1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition

The 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition was Spain's first International World's Fair and ran from May 20 to December 9, 1888. It was also the first of the two held in Barcelona .

Eugenio Serrano de Casanova tried to launch an exposition in 1886, and when that failed, the Mayor of Barcelona, Francesc Rius i Taulet, took over the planning of the project. The fair was hosted on the reconstructed 115-acre site of the city's main public park, the Parc de la Ciutadella, with Vilaseca's Arc de Triomf forming the entrance. More than 2 million people from Spain, the rest of Europe, and other international points of embarkation visited the exhibition, which made the equivalent of 1,737,000 United States dollars. The fair was opened by Alfonso XIII of Spain and Maria Christina of Austria. Twenty-seven countries participated, including China, Japan and the United States.

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