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Barcelona, The City of Prodigies

The name ‘City of Prodigies’ was given to Barcelona by the Spanish author Eduardo Mendoza Garriga in his novel of the same name, La Ciudad de los Prodigios. In this piece of historic fiction, Mendoza describes the period of time between the two Universal Exhibitions, which took place in Barcelona around the turn of the 20th century. According to him, this corresponds to the time when Barcelona truly established itself as one of the leading cultural and economic powerhouses in Spain and Europe.

Around this time was also when the movement known as Catalan Modernism flourished in and around Barcelona. The most famous of the architects to ascribe to the principles of Modernism was undoubtedly Antoni Gaudí – designer of not only the world famous Sagrada Família, but also Park Güell and Casa Batlló. However, others such as Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Josep Puig i Cadafalch were also at the forefront of architectural innovation in Catalonia and Europe at that era.

However, this was also a time of political upheaval and conflicting ideologies, which ultimately came to a head during the Spanish Civil War. Whether looking at its thriving intellectual and artistic community, or the political revolutionaries, who marked the beginning of the 20th century in Barcelona, it is easy to see why this was a defining period in the city’s – and Spain’s – history. Mendoza’s novel served both as a homage to this great city and a reflection on the moment it became the great European city it is today.