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Barcelona is a city Spanish capital of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia . With a population of 1,619,337 inhabitants ( Statistical Institute of Catalonia 2010 ), is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid , and the eleventh of the European Union . The Barcelona metropolitan area, including the Urban Region of Barcelona , has 5,012,961 inhabitants (Idescat, 2010), making it the sixth most populous in the European Union .
Located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea , about 120 km south of the mountain chain of the Pyrenees and the border with France , on a plain bounded by the sea to the east, the Sierra de Collserola west, the river Llobregat to the south and the Besos river north. Having been the capital of the County of Barcelona , it is often mentioned with the name of Barcelona.
Barcelona has been the scene of many world events that helped shape the city and give it international exposure. The most important have been the Universal Exhibition of 1888 , the International Exhibition of 1929 , the Summer Olympics of 1992 and the Universal Forum of Cultures 2004 . It also hosts the secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean .
Nowadays, Barcelona is recognized as a global city for its cultural, financial, trade and tourism. Has one of the ports on the Mediterranean and is also an important communications between Spain and France, due to motorway connections and high-speed train . The Barcelona airport is used by 30 million passengers a year. It is the twelfth most visited city in the world and the fourth most visited Europe , after London , Paris and Rome .