Àmbit metropolità de Barcelona
Àmbit metropolità de Barcelona, also known as the vegueria of Barcelona, is one of Catalonia’s nine vegueries. It sits in the centre of the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range and is the most populated area, with about 5.14 million people in 2025. It covers 2,464.4 square kilometres and has a population density of about 2,085 people per square kilometre.
It includes the counties of Barcelonès, Baix Llobregat, Maresme, Vallès Occidental and Vallès Oriental. It borders Penedès to the south, Central Catalonia to the west, and Girona to the north. The capital is Barcelona.
The vegueria was defined in 1987 to cover Barcelona and its economic influence. Alt Penedès and Garraf were part of it at first but joined Penedès in 2017. In 2008, plans were published to protect scenic and strategic areas and to improve roads and rail networks.
The region’s largest cities (over 100,000 inhabitants) are Barcelona, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Badalona, Terrassa, Sabadell, Mataró and Santa Coloma de Gramenet.
Since 1997, the Metropolitan Transport Authority coordinates transport in the area, planning infrastructure, managing relations with operators, funding the system and setting fares.
Cardedeu in Vallès Oriental started Televisió de Cardedeu in 1980, the first Catalan-language local channel. Today the region hosts TVC studios in Sant Joan Despí and RTVE’s Catalan studios in Sant Cugat del Vallès. Local channels exist for each county, with six local multiplexes active as of 2024; there is no single Barcelona-wide local channel.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 13:42 (CET).