Barcelona is a historic city with a heritage that harkens back centuries. While various surviving historical records have not presented an exact date for the city’s founding, oral tradition has since provided a number of origin stories nonetheless. Perhaps the most popular belief is the idea that Barcelona was first developed as a colony by Hamilcar Barca, the father of the great Carthaginian general Hannibal. In fact, the tales protest that the word “Barcelona” is an actual adaptation of the Barca family name. Nevertheless, archeological evidence has shown that the city grew from a couple of towns set atop two hills: Táber and Montjuïc. The community on the crest of the Táber—Barkeno—soon emerged as the dominant one, with its economy fueled by maritime commerce and agriculture. But the two settlements were eventually absorbed into the Roman Empire amid the Second Punic War. Barcelona then turned into a Roman frontier outpost, serving primarily as a military camp known as a “castrum.” (The Romans specifically called Barcelona “Barcino,” which scholars accept as the actual source for its modern name.) Barcelona thus featured a sizeable population of legionaries, some of whom occupied a towering fortress on Táber. Despite its imposing defenses, the city was gradually beset by marauding bands of Germanic tribes over the next few centuries. Barcelona was even destroyed briefly during the 3rd century A.D., prompting its Roman garrison to create a massive, enclosed wall that extended for over a million square feet around the city.

Barcelona fell to the marauding tribesmen around the beginning of the 5th century, specifically to an ethnic group known as the “Visigoths.” But the Visigoths only held onto the city for a short time, with North African Muslims conquering the region in the early 700s. Existing as part of the Islamic Al-Andalus state for the next few decades, the site became a battleground between the Arabs and the Franks on the other side of the Pyrenees. Louis the Pious—a son of the legendary Frankish emperor Charlamagne—eventually drove the Moors out of Barcelona in 801, making the city the seat of power for the newly created Hispanic March. Subdivided into a number of feudal domains called counties, the Hispanic March functioned as a buffer zone that protected the rest of the Frankish kingdom from any possible Arab retaliations. Over time, the rulers of the Hispanic March gradually grew their domain to the south and west, with the County of Barcelona emerging as the main administrative unit. Then, in 1137, the County of Barcelona merged together with the Kingdom of Aragon, creating the much larger—and significantly more powerful—“Crown of Aragon.” Barcelona subsequently became the primary seaport for the Crown of Aragon, especially after the new kingdom conquered a number of additional territories across the Mediterranean basin. Great wealth soon flowed into the city, transforming it into one of Europe’s most prestigious metropolises.

But Barcelona lost a significant amount of its influence following the Crown of Aragon’s absorption into the new Kingdom of Spain in 1492. Furthermore, the rise in Spain’s transatlantic trade with its overseas colonies throughout the 16th and 17th centuries further deteriorated the city’s might. In protest, Barcelona’s inhabitants sought to liberate themselves from Spain, even going as far as to back rival claimants to the throne during the tumultuous War of Spanish Succession. However, Barcelona’s fortunes improved dramatically once the Industrial Revolution began spreading across Western Europe. Many factories debuted in the city, making Barcelona one of Spain’s major industrial centers by the height of the Victorian Age. This localized industrialization came at a price though, as the city’s living conditions plummeted for the working-class population. Barcelona in turn became the center for a beautification movement closely related to the philosophical idea of “Modernisme,” which sought to both modernize Catalan society while also celebrating its unique cultural heritage. Gorgeous buildings bearing novel designs opened as a result, giving the city a marvelous appearance that still defines it today. In recent years, Barcelona has developed a robust tourism industry energized by its distinctive history and culture. It’s fascinating historical landmarks—such as Casa Batllò, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, and the Santa Maria del Pi—have particularly attracted thousands of visitors every year. Few places are truly better for a memorable cultural heritage experience than this wonderful historic city.

The Hotel España exists today as a Cultural Asset of Local Interest in large part because of its connections to the cultural phenomenon and artistic movement known as “Modernisme.” The idea of “Modernisme” was born at a time when all of Catalonia was undergoing a significant cultural transformation due to the Industrial Revolution. Factories quickly proliferated across the region, making every urban settlement appear devoid of character. Furthermore, most of the residential buildings that opened for the new factory workers were often constructed very poorly, leaving the inhabitants to survive in awful living conditions. Alarmed, regional architects yearned to create newer structures that could provide a better quality of life for Catalonia’s industrial working class. But this desire to craft a new, socially conscious cityscape gradually coalesced with the larger philosophy of “Modernisme,” which called for Catalonians to develop a modern, yet distinctive native identity.

