Carrer de Joaquín Costa, Barcelona

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 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.

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.

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.

Alkimia is a Michelin starred restaurant in Barcelona, Spain.

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 Plaça de la Universitat (official Catalan-language name since 1980; Spanish: Plaza de la Universidad) is one of Barcelona's central squares, at the border between the districts of Eixample and Ciutat Vella. It is located at the intersection of Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, Carrer d'Aribau and Ronda de Sant Antoni. It is also just west of Plaça de Catalunya, to which it is linked by the Ronda de la Universitat and Carrer de Pelai. The plaza is named for the University of Barcelona, whose neo-Gothic main campus lies on its northwest side. The main University building was built between 1863 and 1889 by the architect Elies Rogent, who also devised the square in 1874, at the time when the Eixample was being built after the complete demolition of the city walls. Along with Plaça d'Urquinaona, it is arguably one of the most common gathering-places for demonstrations in the city, as well as offering a pedestrianised area popular with skaters. There square is also surrounded by a number of shops and restaurants, and a primary school.

Universitat is a Barcelona Metro station named after Plaça de la Universitat, split between Eixample and Ciutat Vella districts of Barcelona, where the station is located in. This square holds the historical building of Universitat de Barcelona, celebrated for its neo-gothic style. The station is accessible for disabled persons since 1995, when Barcelona Metro line 2 opened its platforms. It is served by TMB-operated Barcelona Metro lines L1 and L2.

Carrer de Pelai (official Catalan name; sometimes called, in Spanish, Calle de Pelayo) is a major shopping street in Barcelona, one of the busiest in the city at daytime. It forms the border between the districts of Ciutat Vella and Eixample in the center of the city, and runs from the intersection of Plaça de Catalunya with La Rambla and the El Triangle shopping centre to Plaça de la Universitat. It is named after King Pelagius of Asturias. The current Catalan-language name was approved in 1980 by the city council, though it also bore that same name before 1900.

The Library of Catalonia (Catalan: Biblioteca de Catalunya, IPA: [biβli.uˈtɛkə ðə kətəˈluɲə]) is the Catalan national library, located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The primary mission of the Library of Catalonia is to collect, preserve, and spread Catalan bibliographic production and that related to the Catalan linguistic area, to look after its conservation, and to spread its bibliographic heritage while maintaining the status of a center for research and consultation.The Library occupies 8,820 m² and has nearly about four million items. It is a special member of the Consortium of European Research Libraries (CERL).

Avinguda de la Llum (Catalan for Avenue of Light; Spanish: Avenida de la Luz) is a now-closed underground mall in Barcelona, the first one of its kind to open in Europe, open between 1940 and 1990, on a 2000 square-metre site built in 1929 and boasting 68 commercial establishments, including a movie theater. It was underneath Carrer de Pelai, between Plaça de Catalunya, Carrer de Balmes, Carrer de Bergara and Plaça de la Universitat, upstairs of the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (FGC) station Catalunya, between its vaults and the street.Despite initially being part of an ambitious plan to build an underground city from Plaça Urquinaona to Plaça de la Universitat, the urban decay prevalent in the area from the 1960s onwards prompted its progressive abandonment. The Avinguda de la Llum was in a state of decay and had a large homeless population by the time of its closure on May 21, 1990. On the ground upstairs stood an empty triangular area between buildings which came to be called Triangle de la vergonya ("Triangle of shame"), which contributed to the adoption of measures to renovate the area in time for the 1992 Summer Olympics. Nowadays its main corridor is part of the underground stage of a Sephora store in the El Triangle shopping centre (its successor), while some parts of it are still abandoned and remain closed to the public.

Ronda de la Universitat is a major thoroughfare of central Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in lower side of the Dreta de l'Eixample, in the Eixample district. It links two of the city's three main squares, running from Plaça de Catalunya towards Plaça Universitat. There it meets Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes and Ronda de Sant Antoni begins. It's essentially the same street as Ronda de Sant Pere, which follows it right after Plaça de Catalunya. As the other ronda, it follows the original outline of the medieval city walls, particularly the wall of Tallers, above the area nowadays known as Raval, where a road called Carrer de Tallers runs partially parallel to it. Ronda de la Universitat was paved in 1872. It takes its name from the Universitat de Barcelona, which has had its main building at Plaça Universitat since the 19th century. Before its current name was approved in 1989, its official name was in Spanish: Universidad. The Biblioteca Judicial de Catalunya is on this street.