Marc Ravalajas y el zoo de Barcelona
Reproducimos la entrevista de Lena Widget a Marc Ravalajas en la revista de tendencias BCN Week. En ésta explica su visión de Barcelona y otras sutilezas.
We were searching for an outspoken Barcelonan who’d lived in the old
town long enough to see it changing when we were pointed towards
Marc. “That’s your guy,” he’d said—and left it at that. Curious, we meet
Marc on a cloudy afternoon at a restaurant around the corner from his
flat where he’s eating an 8¤ menu. Marc is Catalan, born and bred. His
black hair is sprinkled with grey. He’s wearing Birkenstocks, a stripy
black and white T-shirt and Lee jeans. He works with computers and
databases during the day and when he comes home, he comes home
to the Raval.
What have been the hallmarks in Barcelona’s development during
the last 20 years?
It might sound like a joke, but the Olympic Games and the Forum have
been nothing more than a smoke screen. What has been most
important is the secret extension of the Zoo towards the Ciutat Vella.
What do you mean by the extension of the Zoo?
Nowadays, you find endemic species, like the human statues that only
occur in similar habitats: watering places of international standing like
Starbucks and international feeding troughs aka Scottish fast-food
chains (note: he means McDonald’s). Other primeval specimens
threatened by extinction that appeal less to the visitors, like the
drunken grandpa or the impudent whore, have been pushed to the
periphery of the park. (Smiles) The amplification and the Carta Cívica
are nothing more than a redecoration of the cages. If you look at it
from this perspective you have to admit its success. (Smiles broadly)
Do you think Barcelona is still cool?
Barcelona was cool in the 80s when el disseny erupted with force and
changed the grays of a mediocre city for the neon lights and blazing
colors of a radical modernity. That anchored Barcelona’s brand, which
was later projected during the Olympic Games and the Fórum.
And then what happened?
The first people who took the bait believed themselves to be the
pioneers, the heroes in the discovery of a new city; as all the holiday
makers have dragged their sandals along Las Ramblas and bought
their standard wear at Zara, Barcelona has become less and less
exclusive and fashionable. As for the mid-term residents who live their
personal down-and-out in Mataró and Barcelona and who stay solely
among themselves: they may as well be in Haifa. So run and begin
Haifa Week—the last to arrive is the first to regret.
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Comment by marc
# Thursday 21/Sep/06,
Calumnias, no son más que malas interpretaciones y calumnias … A pesar del buen oficio de la reportera, que hizo lo que pudo para dignificar al vil Ravalajas, lo único bueno es alguna idea robada al maestro, como la de los restaurantes escoceses; el resto, pamplinas.
Comment by penguin
# Friday 22/Sep/06,
Home, si el tal RAVALAJAS és qui jo jo penso, la reportera ha encertat la primera, la última i una lletra del mig del cognom. Tres de nou. 33% d’encert, no està mal! Espero que la resta de transcripcions superessin al menys el 50% …