A Different Kind of Tourism (IT In Transit #16)

A Different Kind of Tourism
A Different Kind of Tourism issue #16 - may 2013
Situated in the space that connects the peninsula with the
continent, Catalonia has acted as a gateway for civilizations,
ideas, revolutions and new periods. And also for tourists.
With more than 14 million international visitors, Catalonia
each year hosts the equivalent of two times the number of
tourists to Morocco or three times the tourists to Brazil.
The coast is the country’s main destination. Today the
zigzags of the “wild coast” of the Costa Brava or the long
sandy beaches of the Costa Daurada are still the principal
tourist attractions of the country. Barcelona has made up
for the lost years and in the wake of the euphoria of the 1992
Olympics it has been setting records. The Catalan capital
has placed itself in the top ten of European tourist cities
and it has achieved a privileged place in the competitive
mental map of world tourist destinations. This is why, still today, the Mediterranean coast and the city of
Barcelona explain a great deal about the country’s tourism success. But not all of it.
In the shadow of these tourism skyscrapers alternative and relatively unknown tourism spaces are starting
to develop. They are successful experiments in new forms of tourism, an alchemy of territory, landscape,
itineraries, identity and tourism innovation. Some of the keys to our county’s tourism today can be found
throughout these new leisure spaces.
Catalan gastronomy and enology are experiencing a golden age, and the recognition of El Bulli or the Celler de
Can Roca are only the most visible part of a process that is slowly cooking just beneath the surface. We can see a
reflection of this process in the construction of enotourism spaces in the Priorat, the Penedès or in the Empordà.
As if in an attempt to erase any trace of phylloxera, the epidemic that devastated the vineyards in Catalonia in
the late 19th century, the abandoned viticultural landscapes have been recovered and are experiencing a high
level of production. Now, the new wine cellars have opened their doors to the curious eyes of visitors, and this
has allowed them to create enotourism routes that have a very high tourism potential, especially in the Priorat,
but also in the Penedès.
Gastronomy has also become an ally of tourism, thanks to the Mediterranean diet having been declared a World
CulturalHeritagebyUNESCO.Thegastronomiccampaignshavehadagreatdealofsuccessinattractingtourists
and they have also led to a recovery of traditional cuisines mixed with innovation. This initiative is happening
along the coast (the prawns of Palamós, the garoina —sea urchin— of Palafrugell) as well as in the interior (the
“volcanic” cuisine of the Garrotxa, the cuisine of Bages). Catalan gastronomy is further strengthened by the
Fundació Alícia (Alícia Foundation), a research center located in the heart of Catalonia, in the Món Sant Benet,
and by the project of the El Bulli Foundation, which will soon be one of the most important culinary innovation
centers on the planet. And don’t miss the architectural genius of the complex, designed by the Catalan architect
Ruiz-Geli. Just a sampling: at the El Bulli Foundation, the trees will regulate all the parameters of the building
complex, from the intensity of the light to the temperature.
Then there are the nature itineraries, another important driver of tourism. Itinerànnia is a network of more
than 2,500 kilometers of hiking trails in three Catalan regions that allows people to walk from the Pyrenees to
the Mediterranean through a mosaic of landscapes and contrasts: wetlands, volcanoes, mountain lakes, cliffs.
At the end of the tour is the Cap de Creus, which has witnessed a brilliant exercise in landscape recovery: the
old Club Mediterranée complex, a blight on the natural landscape, has been replaced with a impressive “stone”
path.
Nonetheless, the biking projects that are scattered throughout the territory are even more significant. It all
began with the vies verdes, or greenways, a restoration project of the traces of the old railway track of the “little
trains”, or carrilets (narrow-gauge railways), and their stations. Just one example: more than a million users
each year travel the 100 kilometers that the separate the cities of Olot and Sant Feliu de Guíxols, united by an
uninterrupted green line. And this is only an example. Pirinexus is a route between Catalonia and Northern
Catalonia that gives cyclists access to more than 350 kilometers of high mountain terrain. Surrounding the
Natural Park of Aigüestortes, Pedals de Foc (“Pedals of Fire”) has created a cycling tourism product that has
been exported to various countries.
And finally, we should mention the big cultural projects in Catalonia’s interior. The triangle that unites
Poblet, Santes Creus and Vallbona de les Monges is one of the territories with the highest concentration of
Cistercian monasteries in Europe. The small Romanesque churches of the Vall de Boí, a World Heritage Site,
offer relatively unknown variations on a same esthetic idea. And the impressive Renaixença complex of the
Carthusian Monastery of Santa Maria d’Escaladei is a reminder of the vibrant history of the Priorat region. In
addition to their value as heritage sites, these places stand out for their museography and for their unique ways
they have made their local resources attractive to tourism.
José Antonio Donaire
seven communities, one language
eurocatalan newsletter
EDITORIAL

Lastly, we should mention the small local projects, some of which have enormous potential, such as the
geological tourism of the Pallars region, the serene landscapes of the Lluçanès (inspired by Slow tourism), the
itineraries of industrial tourism, the ethnographic heritage of the western Pyrenées... Catalonia will continue
to be a tourist destination that revolves around two main poles, the coast and the city of Barcelona. But beyond
the numbers and statistics, this country is a laboratory of new tourism experiments of high value. It is probable
that in the coming years this constellation of innovative spaces will have enough critical mass to partially offset
the country’s principal tourism drivers.
José Antonio Donaire Benito is a professor of Geography in the Department of Tourism at the University
of Girona.
Photo by Margaret Luppino
Translated from Catalan by Margaret Luppino

Catalonia and Barcelona back responsible tourism:
‘Better places to live, better places to visit’
From 1 to 4 October 2013, the International Conference on
Responsible Tourism will be held for the first time in Europe.
Catalonia is the country chosen to host the event this year and it
will take place in Barcelona.
The conference, organised jointly by the International Center for
Responsible Tourism, directed by Professor Harold Goodwin, and
the Responsible Tourism Observatory run by Turisme Sant Ignasi
(Ramon Llull University), under the direction of Jordi Ficapal, will
take place at TSI-Turisme Sant Ignasi and ESADEFORUM, and
will enjoy institutional support from the Government of Catalonia’s
Directorate-General for Tourism and the Catalan Tourist Board, Barcelona City Council, the Turisme de
Barcelona Consortium and Barcelona Provincial Council.
The conference will deal with best practices and the challenges still facing responsible destinations. At the
same time, with a view to encouraging and disseminating best practices in the Catalan tourism sector, the first
Catalonia Responsible Tourism Awards will be presented to companies or government bodies demonstrating
best practices in a number of categories.
To explain the concept of responsible tourism we will begin by distinguishing it from the concept of sustainable
tourism.
First of all, sustainable tourism gained importance in the 1980s with the publication of the Brundtland
report Our Common Future (1987), which defined sustainable development as: ‘Development that meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. The
concept was created and spread with a pronounced environmental focus. Although in recent years it has been
redefined to include social and economic dimensions, its popular image remains largely linked to respect for
the environment.
Comparing sustainable tourism and responsible tourism, we can see that the former is a more abstract and
generic concept, while the latter is more concerned with its application. Sustainable tourism thus consists
of a series of principles that responsible tourism interprets and applies in a particular context in a tourist
destination.
Responsible tourism is about ‘making better places for people to live in and better places for people to visit’.
The concept was defined in Cape Town in 2002 at the time of the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable
Development. This definition, known as the Cape Town Declaration, is now widely accepted and has been
adopted by World Responsible Tourism Day, marked each year since 2007, at the World Travel Market in
London.
The declaration recognises that responsible tourism has many forms, that the destinations and parties involved
have different priorities, and that local policies and guidelines should be developed through processes of
cooperation between stakeholders in the development of responsible tourism in destinations. Responsible
tourism celebrates diversity and recognises that, while destinations can learn from what has been done
elsewhere, the solutions are local and call for the participation of a unique combination of parties involved.
The problems and priorities vary from one place to another and, as a result, solutions that respond to the
particular characteristics of each area are more likely to be successful. These characteristics define places and
communities, making them different from where we live and encouraging travel and tourism.
Responsible tourism, far from being a type of tourism, is thus a crosscutting methodology that consists of
applying to destinations and tourism products certain principles, criteria and guidelines for action that bring
benefits both for the host community and for tourism. Responsible tourism is, therefore, tourism that:
1. Minimises negative economic, environmental and social impacts.
2. Generates greater economic benefits for local people and enhances the wellbeing of host communities.
3. Involves local people in decisions that affect their lives and life chances.
4. Makes positive contributions to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage, embracing diversity.
5. Provides more enjoyable experiences for tourists through more meaningful connections with local
people, and a greater understanding of local cultural, social and environmental issues.
6. Provides access for physically challenged people.
7. Is culturally sensitive, encourages respect between tourists and hosts, and builds local pride and
confidence.
Generalitat de Catalunya - Ministry of Enterprise and Labor
FURTHER READING

