Today

Today multitudes of tourists flock to Barcelona for a number of very good reasons: to view the Picassos, Dalís, Tàpies, and Mirós; to marvel at its historic UNESCO-awarded sites (10 in all), and at the moderniste extravaganzas of Antoni Gaudí and the modern eccentricities of Frank Gehry and Jean Nouvel; to sample Ferran Adria's "New Catalan Cuisine," spearheading a culinary revival that's resulted in half a dozen Michelin-rated restaurants; and to spend money in some of Europe's most sophisticated shops and stores, especially in L'Eixample's Passeig de Gràcia -- Barcelona's riposte to Paris's Champs Elysées.

There are so many tourists that they cram the narrow streets of the Ciutat Vella, almost clogging its central walkway, Les Ramblas, the former sacred territory of locals who now have to wait to resume their old habits until the quieter winters. Some critics have expressed the concern that the city is currently more interested in its surface image and in packaging itself as a sellable commodity than in dealing with practical matters, such as more judicious city planning. Heavyweight luminaries like art critic Robert Hughes -- who wrote the definitive in-depth portrait of the city at the time of the 1992 Olympics -- have been particularly disappointed, and many fear that in the quest for media approval, the city will become a virtual theme park for tourists.

Regardless, the Catalan metropolis has certainly experienced many changes for the better -- starting with the fact that today it's even easier to get to and get around the city. By train, visitors can travel from Madrid to Barcelona's main Sants station in just over 3 hours, thanks to a high-speed (300kmph/186 mph) AVE train service, which started in 2007. The lightweight tram, TGV, and Metro services that can get you around the city quickly and efficiently also continue to expand and improve.

Like many forward-thinking cities, Barcelona is becoming more eco-friendly. Following Amsterdam's model, the city implemented a bike-rental plan in 2007, which encourages residents and visitors alike to use a bike-sharing system in which red bicicletas (3,000 in all) are available for free from a variety of bus and Metro stations for up to 30 minutes to those who want to make short trips along some of the city's new cycle lanes.

Barcelona is home to some beautiful parks, ranging from the much-loved veteran Parc de la Ciutadella to the sprawling pine-covered Parc de Collserola to the eccentric fairyland Parc Güell. There are expansive grassy areas on Montjuïc, above the port. But there are also newcomers, like Parc Diagonal Mar and Poble Nou's Parc Central, both of which opened in 2008 and which filled in wastelands left by departing industries. However, these parks tend to be more designer-conscious, resembling modern works of art rather than places to relax amid soothing greenery.

In the past a wealth of architectural styles, from medieval Gothic to 19th-century moderniste, made Barcelona famous. Today, ultra-modern, mold-breaking buildings also dominate the skyline, from Jean Nouvel's Torre Agbar on the eastern edge of L'Eixample to Norman Foster's "Needle" tower high on the wooded hills near Tibidabo. Even a traditional market like La Ribera's Santa Caterina now has an avant-garde roof designed by Enric Miralles (who was responsible for the Parc Diagonal Mar, mentioned above), giving truth to writer V. S. Prithcett's saying that Catalans "live artwardly" even when it comes down to workaday matters.

With the increase in tourism, traditional industries such as car and textile production have declined in the city and relocated out of town where many continue to flourish. High-tech businesses like Intel have sprung up in areas such as the Llobregat Delta, near the airport. Within the city, old working-class areas are definitely changing, mostly for the better. Neighborhoods like Poble Sec, where girls used to work on assembly lines in calico factories, and Poble Nou, where the old chimneys of the former textile works still stand beside warehouses converted into trendy pads for "yuppies," are exchanging their gritty proletarian look for stylish gentrification. Call it a theme park if you want, but it sure looks better.

Today Barcelona is a multicultural polyglot city which is home to various international communities. There is a large and industrious Chinese community, who ironically flourish around the misnamed Barri Xino (Chinese Quarter), even though few Asians lived there for decades in the past. (The name was inspired by a lurid crime book called Sangre en las Atarazanas [Blood in the Dockyards], which was written by Francisco Madrid in 1926 and set in an imaginary version of Los Angeles's Chinatown.) There are also thriving Arab, Eastern European, South American, and African communities, some of whom live in the once seedy but now up-and-coming Raval quarter.

Despite all these changes, the native Barcelonans remain what they have always been: practical, businesslike, proletarian, nonconformist, rebellious, artistic, and hedonistic. Barcelonans embody a complex and contradictory blend of traits that at least partly explain how the city perpetually manages to experiment, adapt, and use its amazing natural energy and creativity to constantly reinvent itself.