Time Out at 40

Calixto Bieto | Quim Monzó | Jaume Plensa

Quim Monzó

Quim Monzó
With a great sense of humour and a radically ironic spirit, Quim Monzó is the most international Catalan writer. His stories, books and collections of articles have been translated into more than 20 languages.

Which people do you think have contributed to creating the Barcelona we know today?
All of the people that have lived here, from the Romans who founded the first city to the latest nobody that’s just arrived. I don’t like at all many of the things that have been done recently, I think they’re disgraceful. The Barcelona that came into being as a result of the 1992 Olympic Games makes me feel ashamed. It’s become a whore that’s sold to the tourists without the slightest sense of decency.

What place do you love most in Barcelona?
All the neighbourhoods that have managed to preserve a little of their own character and aren’t permanently invaded by bloody tourists. Nous Barris, some places in Sants, Sant Andreu, out of the way spots... I like to walk down streets where there are still people from Barcelona, people who have yet to be evicted to make way for hotel after hotel with the collusion of those in power.

Let’s imagine that all the tourists suddenly disappeared from Barcelona and the only ones left were people that live here. What would you like to recover?
I’ve seen some wonderful graffiti at Plaça Catalunya and areas where there are tourist buses saying 'Tourist you are the terrorist', together with the image of a broken photo camera... I’d like to take back the city centre, the old city. All European cities have a centre, but some of them have been stolen from us. Feature continues

What’s your opinion of the urban planning process of opening up the city to the sea that came about with the 1992 Olympic Games?
I think it was a good idea because now the seafront is being walled off again by construction work. I don’t know why they opened it up if they’re now building hotels after hotel so that it’s impossible to see the sea once again. We’ve taken a step backwards.

How do you see Barcelona in 40 years?
I’d like to see it experiencing an economic crisis that would make all those hotels close down – a period of enormous poverty. I want to see all those Erasmus students that live here freeloading on their parents’ money fuck off, to see the universities in crisis and for Barcelona to lose a million inhabitants. That’s the city I’d like to see.

What colour is Barcelona for you?
Do you think I’ve got an illness that only lets me see one colour? You say the strangest things... I see Barcelona in many colours.

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Calixto Bieto | Quim Monzó | Jaume Plensa