In short, responsible tourism, unlike sustainable tourism, necessarily emphasises the fact that all those
involved in tourism—operators, hotel owners, government bodies, local residents and tourists—should assume
responsibility for what concerns them and adopt measures to make tourism a more sustainable activity.
International responsible tourism conferences discuss and examine the measures taken by the parties involved
to deal with the social, economic and environmental problems related to sustainability in different destinations.
Each actor has a part to play. In tourist destinations, tourists and local communities interact in the local
natural and socio-cultural environment. Tourism there needs to be managed in order to minimise negative
impacts and maximise positive ones. The management of tourism in destinations should not be reduced to an
environmental agenda: it is very important to consider social and economic questions that arise, even though
these make management more complex and even controversial.
South Africa was the first country to adopt an explicit responsible tourism strategy, challenging the parties
involved to take responsibility for developing forms of tourism that would take advantage of the new South
Africa. The first International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations was held in Cape Town in
August 2002, bringing together 280 delegates from 20 countries who passed the Cape Town Declaration on
Responsible Tourism in Destinations, which laid the foundations for the movement.
To date there have been seven editions of the International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations,
and they have been held annually since 2008. Each edition of the conference has been organised by a local
body, with a representative of the destination acting as co-chair with Dr Harold Goodwin, the leading exponent
of responsible tourism.
Those attending the conferences come from very varied backgrounds and include international and inter-
governmental organisations, national and local government bodies, tourism companies, hotels, tour operators,
travel agencies, guides, planners and architects, consultants and the staff of development agencies, and the
media.
The second conference was held in Kerala, India, in 2008, with 503 delegates from 29 countries, culminating
in the Kerala Declaration on the role of those involved in tourism. In 2009 it was held in Belize, with 250
participants from 19 countries. The Belize Declaration focused on cruises, second homes, climate change,
local economic development and the impact of tourism in coastal areas. Oman hosted the 2010 conference,
which centred on establishing credentials and relationships for the development of responsible tourism in the
country. It was attended by 380 people from 34 countries.
In 2011 the event moved to Alberta, Canada, where the subjects dealt with were accessible tourism, polar
tourism, indigenous tourism, governance and local economic development. In Canada a Youth Conference
was included for the first time. The last conference was in 2012, just before Rio+20, in São Paulo, Brazil, and
considered progress made and what had been learnt since 1992, based on the themes dealt with in Rio de
Janeiro in 1992: the environment and development.
In October 2013, the International Conference on Responsible Tourism will be held in Europe for the first time.
Catalonia and Barcelona are privileged to have been chosen to host the event.
The conference is organised by the Responsible Tourism Observatory run by TSI-Turisme Sant Ignasi (Ramon
Llull University) and the International Center for Responsible Tourism, with institutional support from the
Government of Catalonia’s Directorate-General for Tourism and the Catalan Tourist Board, Barcelona City
Council, Turisme de Barcelona and Barcelona Provincial Council. Together they demonstrate the commitment
of our institutions to the development of Catalonia and Barcelona as destinations which are ‘better places for
people to live in and better places for people to visit’, each agency accepting its role in the process of building
responsible tourism.
The first day of the conference will have an academic focus with discussion of research into responsible tourism
and the ethics of tourism and hospitality, while the second will feature an optional trip to L’Estartit and Torroella
de Montgrí to learn about an initiative for the conservation and regeneration of a tourist destination.
The main event will take place on 3 and 4 October at ESADEFORUM (Barcelona), with sessions aimed at the
tourism sector and the industry. Discussion will centre on five themes:
1. Taking responsibility for the environmental impacts of tourism.
2. The role of government in destination planning and management.
3. The sense of place in historic cities, local communities, authenticity and the visitor experience.
4. Widening social participation in tourism: access for all.
5. Managing cruise tourism in the Mediterranean.
With a view to encouraging and disseminating best practices in the Catalan tourism sector, the first Catalonia
Responsible Tourism Awards will be presented to companies or government bodies in the following categories:
Small hotels (under 24 beds); large hotels (over 24 beds); contribution to the local economy; accessibility;
socially inclusive tourism; responsible excursions; responsible management of cultural heritage; natural
heritage and environment protection.
For further information please see the www.rtd7.org website, visit the RTD7 Facebook page or follow the
conference on Twitter at: @RTD_7, #RTD7, @goodwinhj and @jordificapal.
Jordi Ficapal Mestres
Director of the Responsible Tourism Observatory - Co-chair RTD7 Barcelona-Catalonia
TSI – Turisme Sant Ignasi (Ramon Llull University)
Mireia Guix Navarrete
Responsible Tourism Observatory - Technical Coordinator RTD7 Barcelona-Catalonia
TSI – Turisme Sant Ignasi (Ramon Llull University)

Tourism in Catalonia
Considerations on the way to a true industry
If one considers the growing importance of tourism in terms
of wealth and job creation, we can see how its specific weight
in Catalonia is more than 11% of GDP and 13% of employment,
while it is also the driving force behind a number of other related
economic subsectors (agriculture, manufacturing industries,
construction, transport, business services, cultural industries,
trade and more).
It is the cross-sectional nature inherent in tourism that makes it
an object of recurring demands for promotion and investment by
different government agencies, as well as business groups in the
sector, agents and representative consortiums.
At the same time, it is surprising how a major economic and
social activity, which has existed as a mass, specialist, seasonal
industry in Catalonia for 50 years, has developed historically with
relatively little support from the governments and, above all,
with no decisive and systematic policies in term of orientation,
planning, organisation and promotion.
Firstly, it is clear that the tourism industry and its business-generation capacity based on the convergence of
favourable factors deserves praise, as it has made our sun and sand a desirable environment for the emerging
demands of the new European middle classes since the 1960s. It made the most of a number of opportunities,
using its strengths to create an original holiday destination and a highly price-competitive offer of leisure
activities.
It is in the stages after the mass growth of tourism on our coast that the lack of planning and organisation of
activities has become clear, exposing certain parts of the tourism sector to trends, inertias and vices that are
difficult to overcome and manage. After decades of a Fordist, supply-driven tourism market, Catalonia now
has hotel facilities that in some areas are showing their obsolescence and, what is worse, show the results
of a progressive dynamic of bad practices on the part of some travel agencies, often acting as predators of
environment, cultural and territorial resources, compromising the very survival of parts of some destinations.
Today, in Catalan holiday destinations there are certain tourism businesses that are struggling to survive in
market conditions radically different from those that enabled them to develop.
In any case, the context of the current economic crisis and its contribution to accelerating change heightens
the urgent need for new approaches to revitalise the more mature productive tourism sectors, enabling them
to better meet new demands, with the aim of facing the more intense competition and challenges arising from
transformations in the tourism industry value chain.
The evolution of the concept of tourist destination: from the concentration of supply to focus
on demand
The concepts of the tourism industry have developed as tourism has started to consolidate its position as a
major economic and social phenomenon. If one briefly examines how the concept of tourist destinations [1]
has developed over recent years one can trace a historic thread that has produced various approaches by the
administrations and has defined the challenges faced by agents in the sector on the way towards a true industry:
• In the first stage of development, from the 1960s to the end of the 1980s, the tourist destination was conceived
as a set of basic accommodation and catering services creating a tourism space around a given product. This
was a productive specialisation in supplying tourism services, where location was decisive. In this respect the
destination served to concentrate supply. Thus, tourists have to travel to the place or destination that attempts
to provide the necessary attractions to meet their needs. Tourist activity is highly vacational and seasonal,
dominated to a great extent by the working and middle class seeking greater quality of life.
• During the second stage of evolution, from the 1990s onwards, due to tourism’s growing importance, the
destination widened in meaning to include a set of services that facilitate and promote tourist activity. The
horizontal nature of tourist activity and its economic impact highlighted the importance of meeting the
challenges of mobility, infrastructure, facilities, urban planning, trade, transport and more. In this sense,
the destination, without abandoning the idea of specialisation in supply, extended its territorial vision and
included needs that appear to be outside the scope of tourism as strictly defined, but which are decisive in
increasing competitiveness. In this stage, the destination was a territory that provided support for logistic
activities and services while having to reconcile tourist practices in the industry with the basic product (sun
and sand, mountains, city, the countryside). In this sense, approaches that consider conserving environmental
resources began to gain influence. With this concept, the keys to competitiveness involve making it easier for
demand to hire the services and reach the destination under good terms of quality and price (promotion and
marketing, airport, road and port links, and other factors).
• Finally, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, as a result of the social, economic and cultural
transformations inherent in the new knowledge society, the concept of destination has moved closer to demand,
Francesc Iglesies - Catalan International View - Summer 2010
FURTHER READING

