Dana Facaros (facarospauls.com) wrote her first travel guide to the Greek islands in 1977, then married her college sweetheart Michael Pauls and dragged him into travel-writing fray. They have been at it ever since, writing numerous guidebooks for Cadogan and eight for Bradt while contributing to a number of UK publications, including the Sunday Times, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, Daily Telegraph, Wanderlust and Holiday Which? They first visited Catalunya in 1980, when the food was awful and parts of Barcelona were still very dodgy, but you could buy a flat for a few grand (something they regret not doing!). The pair spent a year living and working in Spain and, since the mid-2000s, have lived in southwest France, only three hours from the Catalan region - enabling them to return there as often as possible. Mary-Ann Gallagher is a writer, translator and editor. Originally from the UK, she has lived all over the world, from Japanese hill towns to downtown Manhattan, but has made her home in Barcelona since the mid-2000s. Over the years, she has explored every nook and cranny of the Catalonian region, gaining a deep understanding of its unique culture, traditions and landscape - and has contributed to more than two dozen guidebooks on Catalunya and Spain. Gallagher considers it hard to resist a place that builds human castles that are ten storeys high, unleashes fire-spitting dragons at every festival, and where food - from humble pa amb tomàquet (bread rubbed with tomato and garlic) to the fanciest foams - is always front and centre of every gathering. A long-time friend and collaborator of the extraordinary writing duo that is Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls, Gallagher is thrilled to be part of this book's journey.