Among local architects, that meant creating a modern style that embraced Catalonia’s unique cultural approach to the arts. As such, they attempted to use dynamic geometric shapes that expressed a sense of modernism, while also using a variety of historic architectural motifs that were once locally popular. The epicenter for this new kind of modern architecture appeared in Barcelona, specifically within the newly developed Eixample district. Leading the transformation of the city’s appearance was Antoni Gaudí, who designed some of the most outstanding Modernisme-inspired structures in the whole community. His best work was the Sagrada Família, a church that had been under construction for nearly a century. (Interestingly, Gaudí's work was only partial—the Sagrada Família still remains unfinished to this day!)

Additionally, the movement saw the rise of many other architectural geniuses, including Lluís Domènech i Montaner, the mastermind behind Hotel España. When Domènech was hired by Miguel Salvedo I Llorens in 1898, the hotel had already undergone several renovations and had grown to encompass a neighboring building. Keeping in mind the original character of the building, Domènech’s plan created new and bright spaces while still incorporating symbolic elements that related to both the hotel’s past and its future as an iconic modernist landmark.

The interior renovations began with the Reception Hall. Domènech preserved the original division of Nos. 9 and 11 of carrer Sant Pau by placing a large column at the central axis with a large brass ceiling light wrapped around its middle. The light featured two rampant lions, which also appeared on Catalonia’s coat of arms, both wearing crowns from which the lights hung. Around the room ran a frieze, at eye level of the guests, which included Catalan phrases of welcome. At the top of the walls, ten tondos were added depicting the heraldic symbols of Leon, Navarre, Catalonia and St. George. A studied heraldist, Domènech would incorporate heraldic symbolism throughout the hotel.

In the middle of the Reception Hall and to the left was the staircase that led up to the guest rooms. During the renovation, Domènech enlarged the stairwell to situate a lift surrounded by a wrought iron cage. The staircase was further embellished with the finest materials. A wrought-iron balustrade with floral motifs topped with a smooth wooden hand rail was added. Domènech selected a pristine white marble for the stairs and decorated the walls with pink sgraffito symbolizing Castile and Leon. The landings boasted Roman-style mosaics depicting wildlife and plant motifs, and the guest room access hallways were fitted with hydraulic mosaics. Hydraulic mosaics were quintessentially Catalan, having first been displayed at the 1867 Paris International Exposition by Catalan company Garret & Rivet.

Following these renovations, work began on the rest of the ground floor. The courtyard opposite the main entrance was transformed into a Bar known as the “Little Waiting Room.” Today, the courtyard is called the “Pati Bon Dia” (Good Day Courtyard) and owes its name to the inscription on a sign held by a female figure on the decorative sgraffito panels Domènech designed.

Behind the “Little Waiting Room”, there was a second courtyard called the “Pati vuitcentista.” Domènech enclosed this space at the height of the first floor and placed the “Guests’ Dining Room” there. In the central area, he installed a large skylight that provided the dining room with a great amount of light and allowed guests to look down into the dining room from the remaining courtyard above, known today as “Pati de les Monges.” In homage to the building’s past as the site of a public bath house, the dining room was given a marine theme. The decoration of the walls is in stucco with ocean life motifs including fish, crabs, starfish, coral, lobsters, shrimps, jellyfish, octopuses and sea snails. On the main wall, floating in this sea, are a group of beautiful sirens. Today, the dining room is known as the “Sala de les Sirenes” and remains the most emblematic space in the Hotel España.

Domènech also created a large space to situate the “Restaurante.” Today known as “Fonda España,” this room was divided into three areas by magnificent square pillars. Light streamed into the central space by means of a frosted glass skylight. The two side areas were decorated with beautiful carved wood coffering and glazed mosaic vaults from which enormous modernist lights were suspended. The walls were covered with pink marble slabs with brass sconces. At the top, there was a ceramic frieze with fish and magnificent wooden wainscotting that framed brightly colored mosaics depicting the twelve coats of arms of Seville, Granada, Castile, Leon, Valencia, Catalonia, Aragon, Majorca, Navarre, Biscay, Asturias and Galicia.

The remaining areas of the ground floor included the “Sala de música” (Music Room) and the “Salón de descanso y lectura” (Rest and Reading Lounge). Today both spaces are the “Arnau Bar,” named for the master sculptor, Eusebi Arnau, whom Domènech commissioned to design the striking alabaster fireplace that now occupies the space. Arnau designed an enormous symbolic structure that was five meters high and almost three meters wide. On the mantelpiece, there are two seated figures representing the three ages of man: a beautiful woman holding a baby in her arms and an elderly man in simple attire. Between these two modernist figures, there is a group of playful putti that appear to move with the flames rising from the fireplace, even though it was a gas fire. On the hood of the fireplace, there is a two-headed crowned shield of the House of Austria and underneath it a Golden Fleece. When the renovations were completed, Hotel España became known as one of the finest hospitality establishments in Barcelona, a legacy that it continues to uphold to this day.