in the sense that, apart from the territorial component, which is the tourism product itself, other aspects
such as identity and cultural tourism have become crucial, in its broadest sense2, intangible and emotional
factors and the ability to live new experiences3. In this current stage, the consolidation of information and
communication technologies (ICT) in the tourism industry value chain generate the overwhelming need to
manage the avalanche of information that surrounds the decision to purchase in order to design products
that meet the needs of a micro-segmented demand, in which ICTs play a key role. Here, the paradigm of
tourism competitiveness centres on innovation and sustainability, understood in the triple sense of economic
and social, cultural and environmental and a capacity to generate unique and authentic offers.
The stages of tourism administration of the Government of Catalonia
Alongside this process, from the perspective of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia, the work of
encouraging tourism was almost limited exclusively to promotion, from the 1980s onwards. It involved a
primitive tourism industry, geared towards leisure holidays, which based its competitiveness on price and
climate. In this context, the general organisation of the sector had clearly been overlooked, tacitly choosing a
model of tourism laissez faire, as illustrated by the fact that the first general tourism organisation act was not
passed until 2002 [4].
Following the abovementioned historical thread, the essential task of tourism administration was based on
guaranteeing minimum regulations for accommodation and catering and the huge task of communicating and
promoting the tourism offer through the creation of the Turisme de Catalunya Consortium in 1986.
The Barcelona Olympic Games represented a major boost for tourism in the city, providing Catalonia with a
major tourist centre, adding the city of Barcelona, as a cultural, business and city break tourism product, to the
holiday sun and sand tourism and the snow of the Pyrenees and the Vall d’Aran. In this sense, the decision in
1995 to create the consortium structure of Turisme de Barcelona represented a milestone in the commitment
to co-responsibility between the public and private sectors in managing tourism promotion, and the task of
lobbying for the sector to introduce tourist activity within the space and daily life of the city. This innovation
in managing promotion was followed up by the Autonomous Government of Catalonia with the conversion of
the Promoció Turística de Catalunya Consortium into the Turisme de Catalunya Consortium, a promotional
body attached to the Tourism Directorate General, even though private co-responsibility was inexistent.
If we examine the development of tourism, the growth since the mid-1990s is evident, as illustrated by data
on tourist arrivals and port and airport traffic to Barcelona, Girona and Reus, with the consequent impact
of low-cost airlines on air traffic. There are also other key factors, such as the deseasonalisation of demand
beyond leisure holidays and the consequent increase in journeys with the reduction in accommodation at the
destination. In this regard, the arrival of new information technologies has transformed habits of consumption,
promotion and marketing, while there has been a growing increase in the value of rural tourism, culture,
business tourism and cuisine.
In this context, the change of government in 2003 saw the start of a new stage in the public management of
tourism, being the result of actions to meet the challenges in an industry that has grown dramatically, involving
the implementation of the first general tourism organisation act in the history of the country.
The Catalonia Strategic Tourism Plan 2005-2010: a new agenda for tourism
The response to the challenge resulted in the consensus definition of the Catalonia Strategic Tourism Plan
(PETC) 2005-2010, which was conceived as an unprecedented ‘road map’ jointly for government agencies
and the private sector. This was the first of its kind in both Catalonia and Europe, and was conceived as a
document to provide a comprehensive and cross-sector analysis and diagnosis of tourism and its challenges
and determining factors within the scope of a specific country.
The idea of the ‘road map’ was justified by the fact that it was conceived not just as a tool for the Catalan
Government’s tourism authority, but was also aimed at all administrations in the territory with responsibility
for tourism, at other government ministries with responsibility for areas relevant to tourism, and, above all, the
private tourism sector, as a shared agenda to be developed.
The structuring of the PETC into 10 programmes and 48 actions has been the overall driving force for the
actions of the Directorate General for Tourism and Turisme de Catalunya since 2005 and, above all, has
inspired the direction of a number of policies of the ministry currently responsible [5], beyond the boundaries
of responsibility strictly for tourism, such as Gastroteca or Artesania de Catalunya, as initiatives run by the
Trade DG.

Although the PETC did not define the operational aspects of its programmes and actions in terms of a schedule
and budget, it set a number of concepts and challenges that have been decisive in the Government of Catalonia’s
influence on the success of its tourist activity, given that Catalonia was for the first time conceived as a complete
tourist destination.
TheinspiringprinciplesandaxesofthePETCaredefinedinatourismmodelbasedonsustainability,innovation,
focus on demand, territorial balance and collaboration, and cooperation and coordination between public and
private agents.
Among the action programmes, without providing an exhaustive analysis which lies outside the scope of this
article, are such key aspects as the need to coordinate policies in the areas of responsibility of other government
ministries [6], the importance of strengthening the Catalonia brand [7], the definition of territorial product
creation plans, the creation of the Catalan Tourism Agency, the creation of the Catalan Tourism Observatory
as a tool to obtain intelligence on tourism, moving forward in legislative modernisation and administrative
simplification, improving quality, improving tourist information and, in general, raising awareness and
increasing the degree to which tourism is valued among Catalan society.
The success of the PETC lies in the decision to prioritise certain aspects of the agenda, which has created the
need to move beyond the plan itself, as some programmes have been overtaken by circumstances and have
exceeded supply through the implementation of their policies and actions.
In this sense, the tourism authority itself, consisting of the Directorate General for Tourism (DGT) and the
Turisme de Catalunya (TC) promotion consortium, has changed its structure and internal organisation in
order to focus more on the joint needs of the tourism industry defined in the PETC.
Firstly, Turisme de Cataluna set up the Catalan Tourism Agency (ACT) [8] with the aim of building wider
co-responsibility in the private sector, under the principles of co-decision making and co-financing, and
providing it with greater involvement in the promotion and marketing of the tourist industry and Catalonia as
a destination.
Secondly, the Directorate General for Tourism developed a new Sub-directorate General for Tourism Planning,
to meet the needs for the design, promotion and creation of the tourism product contained in the PETC [9]. It
is worth mentioning that the PETC itself has been exceeded in this context, providing a much fuller response
to the actions as they were defined and has successfully influenced the desire to organise and integrate the
development of tourism with the demands of the target public and the territory’s capacity and potential.
The success of the PETC is due to a qualitative factor, as it has acted as the guidelines for everyone working in
tourism both inside and outside Catalonia and because it has set a sufficiently ambitious precedent to continue
along the route of making tourism the strategic consideration that it deserves to be, as one of the country’s
economic driving forces and a factor for territorial balance.
Finally, going beyond the current PETC, the government’s tourism authority is working to define new challenges
for 2011-2014 that must be included by Catalan destinations in the new trends outlined in tourism after the
first major worldwide crisis in the industry, and which demand new proposals in terms of innovation and
sustainability, in its triple sense of identity, economics and environment, in order to reinforce attractiveness,
quality, competitiveness, territorial balance and social and economic profitability.
Franscec Iglesies graduated in economics from the University of Barcelona (UB), 1995, and earned a
PhD in Economic Theory Research in the Faculty of Economics and Entrepreneurship of the UB, 1996-
1998. University lecturer at the University of Vic (UVic - Barcelona) and the University of Barcelona, on
the Sociology of Labor, Business Administration and Social Economics. Member of UVic’s research group
in tourism. He was the tourism and trade advisor to the Minister of the Department of Trade, Tourism and
Consumption of the Government of Catalonia, 2004-2007. Since 2007 he has been the Tourism Strategy
Planner of the Catalan Tourist Board in the General Directorate of Tourism of the Government of Catalonia.
[1] CHIAS (2004) et al. El papel de las motivaciones del turista en la formación de la imagen de destino turístico. XVII Encuentro
de profesores universitarios de marketing. Pages 673-688 Madrid, 22nd and 23rd September 2005.
[2] Cultural tourism in the broad sense of the word includes cuisine, architecture, history, wine tourism, art, design, handicrafts and
more, as cultural expressions of the host community.
[3] Walmsley, D J and Young, M Evaluative Images and Tourism: The Use of Personal Constructs to Describe the Structure of
Destinations’ Images, Journal of Travel Research, vol. 36, no 3, page 65. 1998.
[4] In the context of Spain, the autonomous communities that passed general tourism organisation acts before Catalonia (2002)
were: the Basque Country (1994), the Canary Islands (1995), Castile-León, Galicia and Extremadura (1997), Andalusia, the Balearic
Islands, Madrid, Aragon, Castile-La Mancha and Cantabria (1999); La Rioja (2001).
[5] The Ministry of Innovation, Universities and Enterprise. Previously, responsibility for tourism had switched between the
ministries that were also responsible for consumer affairs and/or industry.
[6] The Ministries of Culture, Territorial Policy and Public Works, Agriculture or Environment.
[7] Catalonia has 10 territorial tourist brands (Girona-Costa Brava, Costa Daurada, Terres de Lleida, Barcelona, Pirineus, Vall d’Aran,
Catalunya Central, Terres de l’Ebre, Costa de Barcelona-Maresme and Garraf).
[8] The Catalan Tourism Agency was founded by law in December 2007 and came into force on January 2010, once its articles of
incorporation had been approved in December 2009.
[9] The creation of long national routes (the Way of Saint James of Galicia, the Pyrenean Counties Route), the network of Tourist
Welcome Centres and in general identity-based product creation engineering.

