Parliament of Catalonia

The Palau del Parlament de Catalunya (English: Palace of the Parliament of Catalonia; Spanish: Palacio del Parlamento de Cataluña) is the assembly hall of the Parliament of Catalonia, located in Barcelona. It was built between 1717 and 1727 as the arsenal of the Ciutadella, to designs of Jorge Próspero de Verboom. After the Ciutadella was demolished in the mid-19th century, the building was used for various purposes, including a barracks, a royal palace and an art museum. The palace was the meeting place of the Parliament of Catalonia from 1932 to 1939, when it was dissolved during the Spanish Civil War. With the re-establishment of Parliament in 1980, the palace was renovated and it once again became the seat of Parliament.

The Board of the Parliament of Catalonia (Catalan: Mesa del Parlament) is the body responsible for the management of the Parliament of Catalonia. It is composed of the President of the Parliament, the two Vice-Presidents of the Parliament and four Secretaries, who are elected (in separate votes) by the Plenary Assembly. The main functions of the Board are to organize the work of Parliament; to interpret parliamentary procedure; to manage the various support services of Parliament.The President (or one of the Vice-Presidents as necessary) is also responsible for chairing sessions of the Plenary Assembly, and for the external representation of Parliament.

The Parc de la Ciutadella (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈpaɾɡ də lə siwtəˈðeʎə]; "Citadel Park") is a park on the northeastern edge of Ciutat Vella, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. For decades following its creation in the mid-19th century, this park was the city's only green space. The 70-acre (280,000 m2) grounds include the city zoo (once home to the albino gorilla Snowflake, who died in 2003), the Palau del Parlament de Catalunya, a small lake, museums, and a large fountain designed by Josep Fontserè (with possible contributions by the young Antoni Gaudí). As the location of the Parliament of Catalonia, the tensions in 2018 and 2019 regarding Catalan independence regularly led to the police closure of the park to public access to prevent crowds forming near to the official buildings.

The Citadel of Barcelona (in Spanish, Ciudadela de Barcelona; in Catalan, Fortalesa de la Ciutadella) was a bastion fort citadel built in Barcelona in 1714. At the time of its construction, it was the largest fortress in Europe, capable of housing 8,000 troops.Although its fortifications were dismantled in the mid-19th century, some of its original buildings still remain, including its arsenal, today the Palau del Parlament de Catalunya, the seat of the Catalan Parliament. The rest of the site was converted into the city's main central park, the Parc de la Ciutadella, by the architect Josep Fontserè in 1872.

The Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI) (Spanish: Instituto Barcelona de Estudios Internacionales, English: Barcelona Institute of International Studies) is an interuniversity research institute and postgraduate education center located in Barcelona, established in 2004 as a joint initiative between the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs and five universities in the Barcelona metropolitan area (Pompeu Fabra University, University of Barcelona, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Polytechnic University of Catalonia and Open University of Catalonia), as a center of excellence in international studies. The President of the Institute is Narcís Serra, former Minister of Defense and former Vice President of Spain, and the Director is Jacint Jordana, Professor of Political Science at the Pompeu Fabra University. Students at IBEI are awarded a degree jointly by Pompeu Fabra University, the University of Barcelona and the Autonomous University of Barcelona. All master programmes are taught in English, and the Master in International Relations has an English-Spanish bilingual version. IBEI also hosts the Erasmus Mundus Masters Program in Public Policy. IBEI is an affiliate member of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA). IBEI's masters are accredited as official university master's degrees. Students are mostly from abroad; every year students from more than 40 countries are admitted. A high level of internationalization of IBEI academic programmes has been recognized by the distinctive mention International Master's Program (IMP2013) granted by the Generalitat de Catalonia for the Master in International Relations. IBEI has experienced a steady increase in the affluence of students. More than 150 students are currently enrolled in its master programmes. Several professors from universities in Barcelona and from around the world complete the teaching staff. The Institute has developed a scientific production that focuses on the relationship between domestic affairs and the international dimension into four major areas: Global Governance, Networks and Institutions in a Globalized Economy, Development and Security, and Power and Multilateralism in a Global World. IBEI is currently one of the focal points at European level in the field of Political Science and International Affairs.

Barcelona Zoo (Parc Zoològic de Barcelona in Catalan, Parque Zoológico de Barcelona in Spanish) is a zoo in the Parc de la Ciutadella in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The zoo used to be internationally known as the home of Snowflake, the only known albino gorilla, who died in 2003.

The 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition (in Catalan: Exposició Universal de Barcelona and Exposición Universal de Barcelona in Spanish) was Spain's first International World's Fair and ran from April 8 to December 9, 1888. It was also the first of the two held in Barcelona (the second one being in 1929).

Ciutadella | Vila Olímpica (Catalan pronunciation: [siwtəˈðeʎə ˈβilə uˈlimpikə]) is the name of a station in the Barcelona Metro network, as well of a nearby Trambesòs station in the Sant Martí district of Barcelona. It's named after one of Barcelona's major parks, Parc de la Ciutadella, and Vila Olímpica, a neighbourhood in the immediate vicinities. It's served by L4 (yellow line), and tram route T4, of which it is a terminus. It was built in 1977 under Parc de Carles I. It was closed between 1991 and 1992 because of infrastructure improvement with the occasion of the 1992 Olympic Games, and again as of mid-2007 due to improvement of L4. Within two blocks stands the Ciutadella campus of Pompeu Fabra University and the station is often crowded with university students. In summer it's also common to spot tourists heading to the Barceloneta beach. The nearest metro stations are Barceloneta and Bogatell. Before 1982 it was known as Ribera (named after the neighbourhood), and from then to 1992, simply as Ciutadella.

The Barcelona–Cerbère railway is a 168-kilometre (104.39 mi) railway line linking Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain to Cerbère in France.

Gas Natural Building, also known as Mare Nostrum Tower, is an office skyscraper located in the La Barceloneta neighbourhood of the Ciutat Vella district in Barcelona, Spain. It was the headquarters building of the Spanish company Naturgy, formerly known as Gas Natural, until 2019 when the company legal headquarters were moved to Madrid.

Estació de França (Catalan pronunciation: [əstəsiˈo ðə ˈfɾansə]; Spanish: Estación de Francia; "France Station") is a major railway station in the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. Estació de França is the second busiest railway station of the city after Barcelona-Sants in terms of regional and long-distance ridership. It may lose this status, however, with the arrival of the AVE high-speed train in Sants and the construction of Estació de la Sagrera, planned for completion at the end of 2017, that will concentrate most of the traffic.

The Barcelona Biomedical Research Park ("PRBB") is an agglomeration of six public research centres and is located alongside the Hospital del Mar de Barcelona. The PRBB is the product of an initiative launched by the Government of Catalonia, the City Council of Barcelona and the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), which aims to promote research and collaboration between closely related fields. Each centre works independently in its own field and a management group, the PRBB Consortium, is responsible for managing the building and facilities, in addition to coordinating joint scientific research activities among the various centres. About 1,400 people are employed in the PRBB, making it one of the largest biomedical research clusters in the south of Europe. The centre was opened in May 2006. The PRBB building was designed by the architects Manuel Brullet i Tenas and Albert de Pineda i Àlvarez.