 amb agulla and Pilar de 7 amb folre. Up to the year 2015, the Castellers de la Vila de Gràcia participated seven times in the Castle-making contest, which is celebrated every two years in Tarragona: in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014. Their best performance was in 2014, when they finished 5th over 41 participants.They are commonly known as "The Blue Gang", because of the colour of their shirts or "The Student Gang" because of the young age of most of their members. Castellers de la Vila de Gràcia appear briefly in the movie L'auberge espagnole by Cédric Klapisch.

Gràcia (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈɡɾasiə]) is a district of the city of Barcelona, Spain. It comprises the neighborhoods of Vila de Gràcia, Vallcarca i els Penitents, El Coll, La Salut and Camp d'en Grassot i Gràcia Nova. Gràcia is bordered by the districts of Eixample to the south, Sarrià-Sant Gervasi to the west and Horta-Guinardó to the east. A vibrant and diverse enclave of Catalan life, Gràcia was an independent municipality for centuries before being formally annexed by Barcelona in 1897 as a part of the city's expansion.

Fontana (Catalan pronunciation: [fun'tanə]) is a Barcelona Metro station, located under Carrer Gran de Gràcia and Carrer d'Astúries in the Gràcia district of Barcelona. It is served by L3.The station opened in 1924 as part of the first metro line of the city, which ran between Catalunya and Lesseps stations. It retains some of its original decoration.Fontana is one of the few stations in the city accessible via an above-ground ticket hall. This is the only access to the station, and is located on the Carrer Gran de Gràcia next to its junction with the Carrer d'Astúries. It has two tracks, with twin side platforms that are 92 metres (302 ft) long.

Travessera de Gràcia is a street in Barcelona named after Gràcia, a district it crosses, even though it also spans two other districts. It starts in Plaça de Francesc Macià in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi and ends in Carrer de Cartagena in Horta-Guinardó, where one of the landmarks of the city, the Hospital de Sant Pau stands. Its central part follows the outline of a medieval road, Via Francisca, documented in 1057. Its current name was approved in 1932. Before 1867, it was known as Travesera, with the older spelling and no reference to the neighbourhood, since Gràcia was an independent village. The street's other names include Orden and Solar. One of the main markets of the city in its heyday was also on this street: Mercat de l'Abaceria Central, which opened in 1892. In Travessera de Gràcia number 9 are the headquarters of perfume and fashion company Puig.

Carrer Gran de Gràcia is the main street of Gràcia, one of the Barcelona districts. Gran de Gràcia is a shopping street that has been the centre of the district's commercial area for a long time already, dating to the time when Gràcia was a separate town (that is, until 1897). It stretches from the West side of Passeig de Gràcia towards Plaça Lesseps.

Casa Vicens (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈkazə βiˈsɛns]) is a modernist building situated in the Gràcia neighbourhood of Barcelona. It is the work of architect Antoni Gaudí and is considered to be his first major project. It was built between 1883 and 1885, although Gaudí drew up the initial plans between 1878 and 1880. The work belongs to the orientalist style, similar to Neo-Mudéjar architecture, although interpreted in Gaudí’s own personal way, with a uniqueness that only he knew how to add to his projects. In this work, and for the first time, Gaudí outlined some of his constructive resources that would become regular features throughout the emergence of Modernism. The work was widely discussed when it was built and caused a great sensation among the general public at the time. When the building was constructed, Gràcia was still an independent urban nucleus of Barcelona; it had its own council and was classified as a town, though nowadays it is a district of the city. The original project had a large garden area, in addition to the house, but over time the land was subdivided and sold for the construction of residential buildings. Nowadays, the property has been reduced to the house and a small surrounding area. To take advantage of the space, Gaudí designed three facades, with the house attached by a dividing wall to an adjoining convent. In 1925 an extension of the house was planned, a commission that was offered to Gaudí, which he declined. Instead, he passed it to one of his protégés, Joan Baptista Serra, who built an extension following Gaudí’s original style, with the inclusion of a new facade, resulting in the building being fully detached. The work belongs to Gaudí’s orientalist period (1883-1888), an era in which the architect made a series of works with a distinctly oriental flavour, inspired by the art of the Near and Far East (India, Persia, Japan), as well as Hispanic Islamic art, such as Mudéjar and Nasrid. During this period, Gaudí used an abundance of ceramic tiling to decorate his work, as well as Moorish arches, columns of exposed brick and temple-shaped or dome-shaped finishes. The building was declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1969, with registration number 52-MH-EN; an Asset of Cultural Interest in 1993, with reference number RI-51-0003823; and a World Heritage Site in 2005, with reference number 320bis.

