I loved Spain, especially Barcelona. Hope a lot of DUer's will get to see it. Sad they, and so much of Europe have had such bad economics times.

Catalunya has always been the economic envy of the Iberian peninsula, the place where people came to look for work when times were bad elsewhere. It's still the case. I lived there for a while as a teenager, and learned to speak Catalan. I still run down there every two months or so, and never get tired of the city.

I haven't but she is a budding marine biologist and I wan to take her to the City of Arts and Sciences there...it has the largest aquarium in Europe...also we'll be there during Las Fallas which ought to be fun...

We were on a bus on the way back to Barcelona from Sevilla and Granada, where we spent more time, and which left lasting impressions. This is 1968 I'm talking about.

architect Santiago Calatrava to design/build something to rival Bilbao's stunning Guggenheim Museum. Calatrava designed this jaw-dropping futuristic "City" with an opera house, sculpture garden and "Oceanografic."

Here's some pics of this fabulous place: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciutat_de_les_Arts_i_les_Ci%C3%A8ncies

Under the Franco dictatorship, official propaganda had it that Valencia was not a Catalan-speaking province (it is, of course). But the Wikipedia page has all the buildings listed with their Catalan names.

As one who spent time in Catalunya during the Fascist era and speaks Catalan, this is very gratifying to see.