Badalona (, US also , Catalan: [bəðəˈlonə], Spanish: [baðaˈlona]) is a municipality in Barcelonès county, in Catalonia (Spain). It is located to the north east of Barcelona, on the left bank of the Besòs River and on the Mediterranean Sea, in the Barcelona metropolitan area. By population, it is the third largest city in Catalonia and the twenty-third in Spain. It became a city in 1897.