«Roma and Barcelona, Cities that Leave a Mark» by Daniel Arasa Villar

It is easy to recognize the value of history in Rome. Its streets, like the lava of a Pleistocene volcano, reveal the layers of human passage: the Roman Republic and Empire, the medieval decline, the Renaissance revival, unification, the Great War, fascism, the Second World War, the socioeconomic resurgence… In many places, the urban morphology shows how life once unfolded five, seven, even ten meters below the ground we walk on today. This physical evolution sublimely expresses how Rome is a city that does not forget, a city that accumulates memory. To live in Rome is to step fully into history while also leaving a trace within it. One comes here not to gaze at one’s own navel (short shirts aside), but to contemplate the beauty of human history and to contribute, fleetingly and temporarily, to the permanence of the Eternal City.

Barcelona has always been a cosmopolitan city, open to the world. A clear example is the 1992 Olympics and what that moment meant for the Catalan capital: improvements in transportation, the creation of public spaces, architectural growth, and urban development. The eyes of the world were on Barcelona, and the city smiled back. For Barcelonians, it was a moment of self-awareness of the city’s appeal and marked its grand entrance into cosmopolitan culture. Tourism began to emerge, moderately at first, then steadily, and eventually on a massive scale. This unrestrained growth in tourism has transformed Barcelona from an admired city into a desired one. Barcelona has the potential not to become a usa e getta city (a “use-and-discard” city), but rather a place where what is eternal in humankind does not fade into the fleetingness of the moment. It can leave the mark of an open and cosmopolitan culture that welcomes, integrates, and elevates.

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