When the Season Never Ends
When I first read about the protest against the expansion of Barcelona’s airport, my reaction was very simple: why?
On the surface, a bigger and better-connected El Prat sounds like good news. Better infrastructure, more capacity, easier connections. As someone who uses the airport regularly, I can see the appeal immediately.
But that is the passenger’s perspective.
On 20 September, thousands of people marched through Barcelona against the planned expansion of El Prat. Among the arguments raised by the organisers were the environmental impact on the Llobregat Delta and the prospect of adding even more pressure to a city already struggling with mass tourism. ARA
And that made me think about a photograph I took last Christmas Eve.
Above the street, the Christmas lights spelled out BARCELONA in red. Below them, people kept moving through the city, some with luggage. I wanted the photograph to capture movement rather than faces: the people closest to the camera blur as they pass, while the city’s name remains sharp above them.
I called the photograph Silent Night.
The title was ironic.
Barcelona does have a high season and a lower season, of course. But it is increasingly difficult to speak of a real off-season. The Sagrada Família does not stop being the Sagrada Família in December. The Ramblas do not suddenly become quiet local streets. Even on Christmas Eve, people are still arriving, leaving, photographing, moving through the city.
That is why the airport question is more complicated than it first appears.
From inside an airport, greater capacity means convenience. From inside a city that already receives enormous numbers of visitors, greater capacity has another meaning too.
The protest made me realise that my first reaction had been shaped entirely by the first perspective. I was thinking about how easily I could get somewhere.
Not about how many more people Barcelona needs to receive.
Perhaps that is the more interesting question: what does “better connected” mean for a city in which the season never really ends?
Read more: Environmentalists, social and neighborhood entities demonstrate in Barcelona against the expansion of El Prat airport — ARA
