Since 1992, the developments have continued unabated; indeed Barcelona's drive for self-improvement and self-promotion seems to know no bounds. The commercial port continues to expand, and is now dominated by a futuristic World Trade Center set in the central harbour, while the airport is given a new runway and the city anxiously awaits the arrival of a high-speed train (AVE) line. There's a pride in the city which is expressed in a remarkable cultural energy, seen most perfectly in the glorious modernista (Art Nouveau) architecture that studs the city's streets and avenues. Antoni Gaudí is the most famous of those who have left their mark on Barcelona in this way: his Sagrada Família church is rightly revered, but just as fascinating are the (literally) fantastic houses and apartment buildings that he and his contemporaries designed. In art , too, the city boasts a stupendous legacy, from important Romanesque and Gothic works to major galleries containing the life's work of the Catalan artists Joan Miró and Antoni Tàpies, and - perhaps the greatest draw of all - a representative collection of the work of Pablo Picasso.
For all its go-ahead feel, though, Barcelona does still have its problems . A traditionally homogeneous society, accustomed to Spanish emigration, has been changed forever by the arrival of large numbers of immigrants from Asia, Africa and South America, many of whom enter illegally, looking to grab a share of the city's economic success. Partly as a consequence of this, the petty crime rate has rocketed, and tourists must take precautions when visiting the city, and despite the work done on the infrastructure, there is still a lot to do. There's also a growing gap between rich and poor, and one repercussion of the gentrification of poorer districts is that the original dwellers are being priced out - real estate speculation has led to a curious situation wherein the city, in the midst of an acute housing crisis, has tens of thousands of empty apartments which are not on the market.
There's a problem, too, in Barcelona's relationship with the rest of Catalunya. More than half the region's inhabitants live in the city and its surroundings, creating an uneasy imbalance that becomes clear if you travel through the depopulated inland and mountain areas, and which is most obvious in the political sphere - Catalunya is conservative and regionalist, Barcelona is socialist and nationalist. At times the city has prospered at the expense of the rest of Catalunya, and though there are pockets of wealth and interest - on the coast, in the ski resorts - there's a nagging feeling that Barcelona is very much the main event. It's not a feeling that holds firm if you do make the effort to spend time in other parts of the region, but it is indicative of the fact that Barcelona, boasting loudly of its European character and city style, is in danger of forgetting its wider roots and becoming self-absorbed and inward-looking
