Sticky Fingers BCN

After the recent IED RSVP event, I’ve been thinking over all the things that were said during the evening. The four speakers seem to coincide that “standard” events will be sidelined for awhile here in Barcelona until all the new technology, media and communication can be assimilated and united. Yet at the same time, they believe that Barcelona is about to regain some of it’s past prestige.

But is this true or even possible right now or in the immediate future? Barcelona became the foremost design city in Spain after the 1992 Olympics. But I have the feeling that the city slowly started to rest on its proverbial laurels, smug in the knowledge of it’s own position and generally taking said position for granted. How many people are tricked into thinking that this is still true today? Barcelona is continually sold as something it is just not up to any more. So much sitting around has given Madrid the time to really get a move on and even though the Catalan people will argue to infinity that there is no point of comparison, things are definitely amiss.

I believe that part of the problem with this city is the insatiable need of the government to wash Barcelona’s image and present itself as a respectable tourist spot. This constant “washing and rubbing” has and is making the city lose it’s shine, it’s gleam, it’s cheekiness and charm. There are now so many rules, regulations and prohibitions applied to practically everything that goes on. Music levels must be controlled, bars and legendary clubs are closed down. Museums are limited in the type of events that can be held within their spaces. Events in general are curtailed, many actions, ideas and projects are met with a quick “slap on the wrist, what do you think you’re doing, there’s no money for that”. Culture is being curtailed and softened, pre-packaged and artificialized.

Why the need to hide what the city really is? Why try to erase the centuries of history and charm? Why all the sanitizing and homogenizing? And more importantly, why do we just sit here and accept this? So completely vocal about everything in general, so proud to be Catalan, defending the language, our rights. So why are we letting ourselves be juiced dry?

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1992 olympics, Barcelona, catalan, culture, design city, ied, Madrid, museums, new technology, tourist spot

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