Catalonia, a Tourist Country
‘A country’s international prestige is directly related to its prestige as a tourist country’. Antoni
Muntanyola: L’organització turística de Catalunya [Tourism Organisation in Catalonia], Barcelona, 1932.
Introduction: milestones in the development
of Catalan tourism
This article briefly reviews the historical development
of tourism in Catalonia, understood as an important
productive sector in the context of the country’s
economic structure, both in terms of contribution to
GDP and the generation of employment, and also seen
as a factor for innovation and territorial balance. Aside
from this role as an economic driving force, tourism
is very valuable socially and culturally in as far as it
allows access to relaxation and holidays and becomes a
powerfultoolfortheexchangeofcultureandknowledge
between peoples.
It must be said from the start that tourism in Catalonia
has a long tradition, which is not always recognised and sufficiently valued. The fact is that, at the beginning
of the 20th century, there were already excellent resorts in Catalonia, such as Sitges or S’Agaró, as well as the
city of Barcelona, which were compared with the prestigious destinations of the French Côte Bleue and the
Italian Riviera. Later, various governments of Catalonia, first the Commonwealth of Catalonia (1914-1923) and
then the Republican Government (1931-1939),undertook a tourism planning policy that would be cut short by
the Civil War (1936-1939) and Franco’s dictatorship. Finally, the tourism boom of the second half of the 20th
century arrived, during which Catalonia and the rest of the peninsular Mediterranean coast became one of the
top world destinations for sun and sand tourism. In summary: from a practical point of view, three stages can
be distinguished in the history of Catalan tourism development:
1) The first stage with the forerunners or predecessors of modern tourism, occupying almost the entire history
of the country, but in the strictest sense running from the end of the 18th century to the last third of the 19th
century.
2) The second stage considered as the full development of elitist, aristocratic and bourgeois tourism which, in
the case that concerns us, broadly covers the period from the last third of the 19th century to the first third of
the 20th century. During the last part of the period, the first social visions of tourism appear.
3) The third stage begins after the parentheses of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and the Second World
War (1939-1945), with the appearance of mass tourism and the consolidation of Catalonia and the peninsular
Mediterranean coast as one of the great destinations of European tourism.
It hardly needs be said that the development of tourism in Catalonia has also been conditioned by some highly
favourable geographic circumstances. In this sense, the country’s strategic location, on the Pyrenean isthmus;
its situation as a corridor with a triple orientation: European, Iberian and Mediterranean; and its diversity
of landscapes, should be highlighted. Many travellers from all periods and origins have highlighted the
Mediterranean character of the country, the good climate, the luminosity of the landscape and, in general, the
Mediterranean features which, in and of themselves, make Catalonia very suitable for tourism. Many travellers
also stress the original character of the country, the existence of its own language and the way the Catalans
themselves have historically upheld their own identity. Generally, the country has been explained in different
ways depending on the period. During the 18th century, enlightened travellers came to construct a true ‘white
legend’ about Catalonia; by contrast, during the 19th century, the country was often seen as a wild, inhospitable
environment, immersed in endless fratricidal wars.
From the distant predecessors to the appearance of the romantic tourism of the 19th century
The predecessors for modern tourism must be situated in the period of Enlightenment of the 18th century and
the appearance of romantic tourism in the first half of the 19th. This is the period of the ‘Grand Tour’, which
all English gentlemen had to embark on to discover the world, and also the era of the enlightened travellers of
the 18th century, who were to have their counterparts in the romantic travellers of the 19th. They were times
when tourism, understood in a broad sense, developed quickly alongside growing industrialisation and the
appearance of fast, efficient forms of transport, such as steamships and railways.
For many enlightened travellers passing through Catalonia, the country was seen as an exception within Spain;
they usually highlight the hardworking nature of the Catalans, the wealth and power of Barcelona and a relative
situation of opulence and wellbeing. Examples, can be found in the writings of two authors of the time: the
Englishman Arthur Young (1787) and the Castilian Francisco de Zamora (1785-1790).
When the 19th century arrived, the romantic travellers fixed the types and trends of bourgeois tourism, along
with more than a few national stereotypes. These were times when Greece and Italy (from Tuscany and Venice
to Sicily) became fashionable, and when stereotypical Spanish characteristics were established by writers,
travellers and artists like the Englishman Richard Ford (1796-1858), the Frenchman Alexandre de Laborde
(1773-1842) and the American Washington Irving (1783-1859). The common denominator of their writings
Jaume Font - Catalan International View - Summer 2010
FURTHER READING

(and those of others like Prosper de Merimée) is the exotic, orientalist charm of the Spanish south, particularly
Andalusia. In this context, Catalonia and Barcelona are hardly noticed, as they are a long way from these
Spanish stereotypes that have lasted to the present day. When they do speak of Catalonia, many travellers, by
contrast, underline the wild nature of the region and its inhabitants, stubbornly fighting endless civil wars,
about which well-known figures such as Karl Marx and Frederick Engels wrote sensationalist reports.
From the emergence of bourgeois tourism in the 19th century to the appearance of social
tourism
The stage of full development of aristocratic and bourgeois tourism broadly falls, between the last third of
the 19th century and the first third of the 20th. In Catalonia, the outstanding milestones during this stage are
the two big universal exhibitions in Barcelona, in 1888 and 1929. These were times when there were constant
improvements to the means of communication and transport, increasingly facilitating the expansion of tourism.
It is the period of the great transatlantic liners, such as the famous Titanic, and of luxury trains, such as the
legendary Orient Express described by Agatha Christie, culminating in the appearance of the car and of air
transport at the beginning of the 20th century.
In Catalonia, the improvement in transport had a notable effect on the development of tourism. Aside from
Barcelona, which received a great boost from hosting the universal exhibition of 1888, the first Catalan tourist
destinations were established during the last third of the 19th century. This is the case with Sitges, which was
very well connected to Barcelona by rail and which became an intellectual and artistic focal point, with the Art
Nouveau gatherings promoted by Santiago Rusiñol. The Barcelona bourgeoisie, in particular, made the spas
and the first summer holiday centres fashionable, both on the coast and in the nearby Pyrenees. This is the
case with La Garriga, Caldes de Montbui, Caldes de Malavella and Sant Hilari Sacalm, mountain villages like
Camprodon and Puigcerdà and coastal resorts like Calella, Blanes and Lloret de Mar. With the arrival of the
20th century, the first investments were made aimed at attracting international tourism, with the construction
of the Hostal de la Gavina complex at S’Agaró, while the Costa Brava was christened as a tourist branding
exercise (1909). In those days, the Costa Brava shamelessly imitated the French Côte Bleue, while S’Agaró
advertised itself on posters as a ‘sunny winter resort’.
The administration’s interest in tourism gradually increased. From the beginning, local institutions set up
Societats d’Atracció de Forasters (Foreign Tourism Attraction Societies) and, later, the Sindicats d’Iniciativa
(Tourist Information Bureaus), of French origin, particularly in destinations which had begun to stand out,
such as Lloret de Mar. Tourism policy was given a decided boost by the recovered institutions of Catalan
self-government: the Commonwealth of Catalonia between 1914 and 1924 and the Republican Government
between 1931 and 1939. Despite their brief duration, the two institutions carried out notable tourism planning
work.
The Commonwealth well understood tourism’s role as an economic driving force and determinedly promoted
it. In those days, the car was beginning to play an outstanding role in tourist expansion (the Royal Automobile
Club of Catalonia was established in 1906), and this encouraged the Commonwealth to establish inns located
at strategic points on roads in the Pyrenees, such as the La Bonaigua Pass and Collada de Toses. These were the
immediate predecessors of the Spanish paradors, or roadside hotels.
In turn, the Republican Government undertook a decided policy of tourism planning and promotion through
the Catalan Tourist Board (OTC). The management of the Tourist Board was entrusted to Ignasi Armengou
(1895-1954), who ran it effectively, and the quality of the posters and promotional material it published were
outstanding. In fact, it was a period in which there was an awareness that tourism had to be developed carefully,
with criteria that we would now call sustainability, organisation and territorial balance. This is well reflected in
Antoni Muntanyola’s work, L’organització turística de Catalunya (The Organisation of Tourism in Catalonia),
of 1932, which describes the country’s huge tourism potential, compares it to that of other European countries
and ends by putting forward a model for the organisation and management of Catalan tourism. That same
year, the GATCPAC architects formulated the Ciutat de repòs i de vacances (City of Relaxation and Holidays)
project, linked to working-class leisure and holidays, which was a pioneering step in the field of social tourism.
Unfortunately, the work of the Republican Government was cut short by the outbreak of the Civil War and the
imposition of Franco’s dictatorship, as it was a model effort in many senses. Among other consequences, the
dictatorship would lead to the exile of many of the professionals who had promoted the tourism policy of the
Republican Government, including Ignasi Armengou, the director of the Catalan Tourist Board. It is probable
that, had there been democracy and had the country been able to rely on professionals of his calibre, the chaotic
tourism model of desarrollismo (structuralist economics) would not have become established.
The expansion of mass tourism during the sixties and seventies
Tourism’s third stage begins after the parentheses of the Civil War (1936-1939) and the Second World War
(1939-1945). The Marshall Plan and the European economic miracle would allow a spectacular development
of mass tourism in Catalonia, Spain and Europe. This was basically due to the increase in living standards and
the consolidation of the welfare state in Western Europe, with practically universal access to paid holidays for
European workers.
It is a stage characterised by unprecedented exponential growth in mass tourism. It starts with the Stabilisation
Plan of 1959, which represents the adoption by the Spanish Government of an orthodox monetary policy
and the acceptance of the recommendations of international economic bodies concerning the orientation of
economic growth towards innovative sectors such as industry and tourism, rather than Franco’s obsession with
agriculture. This change of orientation would continue through the promulgation of successive ‘development
plans’ and would, among other consequences, lead to the beginning of an unprecedented rural exodus and start
off the Spanish tourism boom. It was a boom brought about, among other factors, by the improvement in air
transport, the establishment of charter flights and the construction of the Mediterranean corridor motorway,
from La Jonquera to Alicante, which would become one of the great European tourist corridors.
All this growth was carried out without planning and without the democratic control of local councils and
institutions. These were times of laissez-faire, leading to the massive occupation of the Catalan coast. This is
the case with certain sectors of the Costa Brava, the Costa Daurada and the Barcelona coast (El Maresme and

El Garraf); only the coast of the Ebre region would remain somewhat removed from this process of intensive
occupation of the coastal area. It was the period of ‘Spain is different’ and structuralist economics, which
would, over many decades, consolidate a tourism model based almost exclusively on sun and sand.
This ‘single crop’ tourism remained practically unchanged until the Barcelona Olympic Games (1992), except
for the isolated development of snow tourism in the Pyrenees (Vall d’Aran, La Cerdanya, El Pallars) and the
continuation of traditional destinations such as Montserrat, Vall de Núria, Castellar de n’Hug and Rupit, which
would notably increase their visitor numbers with the generalised car ownership of the sixties and seventies.
The current stage, by contrast, is characterised by the diversiﬁcation of the tourist products Catalonia can
offer, which include conventional sun and sand, snow and mountain tourism, active and nature tourism and
cultural tourism. Finally, regarding tourism development in Catalonia, both in the past and the present, the
principles and values set forth by Antoni Muntanyola in his work, L’organització turística de Catalunya, with
a quote from Miquel dels Sants Oliver, are still valid: ‘What is right for a people, just as for individuals, is to
be themselves, without ceasing to exist, to grow and to improve’. And this is what I believe should be done in
terms of tourism.
Jaume Font is a full professor of Geography at the University of Barcelona, specialized in matters involving
land use planning, a subject on which he has published various books and articles. In 2006, he was given the
post of Deputy Director General for Tourism Programming, where he has promoted the publication of the
Tourism Atlas of Catalonia, the setting up of Catalan routes and the publishing of guides, among other tasks
related to his position.

