Introduction: Still Paying Homage to Barcelona

Abstract

Is there anything new remaining to be said about Barcelona? The city’s international prestige is nowadays indisputable. There is no arguing its status as a tourist destination. In more specialized circles, Barcelona’s transformation in the post-Francoist period is widely considered as a model and has been studied in academic circles and its policies emulated across the world. This book contributes to such a crowded scene by using Barcelona as a privileged case study to understand the relation of urban dwellers to power as mediated by culture. Analyzing local government documents dating back two decades, particularly those concerning culture, show how institutional and official political discourses attempted to influence the local population’s ideas of itself and of its contribution to the good functioning and prosperity of life in the city.