The Blockade of Barcelona from September to December 1808, was the attempt to recapture Barcelona during the Peninsular War.

Barcelonès (Catalan pronunciation: [bəɾsəluˈnɛs]) is the most economically important comarca (county) of Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Barcelona, which is also the capital of Catalonia.

Travessera de Dalt is an important and much-used street in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain). It spans a good deal of the city's district of Gràcia, starting at the tunnel entrances at Plaça de Lesseps, and running towards the tunnels system near Plaça Sanllehy, where it changes name and merges into Ronda del Guinardó. It's formally part of the ring road Ronda del Mig, which splits into several smaller roads. Its historical origin is a major road which linked the road to Sant Pere de Ribes with the Madrid royal road, bypassing the city of Barcelona, which at the time was much smaller than it is today, pretty much the area of the present day Ciutat Vella. Its current name was decreed by law on January 1 1900. Travessera de Dalt is nowadays also an administrative divide for the Gràcia district. South of it lies the central Vila de Gràcia neighbourhood, as well as El Camp d'en Grassot i Gràcia Nova. To the north are Vallcarca i els Penitents and La Salut.

Plaça de Gal·la Placídia is a square split between the districts of Gràcia and Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Its exact location is between Travessera de Gràcia, Carrer de Neptú, Carrer de Milton, Carrer de l'Oreneta and Via Augusta. It was built on the site of one of the city's many streams. The Mercat de la Llibertat, one of the district's 19th century markets, has been provisionally relocated in this square. There's also a Catholic church and a Mahayana Buddhist centre on it. The Col·legi d'Economistes de Catalunya headquarters are currently under construction on the square, and due to open in 2010.

Gràcia is a railway station located under Plaça de Gal·la Placídia in the Gràcia district of Barcelona. It is served both by lines L6 and L7 of the Barcelona Metro, and by lines S1, S2, S5 and S55 of the Metro del Vallès commuter rail system. All these lines are operated by Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya, who also run the station.The station will be part of line 8 L8 in the next future (2023) with the extension of that line from Espanya metro station, and that becomes a junction station for the three FGC Barcelona Metro lines in operation in the city.Gràcia station should not be confused with Passeig de Gràcia station, which is located some 1.7 kilometres (1.1 mi) away on metro lines L2, L3 and L4, and various Rodalies de Catalunya suburban lines.

Catalonia Trade & Investment (Catalan: Agència per a la Competitivitat de l'Empresa, ACCIÓ) is the Catalan Government’s agency that promotes foreign investment and business competitiveness. Headquartered in Barcelona, it currently operates globally through a network of 40 offices all over the world.According to the latest data available, in 2018 Catalonia Trade & Investment attracted 84 foreign investment projects (up 20% over the previous year), which amounted to 322 million euros (+34%) and enabled the creation of 5,455 jobs (+70%) in Catalonia. Thus, in 2018, Catalonia Trade & Investment broke records as regards the number of projects attracted and the number of jobs created by these foreign investments. In fact, foreign investment projects with the support of the Catalan Government increased by 64% over the last five years (2014-2018) compared to the previous five-year period. The Financial Times’ fDi Magazine recognized in 2018 the agency's foreign investment strategy from among 112 candidates from all over the world. The same publication has picked Catalonia as Southern Europe’s best region for foreign investment in 2020-2021, being the third time in a row that this biannual ranking places Catalonia in this position.