![BarcelonaSagrada.jpg BarcelonaSagrada.jpg](https://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/downloads/22687/download/BarcelonaSagrada.jpg?cb=5853b3b5474531659920d7d5288f9a07&w={width}&h={height})
1996
- Johan Cruyff is fired as head coach of Barça
- EasyJet is launched and offers cheap flights to Barcelona from Luton, UK
- The International Brigades are honoured in events commemorating the Spanish Civil War's 60th anniversary
1997
- The Palau de la Música Catalana and Hospital de Sant Pau are declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites
- Joan Clos takes over as Mayor of Barcelona from Pasqual Maragall
- One million people rally for peace after the ETA killing of Miguel Ángel Blanco
1998
- Catalan poet Joan Brossa dies in Barcelona at age 79
- The Triangle shopping centre is inaugurated and is home to Desigual's first shop in the city
- The amusement park on Montjuïc closes its doors after 30 years. The space it occupied is now where the Jardins de Joan Brossa are located
1 of 3
![Joan-Brossa-Cuervo-cenrals-RETALL-ARA.jpg Joan-Brossa-Cuervo-cenrals-RETALL-ARA.jpg](https://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/downloads/22739/download/Joan-Brossa-Cuervo-cenrals-RETALL-ARA.jpg?cb=92b427ee9a9c134f5c1a6ee07398156d&w={width}&h={height})
2 of 3
![663_catalunya1.jpg 663_catalunya1.jpg](https://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/downloads/22740/download/663_catalunya1.jpg?cb=b49d2c6aca002ca6e12db007d85c2f88&w={width}&h={height})
3 of 3
![AZ8Q0400.jpg AZ8Q0400.jpg](https://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/downloads/22741/download/AZ8Q0400.jpg?cb=e3ea74ceafd1a3bd7f492136c875d93a&w={width}&h={height})
1999
- The Auditori concert hall opens
- To commemorate the centennial of FC Barcelona, the city hosts its first Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Manchester United
- The Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona's opera house, opens after a three-year, $120 million renovation due to a fire in 1994
2000
- Plans are approved for a 22@Barcelona district—an urban renewal area in Barcelona's formerly industrial area of Poblenou—and Razzmatazz opens as a result
- Refurbishment of the Palau de la Música Catalana finishes
- The new Rambla del Raval is inaugurated
2001
- The first edition of Primavera Sound takes place in Poble Espanyol
- Santa Maria del Pi provides shelter to immigrants who go on hunger strike against the new Ley de Extranjería
- Las Arenas bullring is reborn as a new shopping centre
![A timeline of Barcelona.jpg A timeline of Barcelona.jpg](https://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/downloads/22749/download/A%20timeline%20of%20Barcelona.jpg?cb=8345d578911f4d3be0bf7ed84669fb8f&w={width}&h={height})
Picasa
2002
- The euro is introduced to replace the peseta
- The CaixaForum opens its doors in the Puig i Cadalfalch's Modernist textile factory, Casaramona on Montjuïc
- The city celebrates Any Gaudí commemorating 150 years since the architect's birth
2003
- More than 7,000 people gathered at dawn on the Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina and shed their clothes for artist Spencer Tunick's largest work featuring a sea of nude bodies
- Barcelona-born writer Manuel Vázquez Montalbán dies
2004
- The city council condemns bullfighting and is Spain's first city to come out against the centuries-old sport
- The Barcelona Fòrum Universal de les Cultures takes place at the Fòrum, receiving over three million visitors
2005
- The Torre Agbar by Jean Nouvel is completed at the Plaça de les Glòries
- The Museu de la Ciencia reopens its doors as the CosmoCaixa
- Lionel Messi scores his first ever goal for FC Barcelona
![Torre-Agbar-en-Barcelona-1920-1024x768.jpg Torre-Agbar-en-Barcelona-1920-1024x768.jpg](https://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/downloads/22743/download/Torre-Agbar-en-Barcelona-1920-1024x768.jpg?cb=d1a821b0f071571e341850ae0e4ac6c1&w={width}&h={height})
2006
- The Barcelona Biomedical Research Park opens in the Vila Olímpica, creating one of the largest hubs of biomedical research in southern Europe
- Legislation is passed that makes the selling of birds and animals on the Ramblas illegal
2007
- Bicing is launched and within four months it has over 84,000 users
- The Mobile World Congress takes place in Barcelona for the first time
- The Mercat de Sant Antoni celebrates its 125th anniversary and closes for refurbishment
![bicing.jpeg bicing.jpeg](https://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/downloads/22747/download/bicing.jpeg?cb=708a1dfd0615a3a1bdeb8420ce2ca9e3&w={width}&h={height})
2008
- The AVE rail link finally connects Barcelona and Madrid
- The World Conservation Congress ends in Barcelona. The meeting was awash in gloomy forecasts
- Vicky Cristina Barcelona comes out
2009
- U2 starts their 360° Tour at Camp Nou
- The W hotel opens
- A new study reveals the air in Barcelona is laced with at least five drugs, including trace amounts of amphetamines, opiates, cannabinoids and lysergic acid
![32125_l.jpg 32125_l.jpg](https://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/downloads/22744/download/32125_l.jpg?cb=aec931c3e911bae5b06c7fda604bd867&w={width}&h={height})
2010
- The Sagrada Família temple is consecrated as a place of worship by Pope Benedict XVI
- San Francisco welcomes Barcelona as its newest sister city
- Line 10 of the metro opens
2011
- A new law tightens anti-smoking restrictions introduced in 2006. The ban—one of the strictest in Europe—outlaws smoking in all bars and restaurants
- Plaça George Orwell in Ciutat Vella undergoes a much-needed facelift
2012
- Generalitat President Artur Mas i Gavarró leads the campaign for Catalan independence, aiming for a referendum in 2014
- The Apple Store opens on Passeig de Gràcia
- Thirteen new luxury hotels open in the city
2013
- Barcelona begins charging admission to Park Güell
- Els Encants market moves into its new building
- 170-year-old Jugueteria Monforte in Plaça Sant Josep Oriol closes down, following the steps of many of the city´s oldest and most emblematic businesses
![Mercat-dels-Encants-de-Barcelona_i1.jpg Mercat-dels-Encants-de-Barcelona_i1.jpg](https://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/downloads/22745/download/Mercat-dels-Encants-de-Barcelona_i1.jpg?cb=a5c23737850f88b915d05eb22f99c86f&w={width}&h={height})
2014
- The Generalitat fines Airbnb €30,000 for infringement of local tourism laws
- Okupas of 17-year-old squat Can Vies in Sants are evicted
- The first Palo Alto market is held
2015
- The Museu del Disseny de Barcelona on the Plaça de les Glòries opens
- Ada Colau of Barcelona en Comú becomes Barcelona´s first female mayor
- Barcelona is named Global Smart City of 2015
![ada-colau-gestures-during-her-swearing-in-ceremony-as-the-new-mayor-of-barcelona-spain.jpg ada-colau-gestures-during-her-swearing-in-ceremony-as-the-new-mayor-of-barcelona-spain.jpg](https://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/downloads/22746/download/ada-colau-gestures-during-her-swearing-in-ceremony-as-the-new-mayor-of-barcelona-spain.jpg?cb=f3a66164c94b38630668b053e40b9b77&w={width}&h={height})