European inventory of
societal values of culture

Astor – Mass tourism, public space, and the regulation of street performance in Barcelona

Astor, A. (2023). Mass tourism, public space, and the regulation of street performance in Barcelona

This case study centers on the evolution of Barcelona’s approach to regulating street performance since the early 1990s, with a focus on the regulation of ‘living statues. During the 1990s and early 2000s, living statues were embraced as part of the cultural patrimony of Barcelona’s Ramblas, an emblematic promenade in the center of the city, and featured in municipal brochures marketing the area to visitors. City authorities made a point of reserving areas for them to perform, even as other types of buskers were progressively evicted from public space. More recently, however, the city has significantly limited statues’ numeric presence, placed a growing array of constraints on their performances, and relegated them to the outer limits of the promenade. The push for a measure of regulation was actually initiated by living statues themselves due to dynamics of conflict resulting from excessive congestion and competition for space. Once the regulatory process was set in motion, however, it evolved in an increasingly restrictive manner that drove many of the highest-quality performers off the street and into other artistic sectors, diminishing the quality of urban space and street performance in the city. The findings of this case study illustrate the complexities and potential unintended consequences of regulating public artistic activities in spaces of mass tourism, even when undertaken at the behest of those subject to the regulations in question.