Another Walk Through Vallcarca (Barcelona)

A Walk Through Vallcarca, #15, Barcelona, 2021 (“Vallcarca for the people”)

I have blogged about this barrio before, and the issues of tourism and gentrification that have threatened its essence.

To wit:

–June 2, 2017, Gentrification (and Tourism) in Barcelona, the Case of Vallcarca

–November 29, 2018, Vallcarca (Barcelona) Revisited

Another Visit

A few weeks ago I took another stroll through the area to see what might have changed.

Maybe it has been the pandemic. Or maybe it is simply the slow crawl of the city’s bureaucratic institutions in charge of Vallcarca’s destiny. Or maybe it is the current lack of momentum behind big-time development projects.

Whatever it might be, I didn’t see much change in the neighborhood since nearly four years ago. I saw the same vacant lots, the same slightly bohemian residents (alongside many “normal” folks, of course!), the neighborhood gardens, and no new construction…

Have the residents really been able to stop or slow the gentrification process here? Or will the pressures to BUILD, BUILD, BUILD return once again as the virus becomes but a distant memory and the massive cruise ships, atomic tour buses, and wide body jets all return to disgorge their human contents into Barcelona?

Is this but a temporary hiatus in the history of one suffering Barcelona barrio?

Time will tell, I suppose.

Vallcarca Urban Art – The Voice of the People!

Below, is some of the urban art and graffiti you will see in Vallcarca as of February 2021. Most of these are along Carrer de la Farigola.

The general sentiment and political orientation of the residents remain the same as years past, although, if you compare images from my previous two posts, you’ll note a notable physical degradation over time of the wall art–a reflection of the weakening will of the population? Likely not, as there were also a few new works painted upon the walls… new voices carrying the banner forward.

The Artists

So, who made these urban art murals?

I always try and note the signatures/tags and give them a quick Google to find out who these folks are and what motivates them to lift a multitude of spray cans up to a crumbling wall in the city.

I also like to credit them, but their work is not always signed–or I’m blind to where/how it is signed.

Here are the Vallcarca artists I could identify:

—Turkesa, Shaggy, Puke, Cayn, Sendys – Probably the best of the artists you’ll see here (several weathered panels in the vacant lot at the corner of Carrer de l’Argentera and Carrer de la Farigola).

–Xandall-Leopardo – I couldn’t find any info on the web for this artist (the feminazi scene).

—La Brotada – A feminist group (the bicycle “repair shop”).

—Provocación al Incendio / VKK Workin Class – Couldn’t find much here, other than a movement to burn things down and a musical group (the burn the office mural).

–“Mural participat” – This was how the wall at the corner of Carrer de l’Argentera and Avinguda de Vallcarca was signed. I’m guessing this means the art was a cooperative/communal project involving many from the neighborhood.

On to the pictures…

“If you feed your mind shit, you will think like shit…“. Gotta love the little turds and the politician(?) on TV talking out of his ass:

A Walk Through Vallcarca, #3, Barcelona, 2021

“The feminazis salute you…“. I take the message to mean that we feminists are here to be reckoned with. Note the symbols of protest–the burning trash containers, the barricade with the pink chair, and the broken police riot helmet. Then there is the abbreviation “ACAB”, or “All Cops Are Bastards” along with the number 1312, which corresponds to the letters of the English alphabet A – C – A – B:

A Walk Through Vallcarca, #4, Barcelona, 2021

“For all housing groups and housing unions, and for all those who put their bodies on the line to stop evictions…“. The snail appears to represent those unfortunates who have to constantly be on the move, searching for yet another roof they can afford–just like a snail:

A Walk Through Vallcarca, #5, Barcelona, 2021

“We will defend our neighborhoods… [we stand] for adequate housing… they won’t kick us out!” And she is embracing, with love, the housing union (“Strength to the Union!“) which protects the most vulnerable renters and owners. Note the policeman wrapped up (and subdued) in her boa constrictor tail:

A Walk Through Vallcarca, #6, Barcelona, 2021

Here, Antifa reigns… as it does in much of Catalunya. Having suffered through the dictatorship of Francisco Franco (a Hitler pal), as well as traumatized again by the rise of the current ultra-right Vox Party (Franco’s offspring), how could it be otherwise? 

A Walk Through Vallcarca, #7, Barcelona, 2021

Various art panels in a vacant lot. From left to right: “Rutina Ilegal“–no idea what that represents, then “If they are just [with you] for the drugs, they aren’t your friends“–an excellent message, then a big a cat, then Antifa once again, then another “All cats are beautiful“, and, finally, on the far right, one that requires more explanation. “Huera negra” might be a term roughly describing a white person working like a black slave, “Mr. Workingful” might be an ironic comment about the faithful worker who busts his/her butt on the job, and then the rest translates roughly as “If a companion leaves work crying–burn the office“–i.e., don’t put up with crappy, exploitative, working conditions:

A Walk Through Vallcarca, #8, Barcelona, 2021

“Neither bodies, nor neighborhoods, are territories to be conquered…“. This communal “bike repair shop” is open on Fridays for a few hours–a place to get your bike fixed and/or scrounge for parts, and hang out, all for free:

A Walk Through Vallcarca, #10, Barcelona, 2021

“Let’s save the old center of Vallcarca… Barcelona is not for sale…“. Who was Uri Caballero, you ask? He was a local guitar player in the punk band Els Surfing Sirles who died of a stroke at the age of 34. He was apparently considered to be sort of the “punk intellectual” of the neighborhood, very involved in local affairs, thus the plaza is named for him as a “patriot of Vallcarca”:

A Walk Through Vallcarca, #11, Barcelona, 2021

More art at the corner of Carrer de l’Argentera and Carrer de la Farigola…

A Walk Through Vallcarca, #12, Barcelona, 2021

“Vallcarca for the people!”

A Walk Through Vallcarca, #13, Barcelona, 2021

And some adjacent art panels by the same group of artists (Turkesa, Sendys, Puke, Shaggy, Cayn). At the top right, you can see a home-made plaque that renames this empty lot to Plaça Pastoca (?????):

A Walk Through Vallcarca, #14, Barcelona, 2021

“Let’s build the Vallcarca we want… [and] Tourists, this is a conflict zone…“:

A Walk Through Vallcarca, #16, Barcelona, 2021

Another perspective, the corner of the busy Avinguda de Vallcarca and the tiny Carrer de l’Argentera, a few yards from the Vallcarca Metro stop:

A Walk Through Vallcarca, #17, Barcelona, 2021

In Catalan: “We want to live in peace… enough demolition…” A right-wing tagger has written “Viva España” at the bottom left to piss off the Catalan separatists, and, sure enough, a Catalan independentista has followed up with a swastika aimed back at the right-winger:

A Walk Through Vallcarca, #18, Barcelona, 2021

Perhaps a pair of urbanites dreaming of life in a more natural world?

A Walk Through Vallcarca, #19, Barcelona, 2021