Tourism, Economy and Identity
For some years now economists and scholars of
productive processes from various disciplines
have been talking about a new concept: the
economy of identity. The changes that took
place in the last decades of the twentieth century
towards a global world, which were increasingly
unifying, at first appeared to be a threat to
the social and cultural aspects of the planet’s
peoples and nations. However, globalisation
itself has brought about a revaluation of these
aspects. Thus, criteria such as the consumption
of local products, goods and services, blessed
with a uniqueness characteristic of a given
society and region, are gaining ground, as they
are perceived by the demand as bearers of a
new concept of added value.
This change of paradigm in consumption is leading regions and the agents operating therein to promote
production with a seal of origin, with its own designation, a clear, differentiated identity that gives them a
competitive edge. One should bear in mind, however, that this process is neither direct nor simple. In the
first place, there must be a genuine collective identity, and a deep-rooted sense of belonging, an awareness of
this identity. An identity as the sum of a series of distinctive elements, highly charged with symbolism, with
a traditional yet dynamic and changing base, with tangible elements, such as material cultural heritage or
landscape, and also non-material heritage, such as traditions or ways of life. Indeed, it is the people acting in
a region should start the process of recovering identity, initially as part of its wealth and heritage, but also as
an economic driver. Furthermore, this identity should be perceived by the potential demand; the identity must
be able to be defined and differentiated through a series of attributes that will make up what is known as the
associated ‘image’. Finally, these attributes, this ‘image’, must be explained and valued by the demand; it must
be attractive to draw their attention. It therefore requires strategies from marketing and promotion, and also
the creation of labels, such as those for the designation of origin, quality seals, or other types of certification in
the most general sense.
Cuisine, agriculture, wine production, crafts and cultural production in any of its forms (material and non-
material) are some of the sectors directly linked to this growing trend. It is in this respect that we also witness
a change of paradigm towards tourism. The differentiation, singularity and identity of destinations are, more
than ever today, the keystone to the competitiveness of destinations. Indeed, tourism becomes an opportunity
to address socio-cultural standardisation, as an element of visualisation, preservation and even reaffirmation
of their identity. Tourism is a privileged tool for projecting (and protecting) the attributes of identity, bringing
them closer to the consumer, while generating positive effects on a social and cultural level. However, it also
brings economic advantages. Tourism becomes key to the construction of an economy of identity, as it enables
the destination to become known internationally and its differentiation is an added value, and also thanks to
the direct generation of economic activity, its extension to other branches of the economy through significant
multiplying effects, and the vertebration of economic and social activity in regions that are in decline or
undergoing transformation. In this way, tourism enables us to draw together endogenous and sustainable
development and growth models, and becomes a luxury showcase for promoting the region and its society.
If we analyse the relationship between tourism and identity, the first thing we notice is that every sustainable
tourism model incorporates three basic pillars: environmental protection; economic profitability; and, the one
that concerns us, social and cultural preservation and promotion. It is therefore a close, entirely unavoidable
relationship. In this respect, it should also be said that although there are types of tourism in which this
relationship is abundantly clear (such as cultural tourism, or what is properly called ‘identity’ tourism),
limiting the scope to these specific cases would be reductionist. In the case of regions and societies with defined,
singular identities, this identity really does pervade everything from lifestyle and forms of production to the
natural landscape and the human landscape. Therefore, any tourism activity on offer and undertaken within
this region must naturally and spontaneously include elements of itself, material or non-material, perceptible
or not. This dynamic has for years configured highly consolidated destinations with an associated image clearly
defined on the tourism map. An undoubtedly paradigmatic case in point is Scotland.
However, as previously mentioned, in the last decade many other destinations have realised how strongly
identity has become a basic element of differentiation and competitiveness; hence the general change in
strategy for attracting visitors. The chance to compete does not just come from offering attractive prices, as it
used to, or even from having resources like sun and sand, snow, or in extreme cases, a given monumental or
artistic heritage. The reduction of distances in cost and time, and the inclusion of new destinations, amongst
other factors, have helped bring about an increase in the range of options, so that the mere presence of the
resource is no guarantee of success without differentiation. The level of attractiveness lies increasingly in being
able to present oneself as different from the rest, and so offer visitors unique experiences.
Moreover, the advantages are not only for tourism per se, and for the competitiveness of the destination. We
have already mentioned the multiplying effect on the rest of the economy, or the external effects towards the
region. We still need to add other opportunities from tourism widely recognised by the academic literature and
Marien André - Catalan International View - Summer 2010
FURTHER READING

empirical evidence as an element, amongst others, of landscape and environment regeneration; the reassertion
of social and cultural pride and self-esteem; or the recovery of the identifying elements of local material and
non-material culture, whether in use or having fallen into disuse. As an example it is worth mentioning that the
main factor of preservation, recovery and use of cultural heritage in Catalonia in the last fifteen years has been
the growing consideration of cultural assets as a tourism resource.
In regard to the application of a destination and product differentiation strategy within the economy of identity,
it should be said that this is based on three clearly separate pillars:
- Identification of those differential features that constitute the image to be presented.
- Tangibility and marketing through the creation of goods or services.
- Development of a marketing strategy adapted to the product.
This all leads to defining a tourism brand as a symbolic element aimed at making a profitable image and a
differentiated product that responds to the values and interests of one or several market segments, without
sacrificing its own interest. This brand becomes the basis for marketing the destination and its products. In
this respect, there are destinations, like Catalonia, that use the region-brand as an umbrella brand to present a
tourism offer linked to the identity aspects.
If we analyse the evolution of the strategies used by destinations up to now, we must emphasise that although
at present agreement on the fundamental role of identity is practically unanimous, experience has shown that
incorporation of this approach has not been uniform either in time or space. Therefore, in some destinations,
like the aforementioned Scotland, identity has always existed, whether consciously or unconsciously, within
the tourism policy followed in the public and private sectors and amongst civil society. However, in other cases,
like most Mediterranean destinations (including Catalonia), which have a climate and geography that favour
the spontaneous development of products popular with the masses, such as sun and sand tourism, although it
put them prominently on the world tourism map, it pushed the question of identity into the background.
In fact, as one can read in articles on tourism in Catalonia, it was not until recently that identity became a
priority in Catalan tourism policy. Indeed, it was only with the drawing up and approval of the 2005-2010
Strategic Tourism Plan for Catalonia that the promotion of the tourism-identity binomial was specified. The
Plan includes specific areas in this regard, but the most important thing is that it states a new focus in which
identity pervades the definition of the Catalan tourism model right across the board.
In conclusion, here and now in the twenty-first century one can state that tourism has reached a level of
maturity in which the consumer’s decision-making process is a far cry from what was heralded by the tourism
boom as a large-scale phenomenon. Experience, uniqueness, authenticity are key in the planning and success
of destinations. And all of them could be joined under the seal of ‘identity’. Tourism and identity are therefore
inevitably twinned by the building of new economic models, in tune with the criteria and principles that inspire
the current moment and the near future.
* AKERLOF, G. and R. E. KRANTON (2000): ‘Economies and identity’, The Quarterly Journal of Economies,
Vol. CXV, No. 3. August 2000
Marien André holds a PhD in Economic Science and Business Studies from the University of Barcelona,
where she is Professor of Applied Economics. She is also a researcher at the Institute of Applied Economics
Research (IREA) of Barcelona Science Park, and a Former Coordinator of the Catalan Tourism Observatory.

