Barcelona's Old Town Gets A Reboot

It’s no easy task to preserve the character of a popular historic neighborhood without turning it into an arid, open-air museum. Let the market run riot and any tourist area can quickly become a tawdry souvenir shop, retaining only the tatters of its former charm. If a city pushes too hard to preserve an area’s character, however, the neighborhood risks becoming a lifeless stage set, a Potemkin Village devoid of the humdrum daily life that used to exist behind the immaculate facades.

Between these two extremes is a careful balance, and it’s one Barcelona is currently trying to find for some of its oldest quarters. Referred to collectively as Ciutat Vella—Old City in Catalan—this intensely built, densely populated district at the city’s heart has been buckling under the pressure of intense exploitation by the tourist industry in recent years. In a pattern familiar to many inner cities, this pressure has displaced older businesses and the long-term residents who use them, while submitting residents who remain to a nightly barrage of street noise.