Barcelona has been chosen as the host for the 2012 IAAF World Junior Championships, an event which will provide the perfect postscript to this summer's European Athletics Championships, which will be staged in the city through 27 July to 1 August.

The decision was made by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Council at its meeting in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday.

"Barcelona again proves its organisational capacity to host international sporting events," said the city's mayor Jordi Hereu. "It is important to maintain high level sport and competitions in our city."

The Catalan city can lay claim to a fantastic athletics heritage, which will be cemented further this summer when it becomes the first Spanish venue for the European Athletics Championships.

In addition to hosting the memorable 1992 Olympic Games, the 1989 IAAF World Cup and the 1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships were also held in Barcelona.

The 2012 World Junior Championships will be the first time that this particular championship has been held in Spain.

Up to 2000 teenage athletes from as many as 200 nations are expected to compete. The exact date and venue of the tournament are still to be confirmed.

The IAAF has also chosen Barcelona as host city for their annual gala in 2012, which will take place in November that year.

The gala will be a pivotal point in that year's athletics calendar as the world's governing body celebrates its centenary, having been formed in 1912.

In addition to world championships - the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships were held in Valencia and the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships are to be staged in Punta Umbria - Spain has also staged many of European Athletics leading events, the country's most notable recent promotion being the 2007 SPAR European Cross Country Championships in Toro.

Other major global athletics events could also be coming to European cities in the near future

The 2012 Olympic Games host city London is bidding for the 2015 IAAF World Championships, along with the Polish city of Chorzow. The other candidate to follow in the footsteps of 2013 World Championships host Moscow is the Chinese capital Beijing.

The final decision will be made later this year at the IAAF Council meeting in November.