Ten years after its opening as a cultural facility, the Born will soon change again. Its premiere, on the occasion of the Diada of 2013, a year before the celebration of the tercentenary of the siege that the city suffered in 1714, with Xavier Trias in the mayor’s office, made it, in the words of its then head and years later president of the Generalitat, Quim Torra, in the “ground zero of the Catalans”, a reference for nationalism and independence. The arrival of Ada Colau to the Barcelona City Council in 2015 led to a new approach focused on the explanation of memory – an area highly demanded by the common people – in all its extension, not only that of that stage of the 18th century, which debuted with a controversy. exhibition on Francoism. Thus, Born went from Culture Center (CC) to Culture and Memory Center (CCM).
Now, with a new mayor, the socialist Jaume Collboni, they want to apply a change, more functional than content, integrating the archaeological part of the Born into the Museu d’Història de Barcelona (Muhba) and dedicating the rest of the building to memory , which is to be extended to other spaces, but also to cultural activities of a different nature that give greater projection to this enormous 8,000-square-meter venue.
“It makes no sense that an archaeological space of such relevance is not part of the functional program of the Muhba, which does not have a single space but a dozen,” explains Xavier Marcé, commissioner of Culture and Creative Industries of the City Council, to La Vanguardia. The explanation of this site, with remains ranging from the Roman era to the 18th century, fits, in his opinion, with the “horizontal vision” and the “narrative about the historical evolution of the city” offered by the aforementioned museum, which also from its main headquarters in Palau Padellàs, dedicated to Roman and medieval Barcelona, ??it has, among other enclaves, the anti-aircraft batteries of the Carmel civil war, the old Oliva Artés factory, in Poblenou, focused on the urbanization of the city , or the cheap houses of the Bon Pastor, which deal with the evolution of the housing of the popular classes.
Marcé has commissioned a report from the Muhba on this integration, which he expects to have within a month. He is also addressing the issue with the director of Born CCM, Marta Marín-Dòmine, in office since 2021 and whom the municipal government wants to continue. “Within a month we will be able to give more details,” explains the commissioner, who believes that with this change the center will gain muscle. The museum part, in his opinion, “must be explained better.” And greater use will be made of the rest of the spaces – four rooms and an auditorium – that the old market from 1876 has, designed by Josep Fontserè and renovated by the architects Enric Soria and Rafael de Cáceres for its current use.
“We will continue promoting memory programs in El Born, but also in other places, such as, for example, Montjuïc Castle,” continues Marcé, who assures that this line of content will be promoted but, in the case of the old market, separating it from the more museum-like part that has the archaeological remains as its main attraction. The current model, which combines both elements, in his opinion “generates a certain confusion.”
The reality is that many visitors, both Barcelona and foreigners, do not know exactly what there is and what is done at the Born CCM. And that despite the fact that it has a more than notable influx. Before the pandemic, in 2019, it received 1.3 million people, a figure that will surely not be reached in 2023. The maximum so far is that of 2014, with about 1.9 million. About a quarter are tourists. Entry to the site, which allows you to see the archaeological remains from the top, is free. Guided tours, exhibitions and activities are paid. In the year before covid, the latter numbered about 78,000 people.
“I came here because both the neighborhood and the old market were recommended on the internet,” explains Julien, from the French city of Quimper, while looking at the archaeological remains. The place has surprised him. “It’s much more handsome than he thought,” he admits, “the structure of the building is beautiful and what has been excavated is very interesting.” In preparation for the visit he read that you could see vestiges “from a time when there was a French king.” This caught his attention. He was referring to Felipe V and to the part of the city that was razed so that, after the War of Succession, during which the Catalan capital suffered a harsh siege in 1714, they built Ciutadella, a fortress that would watch over the city… This young man did not know so many details and it was fun for him to discover them.
Very close, leaning on the railings above the site, other tourists, Juan José and Victoria, from Malaga, also contemplate the vestiges of the bygone city. “We didn’t know there were these Roman ruins here,” they say, before realizing that what they were seeing were much more recent remains, from the 18th century. “Wow, we didn’t know about it,” they comment with a certain blush, “we had no idea that all this existed, we found it almost by chance.”
On one of the benches next to the platforms, Pau and Núria, from Barcelona, ??talk. They are one of those who often pass through Born to go from one side to the other of this part of the Sant Pere, Santa Caterina i la Ribera neighborhood, also known as Casc Antic. “We usually come and spend some time in here,” he says, “in the shade; It is very pleasant, there is no one outside because the sun is very strong.” This is precisely one of the attractions of the facility, which can be seen while walking through its interior, which has become a kind of street. Many have discovered archaeological remains in this way.
The opinions of the residents of the surroundings of the Born on the uses and the impact of this great facility on the environment are of all colors. There are those who view it favorably because of its architectural beauty and the activity it hosts, and those who reject it because they believe that it has contributed to the fact that there are even more tourists in that area and that the gentrification it is undergoing goes up one more step.
The president of the Casc Antic neighborhood association, Asun Justo, remembers that it was precisely the neighbors who fought so that the building was not demolished after its closure as the central market of Barcelona, ??in 1971, and organized activities until the degradation of the property. forced it to close. Later it was decided that it would house the Provincial Library, but when the works began and the archaeological remains appeared, it was agreed to make it somewhere else – finally next to the França station, still to be built – and turn it into a cultural center. “What is being done is interesting and we know that they are working to open it up more to the neighborhood,” he explains. In fact, our entity has done activities there, but the truth is that it is a center that is a little far away, perhaps because physically it is very separated by a very large square that pulls back, especially in summer. “That it is so exposed does not invite you to cross it.”
The pressure of tourism already existed before the cultural center was opened, recalls the president of the neighborhood association. “There are much worse places,” she explains, “like Montcada Street, with the Picasso Museum and more recently Moco.” And the expulsion of neighbors due to the scarcity of the area, starting with housing, “is not new either; With Born we have simply taken another step.”
