“Hi, I’m David León, from Barcelona Secreta, and I’m the last man of the Gothic“. So begins this urban safari. David León has earned this nickname among his friends for having been born, grown up and, above all, survived in Barcelona’s most touristified neighborhood.
The starting point is the Plaza de la Catedral, a place that today serves as a backdrop for the photos of thousands of tourists, but before “it was basically a neighborhood square”. David recalls that, being a district of alleys, the squares are not large and this was a vital space for the neighbors. Proof of this were the images captured by photographer Sergi Bernal during the pandemic, when the neighborhood’s children and families recovered the square as a play space, a mirage that lasted only a few months.
The ‘caged’ courtyard of Sant Felip Neri
One of the “best kept” secrets, Plaça Sant Felip Neri, is the next stop. Although everyone knows it’s no longer a secret, what perhaps not so many know is that the square is the playground of the Sant Felip Neri school.“The children had always played here,” explains David, until the tourist overcrowding became unsustainable.
The situation reached such a point that now, during playground time, fences are installed so that schoolchildren can play in peace. The conclusion is as graphic as it is devastating: “Literally, the people of the neighborhood are caged in.
A trip to the commercial nostalgia of the Plaça Sant Jaume
The tour goes into the memory of the stores that gave life to the neighborhood and that have been replaced by souvenir stores, franchises and businesses designed for tourists. In Plaça Sant Jaume and its surroundings, David points out the ghosts of what was.
The Frankfurt Sant Jaume, which fortunately survives; a Soruka handbag store, where there used to be a kiosk; the Alcampo supermarket occupies the premises of the old neighborhood bank; a Starbucks that replaced Deulofeu, a prestigious and beautiful tailor shop; the Torrons Vicens store, which used to be a photography shop and the Pans & Company, which stands where Bocatta, “the real sandwich chain”, used to be.
On the other hand, nearby, the mythical Bar Brusi, famous for its homemade tripe, has closed after 55 years to make way for an impersonal cafeteria.
Turistification in figures: more beds for tourists than for locals
There are hard data that put figures to this perception. In recent years, the Gòtic has lost at least 20% of its registered population. In addition, several studies confirm the reality that neighbors denounce: currently, in the neighborhood there are more beds for tourists than for the residents themselves.
The last stop in the video is the Plaça del Rei, which for David and his friends was “a bit like the MACBA of the Gòtic”. A place where young people gathered on the stairs to chat, play guitar and hang out without the need to consume. “It’s not that I’m going to vindicate the consumption of cans in the street”, he clarifies, “but I do believe that a neighborhood without a space where young people can sit and hang out without having to spend money, is not a neighborhood: it’s a showcase”.
David ends with an important reflection: it is not a simple attack of nostalgia, because “neighborhoods, in the end, have to change”. The problem, he points out, is that “none of the businesses around here are designed for the people of the neighborhood”. So you know, to all the people of Barcelona, go back to the Gòtic, but above all, Barcelona, give us back the fucking Gòtic!