Newsletter - Archive - Issue 1 December 2003

Issue #41

Only 2 more weeks to go !

If you are planning to study at Babylon Idiomas next year, now is the time to surf to our enrolment form and book your course. Why? You'll be paying 2003 prices for all bookings made before the 15th of December this year.

Why wait? Book your 2004 Babylon Idiomas course now and save money!

Barcelona - Part 7: New money, new pride

The Spanish government punished Barcelona severely for its part in the war of succession (see part 6). A fortress was built in the city to control its unruly population, the city was forbidden to build new housing outside of its then boundaries and -most importantly- the city lost its rights to the lucrative trade with the New World.

The latter had a profound impact on Catalonia: whereas the rest of Spain was focused on trading goods (mainly agricultural) with Latin America, Catalonia was forced to look elsewhere. Its entrepreneurs were quick to spot something very interesting coming from England...the steam machine. And thus Catalonia became one of the first regions to embrace the industrial revolution and to reap all the rewards that came with it. The leap forward that Catalonia made then can still be felt today. The region accounts for 15% of Spain's population but produces more than 20% of the nation's wealth.

With the new money and the end of the punitive measures imposed by Madrid (the hated fortress -Ciutadella- was torn down to the last brick and nothing remains today of it), a new sense of pride came to the region in the 19th century. This powerful combination of wealth, pride and expansion enabled a new generation of very talented architects to make their dreams come true and change the face of Barcelona forever.

Part: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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