Graffiti in Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona, Spain, is the capital of the Catalan autonomous region, the area of northeast Spain which includes the famous coastline of the Costa Brava as well as the Spanish Pyrennes mountains. Catalonians speak a unique language, descended from the Latin left behind by the Roman Empire, which established the city of Barcelona around its waterfront, as different from Spanish as Portuguese, but with a distinct flavor more reminiscent of French.

Buon dia is the standard greeting, the Spanish hombre is rendered home, for man, lavatory become lavabos, potatoes are patatas, the wonderful smoked ham, rather than jamon, is pernil, etc.Although our trip lasted only six days, we found much to to love in this old city with its ultramodern, multiethnic, worldly attitudes. The skyline is crowded with construction cranes, the streets jammed with tourists from around the world; Indian, African, middle-eastern and Asian immigrants have carved niches in the medieval neighborhoods close to the waterfront. On the whole, the feeling is of a city acutely aware of its important history and committed to a future independence.

Since Roman times, the city has been important as a trading center for the Mediterranean Sea, exporting Spanish wines, preserved meats, grains and produce to ports around the world. Since the 1992 Olympic games, according to the tourist guides, Barcelona has been in a two-decades-long period of resurgence, marked by new construction around the once moribund waterfront. Imaginative new architecture stands near medieval neighborhoods which evoke the old European style of narrow streets, cobblestones and stone walls. Barcelonans, it seems, are never connect to erect simple skyscrapers. Instead, next to the massive stone buildings hundreds of years old one sees steel and glass structures with curves, rotating caps and ornamental touches.

The Moslem conquest of the Iberian peninsula was only briefly successful in Catalonia--Catalans expelled the Arabs after only a twenty year occupation--and during the medieval period the region was contained within the Kingdom of Aragon, linked with southern France. Catalonians enjoyed a reputation as fierce defenders of their home region until a Catalan king married into the Spanish royal family, thus combining this small kingdom with the larger Spanish empire, which, after the discoveries of Columbus, would become a major world power. Spanish power waned after the destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588, but the nation continued to enforce imperial rule in numerous new world colonies, the Philipines, and elsewhere until events such as the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in the loss of Spanish possessions such as Cuba and Puerto Rico.

In modern times, rule by Spain has become a major concern for the Catalonians.

During a recent visit to Barcelona, which was intended mostly to view the works of the aforementioned Modernistas, I was struck by the quality and quantity of graffiti throughout Barcelona and the surrounding area. Daily transit in and out of the city center on the Renfe train system, via taxi, on foot, and on tourist buses to the medival city of Girona and the Dali museum in Figuera revealed a passionate streak of independence among the Catalans. Indeed, although the graffiti in Barcelona is preoccupied with independence, in smaller towns like Girona and Figuera the slogan take on a much more militant slant, with true hostility to the Spanish government and the guardia civil.

Our modest skills in conversational Spanish were of little use except in restaurants. Ordinary Catalonians preferred to use rudimentary English when we asked for directions, considering Spanish the language of oppression and occupation.

The photos presented here represent only the merest sampling of what one sees on a routine electric train ride into the city center.

Sources:
Barcelona Agenda Cultural; agosto-septiembre 2009; fundacion "la Caixa"
Catalunya Busturistic tourist guide; 2009
Barcelona Walks-visites guiades a peu; 2009
Frommer's Guide to Spain; 2005