Spain
Spain, Spain · Barcelona
The place
Spain sits at the crossroads of Europe and Africa — Roman Hispania, then nearly eight centuries of Moorish rule, then the Reconquista and the 1492 voyage that opened the Americas. Our trip took in Gaudí's Barcelona on the Mediterranean and the art and grandeur of Madrid — the Sagrada Família and the Prado, tapas and late dinners.
Places I visited
History & facts for each spot — with a “then & now” archival photo where one exists.
Then · c.1936 
Now 1Barcelona
Barcelona is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain after Madrid. With a population of 1.7 million within city limits, its urban area extends to numerous neighbouring municipalities within the province of Barcelona and is home to around 5.7 million people, making it the fifth most populous urban area of the European Union after Paris, the Ruhr area, Madrid, and Milan. It is one of the largest metropolises on the Mediterranean Sea, located on the coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs, and bounded to the west by the Serra de Collserola mountain range.
Read more on Wikipedia →Archival photo: RepublicanWoman1936GTaro — Wikimedia Commons
On the map
Numbered pins are the specific spots above — click any one for its story.