Barcelona
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Spain: Cities gasping for air
9 February 2011PresseuropPúblico -
Spain: Barcelona, 7 million visitors can't be wrong
20 December 2010PresseuropEl Periódico de Catalunya -
Spain: Sagrada Familia survives the tunnel
13 October 2010PresseuropEl Periódico de Catalunya -
Cities: The spirit of urban renewal
8 September 201085 La Stampa Turin -
Cities: Artists – the vanguard of gentrification
16 July 20104112 Die Zeit Hamburg -
Spain: The blight on Barcelona
4 November 200924 Le Monde Paris -
trends: Barcelona bliss for all kinds of Italians
23 July 200920 La Repubblica Rome
A number of declining ex-industrial European cities like Bilbao, Berlin and Lille have succeeded in using culture to buck the downward trend. But a fancy new opera house or mega-museum is not enough to kindle the urban renewal dynamic: an open mind for the unexpected and even inefficient is also an indispensable ingredient.
In virtually every major European city, long-established locals and artists are fighting against the gentrification of their neighbourhoods. But the arty types are falling out of favour, observes the author Tanja Dückers. No longer hailed as the rebellious vanguard, they are actually bent on joining the establishment.
Over the past 20 years the Catalan capital has been building up its image as a rich, modern, dynamic city where the living is good. But there are limits to what urban marketing can do, and several recent scandals have tarnished this glowing reputation, much to the local authorities’ dismay. 
Barcelona attracts more and more Italians, who this year make up the biggest foreign community in the Catalonian capital. Young people are particularly drawn to its congenial setting and economic dynamism. But the region has also become a refuge for the heads of the Italian Camorra, alerts La Repubblica.