Rundown farmhouse in the Delta de Llobregat
Rundown farmhouse in El Parc Agrari del Baix Llobregat, near Barcelona. Many, however, have been restored.
Articles in ‘Geography of Barcelona’
Spring returns to Barcelona
After a long, grey and grueling, tiresome and draining, never-ending cold, wet and miserable winter, spring appears to have finally arrived in Barcelona. LeerChanges in the coastline of Barcelona
![[602px-Evoluci%C3%B3_de_la_l%C3%ADnia_de_la_costa_a_Barcelona_svg.png]](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_mO07g9kbB7Q/S5kQ5DcdjhI/AAAAAAAAANg/k43Dv7xEV5Y/s1600/602px-Evoluci%25C3%25B3_de_la_l%25C3%25ADnia_de_la_costa_a_Barcelona_svg.png)
Map showing changes in the coastline of Barcelona since prehistoric times. fueled by sedimentation and urbanisation. Note the presence of the island, l’illa de Mains.
Barcelona’s urban heat island
Barcelona’s urban heat island effect causes markedly higher temperatures in the city than the surrounding rural areas. The difference is most pronounced at night during anticyclonic conditions in the winter with temperatures as much as 6.9ºC lower. There heat is channeled along corridors of flats, and there a mere 200 hectares of green areas in the city, though the city’s 100,000 street trees have a mitigating effect. The heat island is most noted in the Eixample. The Besós River functions as a corridor bringing in cold air to the coast. More details in CatalanThe snow in Barcelona
Yesterday saw the heaviest snowfall in Barcelona since 1983. Schools were closed, the buses stopped working and roads were blocked. Thousands of people were stranded in the city unable to commute home.
Not quite as heavy as the historic fall of Christmas Day 1963.
More great photos here from El Pais
The population density of Barcelona
The metropolitan area of Barcelona has one of the highest population densities in the world, particularly if one takes out Collserola park on its northern fringe. The city of Barcelona itself has a density of 5,764/km², while the Eixample District has a remarkable density of 35.138/km². L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, part of Barcelona metropolitan area, but a town (ciudad) in its own right, has a density of 20,230 /km2. Source
Within Barcelona particularly neighbourhoods are:
1 Sagrada Familia
area 1.04km²
Population 53.000
2 Gracia
area 2.05 km²
population 84.000
3 Raval
area 1.08km²
population 47.000
Within L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, the highest density in Europe is the la Florida district with a density of 77,000/km², which has fallen from a frightening 150,000/km² 30 years ago. Source: http://www.l-h.cat/anuarisEstadistics_2.aspx?id=2 Statistical yearbook of the city, Click on Anuario 2007
The skyscraper forum has some fascinating discussion on what constitutes an urban area or a city. Above pic taken from there by Gabi.
The whole municipality of L’Hospitalet is conurbated with the city, served by tube lines, insanely dense, etc. It’s just another district of Barcelona, really. Of course, this might mean it’d be a better idea to consider L’H as a single neighbourhood, but first of all it isn’t: the different neighbourhoods were built at different times, with different planning criteria (or in most cases absence thereof, but that’s another story), and they have different sociological traits, different areas of influence, etc. You also have to keep in mind that there are TWO railway tracks cutting through the city and pretty much acting as a barrier you can’t get through. So at least you’d have to separate Samontà (Northern Hospitalet) from Marina (Southern Hospitalet). Actually, it’d be more like Old Hospitalet (Centre and Sta. Eulàlia), Northern Hospitalet (La Florida, Can Serra, Pubilla Cases, Collblanc, Torrassa, etc.) and Marina (Bellvitge and Gornal, basically. The area around Plaça Europa has become quite distinct, although future operations on Gran Via Ave. will prolly integrate Gornal into Districte Econòmic somewhat.) And it’d be a wise idea to separate Collblanc and Torrassa as well, as they have a special relationship with Les Corts and Sants in Barcelona. They also have some old town parts, which is kind of weird in L’Hospitalet (most of L’Hospitalet was built after 1960 and populated with inmigrants, so the presence of “old town” parts is sociologically and urbanistically relevant: the fact that in Collblanc and Torrassa they are way smaller than in Centre or Sta. Eulàlia, and the fact that their original population is fleeing to Martorell or Barcelona is also relevant of course.)
Rivers of Barcelona
Barcelona is flanked by two rivers, the River Llobregat ten kilometres to the south-west, and the River Besòs to the north-east.
The Llobregat is the second longest river in Catalonia, and ends in the Mediterranean Sea, in the municipality of El Prat de Llobregat, near Barcelona. It is heavily managed in its lower course greatly reducing the flood risk in the city. Water that previously emptied into the sea is now pumped upstream to increase the natural flow, recharge the delta wetlands and control seawater incursion. On the very negative side the old riverine habitat along the river has been ruined, with serious impacts on birdlife.
The River Besòs (wikipeidia)
The much smaller River Besòs forms the north-eastern border of Barcelona. It passes through the highly industrialized ring around Barcelona, and had the dubious honor of being the most polluted river in Europe during the 1970s and 1980s. Since the mid-1990s, however, the river has been cleaned up significantly. The river has extreme variations in flow depending on rainfall.
![[Colom.jpg]](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_mO07g9kbB7Q/S40rAjuBfKI/AAAAAAAAAL4/Vq5FvFMUssc/s1600/Colom.jpg)
Not America that’s for sure. The 
The Fundació Antoni Tàpies opened its doors this week after being closed for reforms for several years.