Barcelona to host an international United Nations congress on
tourism in large cities in 2014
Barcelona (ACN).- In 2014, the Catalan capital will organise
the United Nations’ international congress on tourism in
large cities, as was announced on Friday by Taleb Rifai,
the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization
(UNWTO), and the Catalan Minister for Business and
Employment, Felip Puig. The announcement coincides
with the kick off of Catalonia’s International Tourism Fair
(SITC), which takes place in Barcelona from the 19th to
the 21st of April. The United Nations tourism congress
takes place every two years and it directly organised by
the international organisation. Furthermore, Rifai praised
the SITC’s international projection, since this year it has
replicated the number of participating countries and has
the United Nations’ support. Besides, Puig emphasised the
continuous growth of the tourism sector over the last few years in Catalonia. “Tourism is the activity that is best
resisting the economic crisis”, emphasised the Catalan Minister.
In the kick off of the International Tourism Fair of Catalonia (SITC), Felip Puig, reminded the attendees that
the number of international tourists visiting Catalonia grew by 10% in 2012 and their spending increased by
14%. Puig also disclosed that the projected figures for 2013 are “positive” and will be larger again than the total
figures from last year. In addition, he underlined that the summer season will be “good”, but he did not detail
the forecast. However, he lamented the fact that the economic crisis in the European countries may affect the
number of their nationals visiting Catalonia, but he was confident that emerging economies will be able to
balance the situation, especially tourists coming from Asia.
A thousand exhibitors
This year’s edition of the SITC gathered together a thousand exhibitors. The fair’s main news is of the tourist
experiences offered by Catalan destinations, such as cottage houses and gastronomy on the Costa Brava or in
the Pyrenees. Furthermore there is the Innovation Zone, with 5 start-up companies from Barcelona city which
are going to present their most innovative projects. The fair is completed by the areas relating to cruise ships
– since Barcelona is the fourth main international cruise ship harbour -, camping and travel agency proposals.
There is also a zone focusing on tourism in deserts called “Gateway to the Desert”. In addition, there are 50
countries showing some of their top tourist spots, especially from Mediterranean countries, as well as Nordic,
Asian and Latin American destinations.
In addition, in parallel to the fair there is the 3rd International Congress on Asian Tourism, which takes place in
the ‘Palau de Congress’ of Fira de Barcelona, at the Montjuic venue. The congress counts on the participation of
large tour operators, some 30 expert speakers and tourist promotion institutions from China, Japan, India and
South-East Asian countries. The Catalan Tourism Agency also participates in the congress, with its Director
Xavier Espasa as a speaker, as well as the Agency’s Directors in Chinese and South-East Asian offices, Antonio
Li and David Miró.
Catalonia is the leading destination for international tourism at Spanish level. Furthermore, it concentrates
50% of all the tourists coming to Spain from the Asia-Pacific region. In fact, it is the market which is growing
the most in Catalonia. Last year, 161,866 tourists came to Catalonia from Japan; China, 103,694; Australia,
100,000; India, 30,584; Singapore, 29,590; and Indonesia, 27,058. The ACT has detected a growing interest in
Catalonia in those countries and its tourist attractions. The ACT already had an office in Beijing but, considering
the demand, it added a second one to its network in Singapore in 2011.
Photo courtesy of the Agència Catalana de Notícies (ACN)
Catalan News Agency - 10-4-2013
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Barcelona is the fourth European city with the most tourists after
London, Paris and Rome
Barcelona (ACN).- A study by the Barcelona Tourism board
presented on Thursday emphasised that the number of
tourists in Barcelona hotels grew by 0.7% in 2012 compared
to the previous year. In total, Barcelona hosted 7.44 million
tourists in the city’s hotels. The study also revealed that
the significant increase in foreign tourists compensated for
the 6.8% drop in Spanish visitors. The number of tourists
from Russia and Eastern Europe increased by 32%, those
from the United Kingdom grew by 12% and those from the
United States grew by 4.7%. Spanish visitors continue to
be the largest group of guests to Barcelona hotels, with
1.62 million people. At the presentation of the study, the
President of Barcelona’s Tourism Board, Joan Gaspart,
emphasised that Barcelona is the fourth European city
with the most tourists after London, Paris and Rome.
In total, Barcelona hosted 7.44 million tourists in its hotels during 2012. North-American tourists represented
the highest number of foreign hotel visitors, with 635,000 people. They were followed by UK citizens (593,000
individuals), French (572,000), Italians (491,000) and Germans (415,000). The President of the city’s Tourism
Board linked the drop in French and Italian visitors (-3.6% and -12.2% respectively) to the economic crisis.
However, the number of German tourists grew by 4.3%.
The economic crisis has considerably affected the number of tourists coming from Spain, whose number
dropped by 6.8%. Spanish visitors are the largest group of guests to Barcelona hotels, with 1.62 million people.
They represent 21.8% of the total number of visitors. Therefore, a significant drop in Spanish tourists could be
very bad news for the Catalan capital tourist sector and hotels. However, in 2012, the drop in Spanish tourists
was compensated for by the increase in foreign visitors.
Since the trend is likely to continue in 2013 and 2014, the Board will concentrate its promotion activities
outside Spain. “It is useless to invest a single euro looking for tourists in the Spanish market; we prefer to look
for them in markets with a higher purchasing power”, stated the General Director of Turisme de Barcelona
(Barcelona’s Tourism Board), Pere Duran.
During 2013, the Catalan capital’s Tourism Board will carry out 26 promotional activities in the United States
and Canada and 12 activities in each of the three main Western European markets: France, Germany and the
United Kingdom. In addition, it will develop 10 promotional activities in Russia. With these events, the Board
expects to attract visitors with a high purchasing power. Therefore, Gaspart was confident about the 2013
figures and said that they expect to repeat the positive results from 2012.
In addition, Barcelona’s Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs, Sònia Recasens, explained that the city hotels
have collected around €5.5 million with the tourist fee, implemented last year. 50% of the money will be for
Barcelona’s Tourism Board, to carry out promotional activities. On this fee, Gaspart added that, despite the
controversy it generated a year ago, he “would support again the tourist tax” and now “half of Spain is asking
us how it is working”.
Besides, Recasens presented a study made by the City Council about the acceptance of tourism among
Barcelonans. According to the report, 96.3% of Barcelona residents believe that tourism is “beneficial” for the
city. Last year the percentage was 94.8%. Furthermore, 72% of them consider that Barcelona has to continue
attracting more visitors and 89% of the city residents think that this economic activity “creates many jobs”.
Photo courtesy of the Agència Catalana de Notícies (ACN)
Catalan News Agency - 11-4-2013
FURTHER READING

El Celler: An Exemplary Story
A few months ago a friend asked me to write the prologue
to her first book. I wasn’t an expert on the subject and
I found writing the text a challenge. Little by little and
with difficulty I finally did finish it, and the book went
on to be presented successfully. The next day I received
a flower, and being quite fond of flowers I thought it
was a nice gesture. But I was amazed when I opened
the envelope that accompanied the flower: inside was
an invitation to lunch at the Celler de Can Roca. I went
there a few days before it was named best restaurant in
the world.
The story is well known: the Roca brothers are the
successful result of the mix of two cultural models.
On the one hand we have the family model: a humble
mother of rural origins who learns the trade and ends up
opening a restaurant in Taialà, a working-class suburb
of Girona. The other model is that of the Girona School
of Hospitality, which is a magnificent demonstration of
how a good school can be the key to development. The
Roca brothers started out in a small restaurant next door
to the family restaurant, and thanks to their success and
their hard work they moved to a bourgeois tower in the same neighborhood, which they have turned into a
space that is hard to describe.
First there’s the kitchen: divided into different areas, each one with just the right temperature and dedicated
to a specific task. If, in general, restaurant kitchens at peak hours are noisy, chaotic, steaming places, at two in
the afternoon that kitchen was gleaming and orderly: everything in there flowed with precision. Young people
from around the world worked with the gestures and delicacy of artists. To comparing that kitchen with an
assembly line would not be accurate, even though Can Roca’s lineup of tasks runs like clockwork. To compare
it to the workshop of a Renaissance artist would be much more accurate (the master chef, Joan, and the head
pastry chef, Jordi, coordinating the tasks, and letting their protégés learn the secrets of their art while they
prepare the canvases and the colors). To compare a kitchen with a laboratory would not be an exaggeration: the
Roca brothers’ cooking has inspired ongoing technological innovation (I fell in love with a distiller that traps
the steam from the pots and pans).
The other area is the cold wine cellar. This is the domain of Josep, a sage who likes to be called a wine waiter.
The celler contains some 30,000 bottles of 2,500 listings. Five sections, corresponding to five denominations
of origin, sum up the history of wine: Champagne, Riesling, Burgundy, Priorat and Sherry. Each one of these
wines, closely connected to a particular landscape, is identified by a musical instrument and by a certain texture.
Thus, a Priorat expresses the tenacity of small steep terraces, sounds like a cello and has the feel of slate.
Back in the dining room, which encircles a small garden, diners discover that a meal here has nothing to do with
one you would have at home or at your local neighborhood restaurant. A meal at Can Roca is also very different
from what you would find at the Motel Empordà of Figueres, which is the origin of Girona’s quality cuisine and
what inspired all subsequent successes. Eating means combining the five senses. But the Roca brothers suggest
we go one step further: to combine the senses with reason. To appeal to common sense to completely recreate
the everyday experience of eating. Let’s be clear though: the Roca brothers don’t make abstract art; they cook.
Not content to simply to satisfy the senses; they also seek to fill them with wonder.
The festival of emotions the Roca brothers propose would be impossible to experience every day: we are talking
about dozens of appetizers that combine clever, unthinkable and playful creations with sophisticated variations
on traditional fish or meat dishes. It all begins when they invite you to guess which part of the planet the
little appetizer balls represent (there are some that have flavors that embody Japan or Morocco). The typical
anchovy stuffed olives have taken on a caramelized crunch, and a vermouth has now become a sweet liquid
that is reminiscent of sesame. And before you know it you discover that asparagus have turned into a Vienetta
(or Comtessa) ice cream cake.
I won’t recite the entire menu. I will just say that the flavors appealed to and satisfied my appetite but also
stimulated my mind. They provoked outbursts of euphoria, astonishment, bliss and exaltation. The tastes,
textures, colors, combined in unusual and radically unexpected ways, demanded constant attention. The same
deep and joyous attention that listening to J.S. Bach requires, which is so emotional and imaginative yet also
so mathematical and rational.
I once wrote that all one needs to conjure up paradise is some bread dipped in a good olive oil. I was appealing
to sobriety and the essential things in life, but the affirmation can also apply to the experience of having lunch
at the Celler de Can Roca, which leads us to paradise by much more sophisticated and complex routes. Bread
and olive oil are something we should be able to eat every day. El Celler is a place we should be able to go once
in our lives. To celebrate a truly exceptional moment. As exceptional as the story of this family that settled in
this suburb of Girona and, without leaving the neighborhood, and with perseverance, rigor, hard work, a lot
Antoni Puigverd - La Vanguardia - 06-05-2013
OPINION

of faith and a powerful vocation, has created the best restaurant in the world, the spearhead of Girona’s tourist
industry.
In the midst of this economic crisis, the history of El Celler shows us that there are at least two clear paths to
success: artisan values, and the mix of modernity and tradition. They are not easy paths. To become the best in
the world it has taken two generations, three extraordinary talents, a constant effort and an iron will.
Antoni Puigverd (la Bisbal d’Empordà, 1954) is a professor of literature currently on sabbatical. As a
journalist he has worked for many media outlets. He is currently a columnist for the newspaper La Vanguardia
and political commentator on Catalan radio and television stations. He has published novels, poetry and
essays.
Translated by Margaret Luppino
Image courtesy of El Celler de Can Roca (Photos by David Ruano / Josep Oliva) www.cellerdecanroca.com

