In a privileged position on the northeastern coast of the Iberian peninsula and the shores of the Mediterranean, Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain in both size and population. It is also the capital of Catalonia, 1 of the 17 Autonomous Communities that make up Spain. There are two official languages spoken in Barcelona: Catalan, generally spoken in all of Catalonia, and Castillian Spanish. The city of Barcelona has a population of 1.510.000, but this number spirals to more than 4.000.000 if the outlying areas are also included. Barcelona's culture is rich, stemming from the city's 2000 years of history. To a greater extent than the rest of Catalonia, where Catalonia's native Catalan is more dominant, Barcelona is a bilingual city: Catalan and Spanish are both official and widely spoken. The Catalan spoken in Barcelona, Central Catalan, is the one closest to standard Catalan. Since the arrival of democracy, the Catalan culture (repressed during the dictatorship) has been promoted, both by recovering works from the past and by stimulating the creation of new works. Barcelona has a number of theaters, including the world-renowned Gran Teatre del Liceu opera theater, the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya and the Palau de la Música Catalana concert hall. The GREC festival takes place every summer and brings to Barcelona highly renowned performers and companies.
