Cosmopolitan Barcelona

On Tuesday, I had the privilege of attending a discussion about Barcelona between John Carlin and Greg Clark (considered by some to be the world's foremost expert on cities), hosted by Miquel Molina.

Carlin and Clark are two very intelligent, well-traveled people with a great sense of humor. Consequently, the conversation was both instructive and entertaining. What more could you ask for?

The recipe repels: that the Barcelonans leave so that others can live in the Eixample

Both agree that Barcelona is an extraordinary city. According to Carlin, it plays in the Champions League, while Madrid must settle for the Europa League. More precisely, Clark believes these two cities play in different leagues: Madrid in the league of political and financial capitals (like London, Paris, or New York) and Barcelona in the league of innovative cities (like Boston, San Francisco, or Munich). Carlin goes so far as to praise its cleanliness, stating that he has found the best balance between efficiency and enjoyment of life here.

As for tourism, both share a common interest. Carlin—who lives in the Eixample district, where he plans to stay until the end of his life—says he doesn't mind groups of tourists photographing its facades. Clark asserts that there is no successful city in the world that doesn't have a lot of tourism, and that tourism is a necessary investment for success, as it creates connectivity and increases awareness of the city among potential investors.

Regarding housing, Clark points out the disproportion between the enormous prestige of the Barcelona brand and the city's physical size, and that what needs to be done is to promote the railway system to develop a metropolis that can accommodate the 10 million inhabitants that Barcelona will eventually have. Carlin agrees, adding that the city's elites are too provincial to adequately manage the city's enormous potential.

I insist that the audience had a blast and left with their self-esteem through the roof. However, I found it impossible not to notice that at no point was there any empathy shown for those suffering from Barcelona's transformation into a global city, a process that has not translated into an improvement in the well-being of its citizens. In recent decades, household disposable income has not risen at all, but property prices have skyrocketed. In this context, you don't have to be provincial to be repelled by the recipe for a metropolitan Barcelona that allows native Barcelonans to move to Vilafranca del Penedès so that Barcelonans by choice can live in the Eixample, nor do you need a PhD in Political Science to understand the animosity of the Trumpist base toward cosmopolitan elites.

The message was optimistic, but my conclusion is that if this city doesn't improve the distribution of its success, this is going to end very badly.