In the introductory chapters, the master's thesis presents the history and political background of Barcelona, highlighting the impact of the dictatorship and Catalonia's quest for independence. The symbol of the yellow ribbon, acting as a politically charged symbol and a constant graffiti signature (tag), is also discussed. The 1992 Olympic Games changed the city irrevocably and created a tourist image that still sells today. This image encloses the city in a narrow frame where visitors expect a specific experience. If they don't get it, they are disappointed, or they create it by visiting the must-see attractions, leading to the illusion of a perfect Barcelona.
In reality, different kinds of Barcelona exist - from a Barcelona inhabited by low-wage, high-rent residents to a politically divided metropolis dominated by local authorities and relentless investors. They buy property as a valued product, reinforcing the impression of Barcelona as a shop. Selling the city as a shop, however, has strong repercussions on the various lives in the city. In the same way that during the Olympics the authorities cleared the Somorrostro slum, thus “opening the city to the sea”, today they are clearing the city of access to the right to a home (room or flat), the machine of real estate agencies and all the investors who buy them to re-sell or re-rent to those who can afford it.
The graffiti and street art scene started in Barcelona in the 1980s and started to grow in the 1990s, along with the redevelopment of the city during the games. In 1994, the first graffiti spray was born, giving the scene an even bigger boost. The graffiti scene kept on growing and had its so-called Golden Age of Graffiti in Barcelona, which lasted from 2000 to 2006. In the latter year, the new Decency Decree reinstated the machine that cleared off all of graffiti and street art and painted the whole city grey. In response, projects such as Free shutters (cat. Persianas lliures), Free walls (cat. Murs lliures), Wallspot and Open walls (cat. Murs oberts) were created. Projects that initially provided spaces for the recreation of graffiti and street art in the city ultimately became too restrictive with their established system, which led to them transforming into a sort of cleaning regime.
The only remaining project that is now fully managed by the municipality is the Open Walls (cat. Murs oberts), with sixteen “free” walls dedicated to legally drawing graffiti and different urban art in the city. Many artists have therefore begun to seek freedom of expression on the peripheries of Barcelona, where there is as yet no trace of authority or control.
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