Useful information

• Basic Facts
• Weather
• Barcelona Card
• Information offices
• Important telephone numbers

Basic Facts

Country name: Kingdom of Spain
Spanish flag: Red, yellow
Population: 40,341,462 (July 2005 est.)
Land area: 504,782 sq km
Capital: Madrid; population: 5.604 million
Official language: Castilian Spanish 74%, (+Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2%)
Geographical location: Southwestern Europe

Government: parliamentary monarchy
Currency: euro (EUR)
Time zone: GMT+1
Religion: Roman Catholic 94%, other 6%
Climate: Temperate; clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy and cool along coast
Voltage: 220 Volts / 50 Hz
Country calling code: 0034
Business holidays: January 1 (New Year’s Day), January 6 (Día de los Reyes), March 19 (Father’s day), May 1 (Labour Day), June 24 (St. John’s Day), June 29 (St. Peter and St. Paul), July 25 (St. James), August 15 (Assumption), October 12 (Colombus Day), November 01 (All Saints Day), December 06 (Constitution Day), December 8 (Immaculate Conception), December 25 (Christmas Day)
Freeway fees: A part of the motorways runs under toll system, the rest is free of charge. Payment has normally got to be made in Euros, in cash. Major credit cards are also accepted.
Safety: Spain has a moderate rate of crime, street crimes against tourists occur in the principal tourist areas.

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Weather

The north and northwestern part:
This area is influenced by Atlantic depressions, especially in autumn and winter. But even in the summer the weather can be variable. In the interior of Spain the sun shines about 10 hours a day, averagely, but to the coast it is only 6 or 7 hours a day. The average temperature in January on the northwestern coast is about 10°C and this area rarely has frost. But the interior knows temperatures well under 0°C. In the middle of the summer (July) it can become 22°C on the coast and 25 -30°C more to the interior of the country. This area has quite a lot of precipitation: 1000 mm (coast) to more than 2500 mm in some mountainous areas. In the winter months there is rain on 16-20 days. In the summer it rains for 12-14 days a month (at least a little), but less in the interior land.

The east coast along the Mediterranean:
Mild, humid winters and the long, dry summers. The coldest month is January, and the average temperature around Barcelona then is 8°C and around Malaga about 13°C.
Sometimes there isn't any precipitation at all in the summertime and when there is some, it is mostly from short during thunderstorms. But the area around Barcelona is an exception to that: even in the most dry month, July, there falls an average of 70 mm rain, mostly from heavy thundershowers. But there is always a lot of sun and temperatures vary from 28-30°C.

The interior of Spain:
The big differences in altitude make the climate varied: in winter, at higher altitudes one can do winter sports and in summer it can be very hot. The more one goes into the interior of the peninsula, the colder the winters are and the hotter the summers, whereby it is colder in the north than in the south. Frost isn't uncommon in the winter. Average temperature in Madrid in January is 9°C, near Cordoba 13°C. In summertime temperatures vary from 25-35°C but sometimes they are as as high as 40°C.

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Barcelona Card

The Barcelona Card is designed to make tourists’ stay in Barcelona easier and more convenient. It offers free public city transport and discounts and free offers at museums, cultural venues, entertainment, leisure attractions, night-time venues, shops, restaurants, unusual means of transport and other services.

More info: http://www.europeancitycards.com

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Information offices

Barcelona City Hall Tourist Office (ground floor) Ciutat, 2
Placa de Sant Jaume
Metro Jaume (Yellow Line, L4)
Open: Mon-Fri: 09.00-20.00
Sat: 10.00-20.00
Sundays 10.00-14.00

Columbus Monument Tourist Office
Pl. Portal de la Pau (near the Columbus monument)
Metro Drassanes (Green Line, L3)
Open Daily 09.00-21.00

Barcelona Tourist Office - Cultural events in Barcelona
Las Ramblas, 99
Metro Liceu (Green Line, L3)
Open: Mon-Sat: 10.00-20.00
Sundays: 11.00-15.00
Tel: 0034 93 316 10 00

Barcelona Airport Tourist Office Information
Airport Terminals A and B
Open Daily: 09.00-21.00
Closed: New Years Day and 25th December
Tel: 0034 934 784 704

Tourist Office of the Autonomous Government
At the end of Paseo de Gracia
Open Mon-Fri: 10.00-19.00
Sat: 09.00-14.00
Tel: 0034 93 2384000

Municipal Tourist Office (Tourism of Barcelona)
Plaza Catalunya
Open Daily: 09.00-21.00
Tel: 0034 93 304 32 32

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Important telephone numbers

Emergency – 061
Fire Department – 080
Police – 091
Ambulance - 93 3002020
City Info – 010
Visa - 91 5196000
Airport - 93 2983838

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