Formentera, the exception that proves the rule
OverthelastfewmonthsIhavebeentoFormentera
twice –one of those visits was to present the
book 1.250 grams de Formentera [1,250 grams
of Formentera], a volume with an impressive
collection of photos of the island which are the
work of the photographer Òscar Rodbag, who is a
frequent collaborator of the magazine Descobrir. I
don’t aim to list the virtues of Formentera in this
short piece. Most people have had the opportunity
to enjoy the turquoise waters and the harsh beauty
of this rural landscape. I merely wish to call
attention to the fact that this Pitiusa island is, do
forgive the redundancy, a little island, an oasis of
good sense amid an all-things-go madness. And
I say this because it is something I have spoken
about with the president of the Consell Insular of Formentera, Jaume Ferrer, and with the Ministers of Tourism
and Culture, Sandra Ferrer and Sònia Cardona, respectively.
Formentera has opted for a model of tourism development that is different from the rest, which can be seen,
for example, in the fact that it is the only island [of the Balearic Islands] that is not governed by the PP; what’s
more, it is governed by a party that is from Formentera and that is closely connected to the local community:
Gent x Formentera [People for Formentera]. And it shows. For example, the urbanization on the island is
kept in check thanks to new construction requirements –and the necessary pressure to make sure that people
comply with these requirements. There has been a big push for increased use of public transportation, which is
particularly important on a small island that receives thousands of visitors and that up until today was hardly
familiar with any alternative to the private vehicle (either owned or rented). The introduction of selective waste
collection has also met with great success.
But if we focus on the strictly tourism-related issues, Formentera would like to be known for taking advantage
of all of its values; the beaches, of course, and much more: a unique cultural heritage, a peaceful and laid-back
approach to life and enjoyment, natural beauty and, above all, a place to have truly unconventional experiences.
It helps, to start, that the main part of Formentera’s tourism sector is in the hands of the island’s inhabitants.
Therefore, we don’t see any big hotel chains or major tour operators that control the ﬂow of visitors. This is
because today Formentera can still only be reached through the port of la Savina, despite the plans –imported
from the outside and aborted from within—to construct a new port in the more touristy area of es Pujols. Or
because the Council of Formentera has been asking the Government of the Balearic Islands, tourist season
after tourist season –for the moment without success—to regulate the anchoring of yachts and other vessels
off the coast of Formentera and to ensure that they do not damage the seabed that makes this place unique,
especially the posidònia prairie, declared a World Heritage Site. Or for the same Council to establish quotas of
vehicle occupation in certain protected nature areas of the island and to create taxes that contribute to their
upkeep and protection. A sacrilege...
In summary, the main goal for Formentera to be perceived as a quality tourist destination, one that respects
the environment and respects the local people who live there. This objective is closely connected to the debate
about the maximum number of visitors the island can absorb without damaging it (in other words, without
destroying everything that makes it such an attractive destination to begin with). And from this idea, one of
a certain concept of an island, derive initiatives such as the Formentera Photography Festival (Formentera
Fotogràﬁca), which is held from May 3rd-5th; the RedBio [Bio Network] of ornithological tourism; or a whole
string of sporting and leisure events that run the length of the island by land, sea and air.
The future does not just make a different tourism model possible; it demands a different model. And despite
all its shortcomings and contradictions, the exception of Formentera shows that if we want it, we can make it
happen.
Joan Morales i Morera (Barcelona, 1967) has been the director of the magazine Descobrir since mid-2006.
A journalist who has always been passionate about the Catalan Countries, he has written extensively about
these territories. He is the coauthor and coordinator of the book Terra i llibertat. 100 entitats dels Països
Catalans (Edicions 62, 2000) and author of a book that combines popular culture and gourmandism: Caps de
setmana gastronòmics (Ara Llibres, 202).
Translated from Catalan by Margaret Luppino
Photo courtesy of Joan Morales
Joan Morales - Descobrir - 02-04-2013
OPINION

Making Identity a Tourism Value
Tourism is one of the main drivers of the
Valencian economy. This is not uncommon in
our part of the world, as our geographic location
provides us with certain climatic conditions that
are attractive to people who live in other regions.
The climate is an important part of our identity
as a territory, but it is not the only one.
Valencia’s tourism policies have renounced –
either voluntarily or involuntarily—making
identity, in the broadest sense of the word, a core
value for attracting quality tourism. We all know
that the basic principle of marketing, whether it
is for tourism, business or politics, is all about
differentiating yourself from the competition.
What better way to make yourself stand out than
to highlight who you are and what others cannot be— in other words, your identity?
Let’s review how Valencia advertises itself today. The city of Valencia has sought to define itself as a tourist
destination by focusing on creating an image that revolves primarily around building complexes like the Ciutat
de les Arts i les Ciències (The City of Arts and Sciences), big events like Formula 1 races, the Falles festival and
the beaches. Only one of these, the Falles, is unique and intrinsic to Valencia and its environment. And the
rest? A brand-new and ruinous architectural complex. Sporting events that are hosted by the highest bidder.
Or sand and salt water, which can be found along thousands of kilometers of the Mediterranean. If it weren’t
for the Falles festival, these kinds of advertising claims could just as well apply to Cartagena, Marseille, Malaga
or Tunis.
In general, the city of Valencia’s story –as capital of L’Horta and the País Valencià— is absent from its tourism
policy. I find it shocking that a thousand year old city overflowing with history, symbols, and a collective story,
is using a nouveau riche attitude to attract tourists.
Valencia is the Mediterranean, Valencia is the Falles. But it is also Roman, it is also Arab, it is also L’Horta
and the Water Tribunal, it is gothic architecture (both civil and religious), it is the Albufera Natural Park and
the goles, or canals that are a part of it, it is the Feast of Corpus Christi and its roques and figures. Valencia
is also defined by the traces that remain of having once been one of the principal Mediterranean capitals for
centuries. Valencia is the small streets of the Carme neighborhood and its convents, the Modernism of the
Central Market, Russafa and the Eixample neighborhood, and it is much, much more.
In my opinion, this neglect –the decision to not make Valencia’s history and unique story a key element for
attracting tourism—can be symbolized by two examples. They are the Llotja and the Feast of Corpus Christi.
Valencia’s Llotja de Seda, or Silk Market, is one of the best examples of gothic civil architecture in Europe. A
UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is both a Valencian and a Mediterranean gothic civil architecture, with its
specific characteristics. Yet there is more to it than the unique (physical) building: the Llotja symbolizes the
period of highest splendor in Valencia’s thousand-year history, a moment when it was the capital of a powerful
state and a model for trade in the Mediterranean. And the Llotja is the evidence of this commercial power. The
building and the activities that took place therein explain how we Valencians once were and even, if we wish
to, tell us something about who we are now and who we would like to become: a hard-working people, with
a society based on trade, entrepreneurship, pacts and openness, that knows how to take advantage of what
makes it unique.
The Llotja is being wasted. Is it in the guidebooks? Yes. Do tourists visit it? Yes. But I don’t think that anyone
takes the time to use the Llotja to better explain the city and its unique personality. It shouldn’t be that hard,
we already have the architectural gem, we just need to add greater content and meaning to it, beyond simply
opening it to the public. Shall we give it a try?
And the Feast of Corpus Christi? Do people who live in the city of Valencia today know that it was the most
important festival in Valencia before the explosion in popularity of the Falles? If you have never seen the
procession of the roques, the figures, the dances or the “mysteries” of the Corpus, I would highly recommend
you did. [The Feast was held this past weekend on May 30th, 2013]. The festival can be traced back to the 14th
century. The oldest roca –a wooden structure that resembles a ship—is called the Diablera and was built in
1511. The Corpus acts are an ethnographic expression of the first order, but (and forgive me if I use myself as an
example here) it took a long time before I—a newcomer to Valencia—grasped the true dimensions of the Feast
of Corpus Christi, simply because it is not advertised very much.
Vicent Martínez - Diari ARA - 25-5-2012
OPINION

