Explorar Barcelona

La Boqueria, officially the Mercat de Sant Josep, is a large covered food market off La Rambla in the Ciutat Vella. A market is recorded on the site from 1217; the present hall was inaugurated in 1853 and given its metal roof in 1914. Its stalls sell fruit, vegetables, fish, meat, cheese and spices, and several counters serve food.

Plaça de Catalunya is a square of about 50,000 square metres where Barcelona's old city meets the 19th-century Eixample, and where La Rambla, Passeig de Gràcia and Portal de l'Àngel begin. It has fountains, a paved compass rose at its centre and sculptures by artists including Josep Clarà, Pablo Gargallo and Josep Llimona.

The Arc de Triomf is a red-brick memorial arch in the Neo-Mudéjar style, designed by Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas as the main entrance to the 1888 Barcelona World Fair. It spans the promenade of Passeig de Lluís Companys, which leads to Parc de la Ciutadella, and its front frieze carries Josep Reynés's relief Barcelona Welcomes the Nations.

Parc de la Ciutadella is a 31-hectare park on the edge of the Ciutat Vella, laid out from 1872 to plans by Josep Fontserè on the site of an 18th-century military citadel and later used for the 1888 World Fair. It contains a boating lake, the monumental Cascada fountain, the Parliament of Catalonia, Barcelona Zoo and several 19th-century buildings.

The Magic Fountain of Montjuïc is an illuminated fountain designed by Carles Buïgas for the 1929 International Exposition, at the head of Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina below the Palau Nacional. On set evenings it stages shows of water jets, coloured light and music, pumping about 2,600 litres of water a second through three concentric basins.

Plaça d'Espanya is a large circular square at the foot of Montjuïc, laid out for the 1929 International Exposition. Its centre holds a fountain designed by Josep Maria Jujol with sculptures by Miquel Blay, and two 47-metre Venetian Towers mark the avenue leading up to the Palau Nacional. The former Arenas bullring stands on its north side.