Rumors that plague had entered Barcelona's poorest quarter started circulating shortly after the New Year of 1651, but local officials hesitated to impose a full quarantine on the city. Within months the number of sick in the pesthouse had swelled to 4,000, and thousands more had fled the city. By the time the plague abated in September, at least 15,000 Barcelonans had died. This book is a translation of the 1651 journal of Miquel Parets, a Barcelona tanner who set out, like the protagonist of Camus' The Plague, "to state quite simply what we learn in a time of pestilence." His journal is rich with the details of life during the epidemic, including accounts of prisoners who escaped from jail by claiming they had the disease; of priests hearing confessions with a torch held between them and the sick to avoid contagion; and of people desperately seeking wetnurses for children after their mothers had died. Unlike other accounts, which depict local authorities as the bulwark of enlightened authority amid a sea of popular superstition, Parets accuses the local elite of negligence, selfishness, and abuse of authority during the contagion. His journal is notable both for its non-elite perspective and for its emotional quality--especially in the moving passage wherein the tanner recounts the death of his wife and three of their children. Amelang introduces the journal, illustrating the unique place of the work in the plague literature, and supplies notes and commentaries that clarify the historical context for the contemporary reader. Also included is a helpful appendix of excerpts from other popular plague texts.

This work, written by local experts in the city, deals with the transformation of Barcelona. It will be of interest to architects, planners and urban designers, as well as those interested in the social and economic impacts of regeneration.

This is the first critical, in-depth academic study of FC Barcelona (also known as Barça), one of the world’s great football clubs, exploring the historical, political, cultural and commercial dimensions of this global sporting institution. The book examines why and how the club grew from its genesis as a small sporting organisation in the developing urban landscape of Barcelona in 1899 to become a contemporary giant that has both shaped and transcended football. It considers how globalisation, cultural identity and political ideology can help us to understand the development of Barça, but also how the growth of the phenomenon of FC Barcelona helps us to better understand those forces shaping contemporary global societies. It brings together leading scholars from around the world to examine key themes such as governance, regional and national politics, storytelling, fandom, digital media, branding, commercialisation and sport diplomacy, exploring topics such as the European Super League fiasco and the rise of Lionel Messi as a global icon. It also includes a series of chapters looking at the importance of FC Barcelona around the world, including in Latin America, the United States, Africa and East Asia. This illuminating, multi-disciplinary study of FC Barcelona is essential reading for anybody with an interest in football, Catalonian politics and culture, or the history, politics, culture and business of sport.

First multi-year cumulation covers six years: 1965-70.

London is famous for Big Ben; Paris for the Eiffel Tower; Rome for the Colosseum. Barcelona, on the other hand, is not identified by one or two famous buildings as these other European cities, but rather by an entire movement of turn-of-the-century architecture known simply as "Modernisme." Familiar to Americans as art nouveau, its most famous practitioner was the artist and architect Antoni Gaudi. But the city is filled with superb examples of art nouveau in vivid color in "Barcelona Art Nouveau." This book offers a tour of 46 houses, public buildings, and monuments in the art-nouveau style, including brand-new photographs of the work of Gaudi. Visit the famous literary cafe Els Quarte Gats, which was once patronized by Pablo Picasso, who also designed the menu. Lose yourself in the whimsical curves of Casa Josep Batllo, a wonderful example of the combination of artisan tradition and richness that exemplifies art nouveau. These structures, fully restored to pristine condition for the 1992 Olympics, have been rediscovered by both foreigners and Barcelonans alike, and are captured inside and out in this fascinating record of the adventurous, undulating designs of an exciting era.

Widely associated with avant-garde gastronomy and lavish food markets, Barcelona has become a top destination for gourmands and chefs around the world, especially after the spectacular rise of chef Ferran Adrià of the famed elBulli, soon to be reborn as elBulli1846. Barcelona is a city that attracts millions of visitors in search of art and culinary experiences while cookery apprentices from around the world arrive looking to perfect their skills and expand their gastronomic horizon. The city offers an unequaled combination of restaurants, chefs, restauranteurs, media and local government initiatives to help those who arrive seeking an extraordinary culinary experience. But how has the city established itself as a global culinary referent while becoming synonymous with cutting-edge cuisine? This book narrates Barcelona’s urban and culinary development from the Middle Ages to the present, tracing the origins and the growth of the culinary prestige of this part of Catalonia. Barcelona has been a cosmopolitan center since the 1700s because of its location and busy port. The city has always been well supplied with food, and its residents built a strong culinary tradition enlivened by its contact with other cuisines and novel products afforded by its geographic location and the people who migrated to the area. With literature, painting, music and architecture, cooking has been a crucial activity in creating and maintaining a Catalan identity. Past, present and future visitors of the city will find a fascinating history of the unforgettable culinary importance of one of the most popular cities of Spain.

Barcelona's Vocation of Modernity is a study of the emergence and development of the cultural image of the Iberian peninsula’s foremost modern city.