The tedious parsimony of Barcelona's current events has suffered an earthquake; as some fellow citizens know (well, that's not true; most are unaware and don't care) a ship from between the 15th and 16th centuries has emerged from the excavations carried out in the old Mercat del Peix, in the middle of the future research complex that will be housed there, next to the Ciutadella campus of Pompeu Fabra. The city's archaeologists ---especially the director of the discovery, Santiago Palacios--- have received the news with genuine orgasms of pleasure, as the piece in question is a skeleton about ten meters long and three meters wide, of an unusual size for this type of discovery. Due to its location (about five meters below sea level), it is believed that this ship, christened Ciutadella I, will be fundamental in discovering the navigation systems of our city during the medieval era.
At home, we are enthusiastic and it's not the first time, because we often visit the MUHBA (one of the best-managed museums in the city... and least crowded); there we have already seen on many occasions the beautiful backbone of the port side of the Barceloneta I ship, which was found in 2008 during the works of the Baluard del Migdia, next to Estación de França. Apart from contemplating the beautiful hull, which looks like the scorched spine of a dead whale, that discovery was already transcendental, as it allowed us to imagine what the complete ships of the time were like and, I must insist, also to investigate Barcelona's role as a central hub of Mediterranean trade. Now we will have to let the restorers of Ciutadella I work, true artisans of resurrection; they have a difficult task, because bringing that very humid wood back to life requires robotic surgery and Spartan patience.
For all these reasons, and apart from the historical importance of the event, I ask our eminent photographers to quickly go to the Mercat del Peix to portray the discovery. Because it turns out to be a real marvel to see the contrast between the future underground parking of a scientific complex with the construction works partially stopped (one of those stone holes overflowing with tentacular cables, metal fences, and tons of cement, like that crater of the World Trade Center where I so liked to walk) due to the simple majestic presence of this wooden backbone that reminds us of our centuries of glory. It is fantastic, and forgive me for being corny, to manifest how scientific modernity and the unrestrained construction of a giant infrastructure can be stopped by the work and grace of the irruption of the past, with an object that still preserves the aura of time.
I hope that our titanic restorers will succeed and be able to save the basic structure of Ciutadella I, not only because it will tell us more about the maritime ambition of the people of Barcelona (remember that our city already built artificial breakwaters in 1439, no joke!), but also because they will save an object from the past that, in its time, was as avant-garde as the molecular and genetic pirouettes that the scientists of Pompeu will be able to devise. It is magnificent that Barcelona stands out in fields such as evolutionary biology and sustainable architecture, but it is also very important that ---when a historical example of an earlier avant-garde, as or more crazy than that of our researchers, is found--- one stops machines on the works and convenes our archaeologists to save it for us. Without knowing one's own history, innovating is pure snobbery.
A ship has been found. This is, without a doubt, the news of the week, infinitely superior to any contingency of our horrifying municipal political life or the usual traffic incidents. We have found a ship, it will be ours forever, it will allow us to know where we come from; and, much more importantly, we will also know where we wanted to go.