Barcelona's urban regeneration and autonomous status within Spain may also pass them by.

But while they are watching United play Bayern Munich in the European Cup final, other eyes are also on the city.

The Barcelona influence, and that of its region, Catalonia, has become a stock example of flair, design and good practice in British debate. In short it is, as design writer and broadcaster Jonathan Glancey wrote, "perhaps the most respected and best-loved city in Europe".

Lord Rogers is expected to recommend to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott through the Urban Task Force that English cities should be redeveloped in the way Barcelona has been. Rogers, the architect of the new Welsh Assembly, believes the city is the most interesting example of urban regeneration in the western world.

Looking over the city from Parc Guell

Barcelona's docks have been transformed, while other industry has responded to new challenges in a way most English cities would envy. As well as manufacturing and massive tourism, banking and the stock exchange also flourish.

And the city is also used as a prime example of innovation - for instance, how to manage traffic congestion using electronic gates. One London borough is even looking at reviving a stretch of Thames riverbank in the same way Barcelona has created its Mediterranean beach.

But politically there is an influence too. With elections for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly, devolution in the UK has become a reality. And with it, questions of what it is to be a nation within a larger nation, within Europe.

The editor of Granta, Ian Jack, wrote in the Independent on Sunday: "Catalonia is to Madrid what Scotland will soon be to London: a semi-autonomous province within a kingdom that is no longer quite so united."

So it is particularly fitting that the new Scottish Parliament has been designed by Barcelona-based architect Enric Miralles. This relationship is also echoed in an advertising campaign run as part of Glasgow's architecture and design festival - "Glasgow: The latitude of Smolensk. The attitude of Barcelona."

The Sagrada Familia, to which Gaudi dedicated his life

Architecture holds a special place in Barcelona's heritage - witness the remarkable tiled buildings of Antoni Gaudi. Last month the Royal Institute of British Architects took the surprising move of awarding its gold medal to the city - the first time it had been given to a city rather than an individual or group.

Visitor attraction

The RIBA citation praised "inspired city leadership" and "the highest design standards", had regenerated the economy, given pride to its residents and delighted its visitors.

The Catalan identity is one wrapped in language, culture, religion, politics and history. From Barcelona's establishment in 15 BC by the Romans, a succession of different rulers have held sway, during which Catalonia found its identity. Its independent spirit was at least partly responsible for innovations such as Europe's first national flag, and its first legal code giving peasants and nobility equal legal standing.

The early development of the Catalan language for cultural purposes rather than just street-talk led to what is considered the first truly European novel.

George Orwell - commemorated in the city

Language school

The 20th Century has been one of intense creativity for the region (Picasso studied in Barcelona, Joan Miro was born there), but also one of turmoil. Anarchy took off, the language was suppressed - not for the first time - by a military dictatorship. Then Catalonia accepted autonomy within Spain in the second republic from 1931, and Barcelona became the republican bastion during the Spanish Civil War.

In 1939 the city - which by this stage had been made the capital of the republic - fell to Franco's forces. He further repressed the Catalan identity, executing leaders and banning the language. Samizdat underground culture took root, and Barcelona FC became an important rallying point for Catalan nationalists.

Massive flowering

Since Franco's death in 1975, there has been a massive flowering of culture allied to a return to Catalan identity. There was a huge effort to rebuild Barcelona, with new public squares and sculptures, and the restoration of the frontages of older buildings. Power was restored to the traditional Catalan authority, the generalitat, in 1980.

IOC boss Juan Antonio Samaranch

As in Wales, there has been a surge in interest in the language - in Catalonia it is now the first language taught in schools with Spanish coming in second. Vital for the city was the staging of the 1992 Olympics, which both gave an incentive to build new roads and infrastructure, and turned the eyes of the world towards Catalonia. (The chairman of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, is a Catalan.)

While greater degrees of autonomy have been won from the federal government, the boom in design has helped give Barcelona the affection to which Jonathan Glancey referred. The affection with which Catalonia was held by Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell has also helped.

A similar pattern of cultural growth may be seen in Scotland and Wales, with recent booms in film-making, literature and pop. A slogan run in the early 90s by Catalan authorities ("Fem Pais" - or "Let's make a country") is not so very different from the familiar line from Flower of Scotland - "Rise, now, and be the nation again".

But however much Scotland, Wales or England admires Barcelona, at least in one respect it is destined to be wishful thinking. Just check out Barcelona's average temperatures.