The port of Barcelona (1930) by Italian General NavigationOriginal Source: UAB
A questioned touristy success.
In 2019, 11,977,277 people visited this city. Such “invasion” makes everyday life for its citizens both complicated and uncomfortable.
Already back in 1934, journalist José D. Benavides wrote: “We’ve been invaded by foreigners for months now, so much so that there’s hardly any room for us left”. “One, two, three buses…When they get back home, these men rushing around the place will have to make others believe they were actually here.”
Barcelona, Tibidabo. Terrace and watchtower (1925) by L. RoisinOriginal Source: Wikipedia
What about you?
Did you come visit but were not really here?
Let’s find out and clear your doubts.
Wagons-Lits//Cook map (1945) by Wagons Lits//CookOriginal Source: Wagons-Lits//Cook
Game 1: Fill in the map.
If you’ve been here before, you won’t have any trouble filling in the gaps. Maps have always been a tourist’s best ally, and this city can be easily recognized by its appearance despite all the changes it has gone through.
Portal de la Paz Square, Barcelona (1950) by Barcelona City Council. Municipal tourism and information office.Original Source: Barcelona City Council. Municipal tourism and information office.
Game 2: What’s missing?
There’s an important part from a monument missing from this image. Even so, the buildings in it are also a tourist site. What’s missing?
The city has a great deal of routes left out of the official circuits. An expert tourist would have the following clues.
Type foundry machines (1911) by Type foundry successor to J. NeufvilleOriginal Source: Type foundry successor to J. Neufville
Clue # 1
For many years, top seller typeface Futura was manufactured in this city. It’s so famous it’s even made it to the Moon. Wouldn’t it be interesting to find out more?
Ictíneo I (1946) by Narcís MonturiolOriginal Source: Luis Almerich Clovis Eimerich)
Clue # 2
There’s a replica of the first submarine ever built in a famous museum in this city. Do you know which one?
Clue # 3
No, it’s not the Big Apple. However, this is one of the few places where you can find a replica of the famous statue built in the 19c. Heads-up: It’s in the first public library in the city.
Clue # 4
La Criolla was a dodgy den known worldwide. Actor Douglas Fairbanks said: “I’ve never seen anything like it; not even in Saigon, Shanghai, Port Said or anywhere else.” To live your life to the fullest, find all about the exciting history of its own Chinatown.
Vallvidrera, barcelona. Fountain of Can Pascol (1920) by Angel Toldrá ViazoOriginal Source: Wikipedia
Clue # 5
At the beginning of the last century, guides recommended a walk through the countryside only 20 minutes from the city center. This area has nowadays been reconquered by its citizens, who hide it in plain view.
Explore Barcelona avoiding the center (2022) by Intervention by Eugenia Martín-Crespo on the map of the S.A.FOriginal Source: Eugenia Martín-Crespo Rodríguez
Did you guess?
Of course you did. Congratulations! We are in Barcelona, the city in Europe with the highest number of visits. Let’s look into its touristy past in order to better understand its present.
Barcelona 1992: The Olympic event renovated the entire city. Among other improvements, the seaside was gained back for its citizens, some of the least presentable districts were scrubbed up, and its magnificent heritage was polished. The so-called Ciudad Condal seduced millions of visitors. But Barcelona, the brand, is not a modern “invention”; it’s a project that’s been alive for over 100 years.
Barcelona, pioneer promoting tourism in Spain
Park Casino, Barcelona (1920) by L. RoisinOriginal Source: L. Roisin
The Universal Exhibition in 1888
It brought as many as 1,227,000 visitors back in the day. The Parque de la Ciudadela and the Ribera district were renovated for the occasion. And the modernist movement, Barcelona’s quintessential beacon for tourism, came about back then.
The international exhibition: the city designs a new edition for 1916. It was postponed due to historical events until 1929, when the General Spanish Exhibition took place. The economy crisis cast a shadow over the event but it left us Montjuic and most of the city center was renovated. Thousands of people moved to different districts, with the state itself colonizing more land for foreigners.
After a number of achievements at the beginning of the century, a civil war and a remarkably long post-war period shocked the whole country, Barcelona included. But history has let us seen the city was capable of recovering with spectacular plans to attract foreigners and show its unquestionable modernity, although paying a high price for it.
Tourism environmental impact in Barcelona.
The study carried out by ICTA-UAB and Inèdit, commissioned by the Barcelona City Hall and Barcelona regional, concludes that the carbon footprint left by touristic activity in Barcelona equals 9,578,359 tons of CO2. There’s a request to examine the industry.
Let’s explore future possibilities.
We’ve overcome barriers nowadays and everything can be transported, not physically, but in a virtual reality where architecture, culture, society, economy and, why not, tourism will have new spaces.
Playing and travelling aim to achieve the same goals: pleasure and knowledge.
The pandemic has allowed us to see landscapes, unimaginable in our day and age. Our governments and the tourism industry in the 21c should start to play the same game to combine virtual and physical tourism, by creating new maps, new destinations that relieve somewhat our physical territories and their inhabitants.
Historical images: The Martín-Crespo Collection
Other images: Liam Bailey, TurboSquid. Video: Barcelona Memory
Literature: Eugenia Martín-Crespo Rodríguez
Translation: Elena Araújo Díaz de Terán
In collaboration with the Diego de Sagredo Foundation
This article is dedicated to the participants of the 4th Symposium of the “Fundación de la Historia del Diseño: Turismo y diseño. Materialidad y relato del viaje de placer” . Barcelona, 24-25 November, 2022.
