“Barcelona in common”: A new urban regime for the 21st-century tourist city?

ABSTRACT

A coalition of leftist political groups, civic movements, and grassroots organizations led by social activist Ada Colau won the Barcelona municipal elections of 2015 and is now governing the Catalan capital. The key to this success may well have been its critical positioning in relation to its tourism. Until recently considered a best practice in urban regeneration and a successful global destination, Barcelona has seen in the last 2 years a radical change in the public perception on tourism: from “manna from heaven” to serious issues that are affecting the quality of life of its citizens.

This article looks into the factors that may have determined this political change, from the growth of tourism beyond what could be considered a critical threshold for an urban system, to the development of a critical discourse on tourism by the new coalition—attributed to its peculiar constituency and working methods—and the role of the media in airing this discursive shift. The article follows the thread of the “growth machine” theorizations and questions whether the increasing dimension of tourism in urban societies could be a driver for regime changes.

Funding

Antonio Paolo Russo acknowledges that the research on which this article is based, as well as its presentation at the WPSC2016 Congress, Rio de Janeiro, July 4–8, 2016, has been partly funded by the MOVETUR Project (Ministry of Science and Education of Spain–National Plan R&D, ref. CSO 2014-51785-R).

Notes

1. Penseé unique in the expression introduced by I. Ramonet (1995).

Additional information

Funding

Antonio Paolo Russo acknowledges that the research on which this article is based, as well as its presentation at the WPSC2016 Congress, Rio de Janeiro, July 4–8, 2016, has been partly funded by the MOVETUR Project (Ministry of Science and Education of Spain–National Plan R&D, ref. CSO 2014-51785-R).

Notes on contributors

Antonio Paolo Russo

Antonio Paolo Russo is Tenured Associate Professor with the Department of Geography, University Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, and teaches at the Faculty of Tourism and Geography where he is Coordinator of the Masters in Management of Tourism Destinations. Previous appointments have been with the Erasmus University Rotterdam, where he obtained his PhD in 2002; IULM University Milan; and Autonomous University Barcelona. Dr. Russo is author of many publications in academic journals and books on research topics that range from tourism studies to cultural and urban economics. He has been involved as member of research groups and as an independent advisor in various research projects with local and regional governments and international institutions such as the EU, the Council of Europe, the BID, and UNESCO.

Alessandro Scarnato

Alessandro Scarnato is a Laureate Architect at the University of Florence and a PhD in architecture at the Polytechnic University of Barcelona, where is a Lecturer in History of the City and of Architecture. His professional practice specializes in the rehabilitation of historical buildings and public space, with competitive projects gained in Italy (the largest Italian historical square at Prato) and Spain (the reform of the Macson factory in Barcelona as and educational facility). Dr. Scarnato’s research and teaching activity developed in Italy, Greece, Portugal, Lebanon, and the United States. He has been awarded the City of Barcelona Prize in 2016 for his book Barcelona Supermodel.