A 1912 Barcelona tourism advert shows how different the city’s priorities were back then. Urban anthropologist José Mansilla dug up the footage for his students, and it reveals Barcelona wanted wealthy international visitors, not mass tourism.
The advert was made just three years after the Setmana Tràgica uprising in 1909. At that point, Spain was still adjusting to losing its American colonies. Barcelona was Spain’s industrial heart, but the video doesn’t show that reality.
Instead, the film highlights grand buildings like the Customs House and shows Parc de la Ciutadella completely empty. There are no working-class people, no Raval neighbourhood, and no factories. Tibidabo amusement park appears with well-dressed visitors enjoying the rides.
Estic preparant les classes pel nou curs i enguany començarem amb aquest vídeo: És un petit documental (extracte) del que l'Aj. de Barcelona mostrava als possibles turistes.
Molt del gust de l'època i la classe social a la qual era dirigida. 'Barcelona. Perla del Mediterráneo' pic.twitter.com/9gA5Ji5ve9— Jose Mansilla (@antroperplejo) September 9, 2025
It shows which Barcelona they wanted to present and what type of visitor they wanted to attract, Mansilla explains. There’s no overcrowded Barcelona or working-class people. The Raval and factories don’t appear, even though factories were the main economic engine.
Meanwhile, the advert sold the city as safe and monumental, targeting the bourgeoisie. Only wealthy people could afford to travel in 1912.
Barcelona’s tourism went through three major shifts. First came the loss of Spanish colonies, when Catalan bourgeoisie brought money back from former colonies in 1989. The second shift arrived with the welfare state and Barcelona Olympics, bringing mass working-class tourism after World War II.
The third turning point came under Mayor Xavier Trias, who saw tourism as a way out of the 2008 economic crisis. Last year, over eight million tourists stayed in Barcelona hotels. Right now, tourism ranks as residents’ third-biggest concern, behind only insecurity and housing access.
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