A View of Barcelona's Industry, Tourism and Trade

The other viewpoint of the whole of BCN, other than Tibidabo, is from Montjuic park and castle. It is possibly even more impressive than the views from Tibidabo. I think this because one can see a whole other perspective of BCN from up here: the sea port, the airport, factories, energy plants, the beaches, the Olympic village and Forum... each of these has contributed at least partly to Barcelona's expansion and its establishment as a centre of the Mediterranean.

So if you want to understand (at least partially) Barcelona's prosperity, visit Montjuic castle and simply admire the views on all sides!

There are many ways of reaching the castle or the viewpoint. Perhaps the most entertaining, although quite expensive, experience of climbing up to the castle is via the Montjuic Teleferic (Cable car), which carries you over the hill's parks and museums and over to the edge of the cliff where the castle stands. Although the return ticket will set you back €10 if you're an adult, or €6 if not, the journey and views and general experience is very much worthwhile! Its also a great way of seeing the park if you are not a very keen walker, especially since many parts of the park are quite steep, which mkight make it seem even more attractive to some!

The views were really quite incredible. Not only was the port about the size of half of the city itself, with hundreds of cargo ships and freight carries, but you could see as many as four huge cruise liners sitting peacefully on the clear water as if giant ducks sitting on the surface of a very calm lake. Another sight was the Port Vell (Old Port) with its shopping malls and extensive marina filled with imposing yachts and large expensive luxurious sailing boats, as well as the odd peeling fishing boat. It comes to show how Barcelona is a centre of fishing, trade, tourism and pleasure, moulding it into a hugely important national and international trade and tourism centre. It also makes this city more attractive and economically diversified to investors than other major Spanish cities like Madrid, which doesn't have the benefit of having a beach or port.

Montjuic itself should bi visited at a slow pace over a whole day. It has a great variety of museums, such as the Geological museum, the Joan Miro museum of the MNAC(see below), although the main attractions seem to be the Castle and the Olympic stadium and surroundings. It has many gardens and other places of historical interest. The towering MNAC museum (Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya), with its grand avenue and stairway, is perhaps the biggest attraction, with a very impressive and extensive collection of Romanic art which should definitely be visited.