For more than 2,500 years Barcelona has projected itself to the world through its port. Courtesy of the Iberians or Laietans, since its founding the city has asserted its Mediterranean hegemony thanks to its seafaring vocation. It has not been until the last two decades when the airport has taken over as a strategic infrastructure. Over twenty years in which tourism and the consolidation of Barcelona as a global capital have placed El Prat at the center of debates, either because of its intercontinental connections that could be improved or because of a controversial expansion project.
But the port is called to have a greater role in the Barcelona that is taking shape after the political conflict and the pandemic. The nerve of the city is once again located on a coastline that has everything to become a pole of innovation and to stop being, in short, a territory of lost opportunities.
The America's Cup, in 2024, could enhance Barcelona's prestige as an event organizer, temporarily regenerate citizen self-esteem and attract good income. But it would be unfortunate if it were not used to the last consequences as a catalyst for initiatives that breathe new life into a degraded and lethargic neighborhood.
Because, from the Ciutadella museums to the historic customs building or the Tres Xemeneies, the axis that makes up the end of Paral·lel and the Josep Carner and Colom promenades is a succession of real estate zombies abandoned to their fate by the administrations. The França station, the historic headquarters of the Government Delegation or the Navy Command are underused buildings. The old Foneria de Canons, a building located in such a fundamental place for the regeneration of Ciutat Vella as is the end of the Rambla, has been closed for decades.
It is true that all the cities squeezed between the sea and the mountains, as is the case of Barcelona, have difficulty managing the coastlines that have historically been the main traffic routes. The most extreme case is that of Genoa, whose outlet to the sea is blocked by a monstrous elevated highway. Barcelona laid the foundations to solve the problem when it buried a good part of the traffic with the construction of the Ronda Litoral. But the impulse of those works was insufficient. The maritime façade, the boulevard of the sea, does not have the dynamism that could be expected but is defined, fundamentally, by the tourist monoculture. With what that entails.
The relaunch of this axis will be even more necessary if, in the medium term, the Ciutadella del Coneixement project and the plan to revitalize Montjuïc on the centenary of the 1929 Exhibition end up starting at its ends.
The Port of Barcelona is not responsible for this urban development, but due to its location and relevance it is a key element for it to come to fruition, worth the redundancy. The challenge facing its new president, Lluís Salvadó, is enormous. The port is expected to contribute to consolidating Barcelona's commitment to the blue economy, in addition to gaining market share in an increasingly competitive sea, and to have a revitalizing effect on the entire Ciutat Vella. Reducing, in addition, its harmful environmental impact.
His predecessor, Damià Calvet, relieved after the departure of Junts from the Government, assumed the strategic value that this infrastructure has for the city and –as recognized by some political adversaries– he lent himself to agree on initiatives with other administrations.
Salvadó's abilities to manage infrastructures of this caliber are unknown. His resume does not suggest that he comes to office with elaborate ideas for the future of the port. But he inherits a good professional team in which he should trust and debuts in a context of political fragmentation that encourages –and demands– cooperation between administrations of different sign.
