Better know for its capital Barcelona it also offers fantastic escapes to the seaside, as I found on many visit and returns to Catalunya. The purpose of this page is to recognize that Catalunya is indeed different to the rest of Spain, having friends based in Barcelona, one of which has a heart that devoted to all things Catalan.

Catalonia is one of the seventeen Autonomous Communities of the Kingdom of Spain. The official languages are Catalan, Spanish and Occitan.

The Statute of Autonomy state that Catalonia, as a nationality, exercises its self-government constituted as an autonomous community in accordance with the Constitution. The updated 2006 Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia states the Parliament of Catalonia defined Catalonia as a nation, but that the Spanish Constitution recognizes Catalonia's national reality as a nationality, though this is disputed by other regions.

The Catalan culture started to develop in the Middle Ages stemming from a number kingdoms organised as small counties throughout the northernmost part of Catalonia. In 989, Catalonia declared its independence and over the next few centuries Catalonia was generally on the losing side of a series of local conflicts that led steadily to more centralization of power in Spain. Following the fall of Barcelona on 11 September 1714, the 'special status' of the territories belonging to the former Crown of Aragon and its institutions were abolished, under which all its lands were incorporated to Crown of Castile, as provinces, into a united Spanish administration.

In the first part of the 20th century, Catalonia gained and lost varying degrees of autonomy several times, marked by political unrest during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) which brought General Francisco Franco to power, his regime suppressed any kind of public activities associated with Catalan nationalism such as use of Catalan in government-run institutions and in public events was banned. The Catalan language was excluded from the state education system, including the prohibition of giving children Catalan names. After Franco's death and with the adoption of a democratic Spanish constitution (1978), Catalonia recovered political and cultural autonomy and Catalan enjoyed special status which declares it to be the "native language of Catalonia".

Catalonia embarked on a long-term language policy to increase the use of Catalan and enforced laws which attempt to protect, and extend, the use of Catalan. Today, Catalan is the main language of the Catalonia government and the other public institutions. Public education is given in Catalan and businesses are required to display all information (e.g. menus, posters) at least in Catalan under penalty of fines introduced in a 1997 linguistic law, there is no obligation to display information in Spanish. The law ensures that both Catalan and Spanish can be used by the citizens without prejudice in all public and private activities.

Castellers are one of the main manifestations of Catalan popular culture. The activity consists in constructing human towers by competing colles castelleres (teams). This practice originated in the southern part of Catalonia during the 18th century. In the greater celebrations other elements of the Catalan popular culture are usually present: such as the parades of gegants (giants) and correfocs of devils and firecrackers.

There is some nationalist sentiment present in a part of the population of Catalonia, which ranges from the desire for independence from Spain expressed by Catalan separatists, to a more generic demand for further autonomy. This has been the source of some conflict with other regions of Spain that don't have these expectations.

Today, Catalonia is one of the most economically dynamic regions of Spain. The largest city, Barcelona, is a major international cultural centre and a major tourist destination.

See also Barcelona, Sitges, Vic