Walter Finch
PLANS to turn one of Barcelona’s most famous cinemas into a new Thyssen museum have sparked fury among residents, who claim the project is property speculation dressed up as culture.
The Federation of Neighbourhood Associations of Barcelona (FAVB) is leading opposition to the nine-storey scheme at the former Cinema Comedia in the city’s Eixample district, accusing developers of trying to cash in on a historic site while destroying its heritage.
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.
“This is a speculative property operation disguised as a museum,” said FAVB president Miquel Borras, who says the balance between culture and commerce is completely skewed.
The Thyssen name carries weight in Spain.
The Thyssen-Bornemisza family is one of Europe’s great art-collecting dynasties, and its collections form the backbone of major museums in Madrid and Malaga, the latter proving a huge draw for Costa del Sol tourists since opening in 2011.
Barcelona’s museum would be part of the same network, billed as a cultural flagship but increasingly criticised by residents as a Trojan horse for commercial development.
A manifesto signed by nearly a thousand residents and 49 organisations argues that the project breaches planning rules, exceeds height and depth limits, and ignores official 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.
The Cinema Comedia building holds a special place in local memory, having been a beloved cultural landmark before closing in recent years.
Its transformation into a Thyssen museum was billed as a major cultural boost for Barcelona.
Instead, it has become the latest flashpoint in a long-running battle over gentrification, heritage and who really benefits from the city’s grand development projects.
Barcelona City Council began processing the planning modifications in July and has until late September to decide whether to press ahead in the face of growing opposition.
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