This neglect can be seen, for example, in how the roques and the figures are displayed to the public. Instead of
a proper museum exposition, these figures are piled together in the Casa de les Roques building in a reluctant
attempt at offering a museum-like experience. Any other city, conscious of the festival’s importance and its
potential as a cultural tourist attraction, would have dedicated a carefully curated space to this Valencian
tradition. This space would serve to explain and interpret the Corpus tradition and give it the value it deserves.
And any other city, on the weekend of the Feast of Corpus Christi, would offer sufficient information and
spread the word to attract people interested in unique cultural expressions.
I am not saying that the Llotja and the Feast of Corpus Christi should necessarily have to be the protagonists of
Valencia’stouristoffering.Buttheyshouldatleastbekeypointsofreference,togetherwithothercomplementary
elements, of a new tourism model. I believe this model is one that should take advantage of the city’s potential,
its history, its heritage and its culture. In other words, its identity in the broadest sense of the word.
No other city has the Llotja of Valencia or its Feast of Corpus Christi. Nor do other cities have L’Horta, the
Albufera, the Carme neighborhood or the Central Market. But countless other cities have beaches, can pay
to host car races and can waste hundreds of millions of euros on architecture complexes. I leave my humble
proposal on the table, just in case anyone would like to listen.
Vicent Martínez i Valls (València, 1981) graduated with a degree in Journalism from the Autonomous
University of Barcelona (UAB), and also holds a Masters in Political Marketing and Electoral Communication
from the Institute of Political and Social Sciences (ICPS-UAB). He has worked as a journalist in various media
outlets and press offices, such as that to the Department of the Presidency and the Department of Governance
and Public Administration of the Generalitat de Catalunya, as well as the Federació Escola Valenciana.
Currently he is the Communications Director of Ser Mediterrània, a tourism company of which he is one of the
founding members. He also works as a freelance communications consultant as well as professor of courses
and masters at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Pompeu Fabra University and the University
of Girona. Since October 2012 he has been a part of the National Executive of the Valencian Nationalist Bloc
(Compromís Coalition)
Photo of the Llotja de Seda (Wikipedia Commons)

Towards a Catalan Fourth Wave
In every nation, family relations and inheritance by
individuals are subject to regulation by civil law. We can
truly speak of a revolution in this area in the last decade.
Family structures and interpersonal relations have
changed profoundly, and the law has had to examine the
answers that it provides. In this respect, Catalan legal
system represents a model which is well-worth taking into
account due to its ability to adapt to new realities, and its
innovative, modern, flexible nature which responds to the
needs of a welfare state to which it also contributes.
We know that the most frequent mechanism of state
creation has primarily been secession, followed by state
dissolution, and it has occurred in three chronological
waves. Firstly, the application of the Wilsonian principle
of self-determination during the First World War period
saw the emergence of new national entities out of ancient
Empires (the Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, German and
Russian). Later, the struggle for decolonisation liberated
several peoples from colonial rule imposed by European powers (such as Algeria from France or India from the
UK). Finally, the fall of the Berlin Wall presaged the last wave, with several republics becoming emancipated
from the former USSR. However, the emergence of new states has not stopped, we constantly see territorial
claims across the globe and the list of states has recently been enlarged by Southern Sudan, Kosovo and
Montenegro. Will we see a fourth wave of state creation? One can never know. Nonetheless, a cursory glance at
the waves described above is enough to tell us that secession and state dissolution often go hand in hand with
violent conflict, ghastly war, and harsh territorial disputes as well as ethnic cleansing, persecution and mass
destruction. Against such a backdrop, if a fourth wave of state creation is to occur it would be desirable, for it
to take place through liberal-democratic means and procedures. I would argue that the Catalan case for self-
determination can shed some light on this path.
The unofficial Catalan referendum campaign as a democratic movement
The unofficial referendums on independence from Spain that were organised at a local level by civil society
in Catalonia between September 2009 and April 2011 were a clear democratic mobilisation tactic. They had
a powerful effect on mainstreaming the issue of secession and changing the discourse on self-determination.
More than 800,000 people took part in these unofficial polls, organising and voting on the question: Should
the Catalan nation become an independent, democratic and social state within the European Union? This
mobilisation was entirely organised by a voluntary network of civil society activists in each municipality.
Unofficial referendums on the same question were held in 552 municipalities of Catalonia (out of a total of
947) representing 77.5% of the total population; the overall turnout was 18.1%, 32.5% counting the mean of
municipalities turnout (Guinjoan & Muñoz, 2012).
In analysing this phenomenon we have to bear in mind that at present secession is forbidden in Spain and
it is not the responsibility of regional Governments to hold a referendum on this issue. According to art.1.2
of the Spanish Constitution, sovereignty belongs to the entire Spanish people; and according to art.2, the
Constitution itself is based on the indissoluble unity of the Spanish Nation which is considered the indivisible
homeland of all Spaniards. The mobilisation for organizing unofficial referendums was a clear attempt by civil
society to push forward the long-standing claim for an official vote on secession in Catalonia. It took place in
a context of nationalist mobilisation and heated political debate following the reform of the Catalan Statute
of Autonomy in 2006 and its severe amendments in the Constitutional Court. The restrictive interpretation
of the Statute adopted by the Court infuriated Catalan pro-autonomy parties since the Statute had already
been passed both by national and regional parliaments and approved by the Catalan population in an official
referendum in 2006. Moreover, political unrest increased following the publication of regional fiscal balances
by the Spanish government in 2008, which confirmed the idea that Catalonia had a tax deficit of 8% of its
GDP due to an unjust redistribution of wealth among its regions. In a context of a severe economic crisis,
secessionist political actions succeeded in mobilising civil society and changing its traditional pro-autonomist
position. Two important effects can be observed, thanks to the holding of 552 local, unofficial referendums.
Although we cannot attribute them entirely to this phenomenon, I would argue that they helped to produce
these outcomes.
The first impact was a clear transformation of Catalan political demands. Since the recovery of democracy
in Spain (1978), following forty years of Franco’s fascist dictatorship, Catalan nationalism was considered
a moderate, pro-autonomy movement. Its main political party (CiU) led by President Jordi Pujol never
considered the possibility of seceding from Spain and instead played an active role in Spanish politics.
However the mobilisation of unofficial referendums produced, among other factors, a deep transformation of
Catalan nationalism passing from autonomist claims to a pro-secessionist approach. At present, following the
November 25th 2012 elections of the Catalan parliament, there is an absolute majority in the chamber that
backs secession with almost two thirds in favour of a referendum on the issue.
Marc Sanjaume - Catalan International View - Winter 2012-13
IN DEPTH

A second important impact has been legitimising the discourse of Catalan secessionism. The mobilisation
behind the unofficial referendum was organised as a vote on the ‘right to decide’ rather than as a nationalist
exaltation or a direct call for independence. Until this period, the discourse on secession was dominated by a
nationalistic approach attached to the principle of self-determination. However, the right to decide approach
has meant a ‘democratic turn’ which bases the legitimacy of secession on civil rights and universalistic principles
rather than relying on a discourse related to cultural or national survival. A symbolic proof of this democratic
turn was the consensus among civil society on extending the ‘right to vote’ in these unofficial referendums to
the resident population in each municipality rather than using the official criteria of nationality required in
ordinary official elections.
A Catalan fourth wave
The reluctance of the Spanish government to recognize Catalonia’s national character and its refusal to accept
bilateral democratic procedures for settling pro-autonomy demands has led to the current political situation.
The recently elected Catalan parliament will probably claim responsibility for organizing a referendum on the
constitutional future of the Catalan Autonomous Community. However, the Spanish Government has already
pointed out that such a process would be entirely unconstitutional. While we are waiting for the development
of the political situation it is possible to identify certain elements raised by the Catalan case which could inform
a fourth wave of emergent states in Western European countries.
A ‘Catalan fourth wave’ of the creation of states could well be guided by the ‘democratic turn’ shown in the
unofficial referendums described above. The growing claim for a democratic resolution of territorial disputes
in Europe (Scotland, the Basque Country, Flanders or Wales; the so called NEEWS, New Emerging European
Western States) points out that this would not be a chimerical scenario. A fourth wave of state creation
processes could take into account the following principles that not only emerge from the Catalan case but also
from other experiences across Europe. First, the importance of recognition seems to be crucial when dealing
with a secessionist claim. Cases in which the parent state has recognized the existence of a differentiated
demos such as in Scotland or Quebec, have developed a democratic procedure for its resolution. Second,
a pro-referendum procedural approach seems to be the most appropriate means of resolution, democratic
participation accompanied by multilateralism rather than unilateralism would allow democratic deliberation,
as the unofficial referendums in Catalonia intended; but this time in an official, institutional sense. Third,
remembering the importance of achieving a balance between the principles of unity and liberty, Gagnon (2012)
has suggested that relationships between majority and minority nations should be guided by values of dignity
and hospitality (to their respective minorities); meaning by dignity an absolute value to self-determination
without the possibility of interchanging it; and by hospitality, meaning an ethic requirement for both majority
and minority nations of the acceptance of otherness. Finally, given the supranational integration context,
secession should not be synonymous with isolation but of integration to supranational structures and of
interdependence with neighbouring peoples (as the question in the unofficial referendum suggested concerning
integration to the EU).
To sum up, mainstream Catalan secessionism characteristics allow us to envisage a fourth wave of the creation
of states along liberal-democratic lines by exercising the collective right to decide based on a requirement of
the ethics of dignity and hospitality. The Spanish government should also be able to follow these ethical and
democratic requirements.
Marc Sanjaume is a part-time professor and researcher at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. He is currently
working on his doctoral dissertation ‘Moral and political legitimacy in theories of secession. A theoretical
and comparative analysis’, supervised by Professor Ferran Requejo. He has been a visiting researcher at
Université Laval (Quebec) and the University of Edinburgh (Scotland).
References:
GAGNON, A. (2012), Temps d’incertituds. Assajos sobre federalisme i diversitat nacional, Editorial Afers.
GUINJOAN, M; MUÑOZ, J (2012), ‘Accounting for Internal Variation in Nationalist Mobilization: Unofficial
Referendums for Independence in Catalonia (2009-11)’, Nations and Nationalism, (forthcoming).
LÓPEZ, J (2011), ‘From the right to self-determination to the right to decide. A possible paradigm shift in the
struggle for the rights of stateless nations’, Quaderns de recerca, n.4, UNESCOCAT.

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