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Plans to transform one of Barcelona’s best-known cinemas into the new Thyssen museum has sparked anger among locals, who say that it is nothing but property speculation masquerading as culture.
The Federation of Neighbourhood Associations of Barcelona is leading the opposition against the nine-storey project at the former Cinema Comedia, in the city’s Eixample District. Developers are accused of trying to profit from a historical site while destroying it.
Locals say the project would gut the original Palau Marcet building, leaving only its facades as ‘decoration’ for a vast new complex that will include shops and restaurants alongside exhibition spaces.
The balance between commerce and culture is completely off, according to FAVB President Miquel Borras.
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In Spain, Thyssen has a strong reputation.
Thyssen Bornemisza, one of Europe’s most important art collectors, has left behind a legacy of museums in Madrid and Malaga. The latter, which opened in 2011, is a major attraction for tourists on the Costa del Sol.
Barcelona’s museum will be part of this network. It is marketed as an icon for culture, but residents are increasingly critical as it is a Trojan horse to promote commercial development.
In a manifesto signed nearly 1,000 residents and 49 organizations, they claim that the project violates planning rules, goes beyond height and depth limitations, and ignores heritage guidelines.
Among the biggest complaints is that at least a quarter of the site is earmarked for luxury retail – a move opponents call wildly inappropriate for such an ‘iconic corner’ of the city.
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Critics also slam the proposed ‘brutalist’ architecture as out of place in the elegant Eixample, and point out that no detailed museum plan has been published to show how much space will actually be given over to art.
Cinema Comedia is a local landmark that has a special place. It was a cultural landmark for many years before it closed in recent times.
Barcelona was touted as benefiting from a major cultural boost with the museum’s transformation.
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The city has been roiled by a long-running debate over gentrification, the preservation of heritage, and who is really benefiting from its grand development projects.
Barcelona City Council has until the end of September to decide if it will continue with the plan despite growing opposition.
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