There are few things more incomprehensible than the state of opinion about a city, because it is built from the opinion of each of its inhabitants and also from what outsiders think of it, whose criteria, in turn, influence that of the city. the locals, which could become decisive. In The Invisible Cities, Italo Calvino goes to the heart of the matter: “Cities, like dreams, are built of desires and fears, although their plot thread is secret, their rules absurd, their perspectives deceptive and everything hides something else.” .
The perception of Barcelona has always been exposed to truths and deceptions, desires and fears and less than advantageous rules of the game. And that is because of his (sometimes recklessly) self-critical vocation, but also because much of what he has achieved has been despite a political, financial and media Madrid that has spared him support and recognition.
Barcelona’s status as a cultural beacon, undeniable until the seventies, has since been questioned by various sectors, especially by those in the rest of Spain who believe that the rise of nationalism in Catalonia has ruined the open and cosmopolitan character of their capital. An indicator that helps analyze this state of opinion is the Cultural Observatory of the Fundación Contemporánea / La Fábrica, based on the opinion of more than a thousand cultural professionals from all over the country. The evolution of the survey is revealing, as can be seen in the infographic.
In 2009, the entire sector in Spain valued that Barcelona was a city with a higher quality and more innovative culture than Madrid. The capital took the lead shortly after, but until 2013 both cities remained at similar levels. It was then when, coinciding with the beginning of the independence process, Barcelona began to lose attractiveness in this index, while Bilbao or Valencia came closer. The disadvantage with respect to Madrid increased in 2017, coinciding with the peak of the process and with the proliferation of messages from Catalonia where criticism of Mariano Rajoy’s nationalist government overlapped with the discredit of everything Spanish. Of course, the cultural dynamism of Madrid also influenced.
And, again, the roller coaster. The graph shows how the difference was reducing as the situation eased in Catalonia. In 2022 it seemed that Barcelona was correcting its course and once again claiming itself as a cultural lighthouse. 2023 looked auspicious, with a flurry of great exclusive concerts that turned Barcelona into the musical benchmark in southern Europe (Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Beyoncé…); the festivals at full capacity (while they were in pain in Madrid) and an exhibition level, led by the Picasso-Miró tandem and the CCCB and IA, higher than usual. But, once again, the disadvantage with respect to Madrid – always according to this subjective study – widened, to the point that it is difficult not to see in it a collateral effect of the debate on the amnesty and the campaigns tinged with anti-Catalanism by PP and Vox.
Will the situation be reversed in 2024, which Barcelona faces with very good cultural expectations? It would be desirable if this were the case. The Catalan capital would have to do everything on its part to recover its prestige in the Spanish system of cities, developing without complexes its status as the country’s cultural co-capital, now renewed. But it is evident that the political context is going to help very little.
If the focus is expanded, however, a less gloomy panorama is seen. To begin with, the foreign public continues to believe in Barcelona as a cultural destination. It is appreciated in popular and classical music, in art or in the publishing sector. The city is by far the one that attracts the most international tourism and a relevant part of this has cultural interests.
On the other hand, there is an emerging scene that is still difficult to define that is beginning to position Barcelona as the city to go to, with ramifications in the rest of Spain that still escape the radar of opinion studies. It is about the confluence between art, science, technology and the ethical debate on the limits of this, a new multidisciplinary sector that develops around poles such as Sónar D, the CCCB, the Dhub or UPC Arts, among others.
So there is no shortage of arguments to recover that lost prestige in the rest of Spain, nor to preserve collective self-esteem after having overcome some complex years. But, as noted at the beginning, there are as many opinions about the city as there are permanent or temporary residents. Returning to Calvin, a clairvoyant pessimist: “You don’t enjoy a city’s seven or seventy-seven wonders, but rather the answer it gives to a question of yours.”
