Barcelona continues to award its most prestigious civic honour using a physical design imposed by the Franco regime in 1940. Therefore, the City Council is now debating a proposal to restore the original 1930 aesthetic, created by the sculptor Enric Casanovas, as an act of historical reparation. This discussion focuses on the Barcelona Gold Medal design restoration.
The current Barcelona Gold Medal design was introduced after the Civil War to replace Casanovas’s work. Consequently, the authoritarian government of the time discarded the original medal because Casanovas was a committed republican and anti-fascist who had been forced into exile. In its place, they commissioned a new version by Frederic Marès, which remains the official standard today.
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Home » Barcelona Gold Medal Design: Council Debates Restoring Original 1930 Version
Barcelona Gold Medal design restoration: A question of democratic justice
Esquerra Republicana (ERC) has formally requested the change, arguing that the city must stop using symbols inherited from the dictatorship. Meanwhile, Rosa Suriñach, an ERC councillor, described the move as an act of “democratic justice”. She stated that it is difficult to justify why, 50 years after the dictator’s death, the city continues to present an award styled by a Francoist administration.
Suriñach emphasised that the debate is not merely about a metal object, but about the institutional narrative the city chooses to project. In addition, the party argues that retaining the Marès design signals a refusal to fully revise the regime’s legacy. However, restoring the Casanovas model would honour the continuity of democratic values. This discussion is part of a broader conversation about the evolution of Barcelona’s public spaces and symbols over the centuries.
Precedent for Barcelona Gold Medal design restoration
The council has already recognised the validity of the original design on one exceptional occasion. For example, in December 2019, the city awarded the Gold Medal posthumously to the linguist Pompeu Fabra. Fabra had been granted the honour in 1938 but never received it due to his exile.
For the 2019 ceremony, the city commissioned a special one-off strike of the Casanovas medal. Technicians created a mould using the very first medal ever awarded—preserved in the Barcelona City History Museum—to ensure authenticity. Officials at the time described this as a necessary act of reparation for Fabra, though the regulations remained unchanged for all other recipients.
Expert opinion and future options for the medal
Art historians confirm that the original suppression of the Casanovas medal was purely political. Rossend Casanova, president of the Catalan Numismatic Studies Society, told La Vanguardia that the 1930 design predates the Republic and was actually created under the monarchy of Alfonso XIII. However, the sculptor’s personal political stance led the 1940 authorities to reject his work.
Casanova noted that while both the 1930 and 1940 medals are aesthetically accomplished, the current version lacks moral legitimacy because it was imposed by force rather than procedure. Furthermore, he suggested that if the council wishes to avoid a binary choice between the two eras, a third option would be to launch a public competition for a completely new medal that reflects the reality of Barcelona today. For more on historical symbolism, see the British Museum’s collection.
The Presidency committee is scheduled to vote on the proposal this week. Ultimately, this will determine whether the 1930 design will become the official standard once again.
Apply to join our community of Entrepreneurs, Senior Executives and Founders at Bizcelona .
