Centenary businesses claim themselves as human heritage of Barcelona

Now just over a year ago, on March 7, 2023, the Llotja de Mar in Barcelona hosted an institutional event that went largely unnoticed. So much so, as the repercussions, as of today, of what was done there. That day, representatives of emblematic commerce from the cities of Rome, Paris, and Lisbon signed the Barcelona Declaration on the preservation and promotion of emblematic commercial establishments. The event was presented as the I International Conference on Emblematic Commerce in European Cities.

Montserrat Ballarín, from the Barcelona City Council; Diogo Moura, Councilor for Economy, Innovation and Culture of Lisbon; Olivia Polski, Deputy Mayor of the Paris City Council, with responsibilities in commerce and crafts; and Monica Lucarelli, Advisor for Productive Activities of Rome agreed in Barcelona to articulate an international network to promote the exchange of experiences, building an alliance between the four cities to share solutions, knowledge, and good practices. They thus recognized the key role of local government in leading the valuation and protection of these establishments and the suitability of a common support strategy at the European and international level.

Promoting the economic viability, the heritage conservation of historical commerce, and the commercial role of the lifelong store means preserving the most unique identity of each city, a way for people to relate, and a contribution to sustainability, with local shopping. For this reason, the declaration signed in Barcelona also speaks of urging the European Parliament to recognize the value of these establishments in the identity of Europe.

For now, the one who has already made a move to protect the uniqueness of Barcelona's centenary shops has been the Association of Emblematic Establishments which, according to the lawyer and secretary of this entity, historian Josep Cruanyes, has presented allegations to officials of the Generalitat's Department of Culture to include in the revision of the current Heritage Law. In them, the owners of the centenary businesses ask that this law include, in addition to the cultural heritage of the first version, intangible heritage, within the cultural assets of national interest with the category of historical. "We want to include the same concept with which UNESCO also began to protect, on a global scale, the intangible forms that shape the history and idiosyncrasy of peoples, traditions and ways of working and living, such as, for example, the 'fallas' festival, in the Pyrenees, which recalls how wood was transported from the forests," specifies Josep Cruanyes.

The most unique historical establishments in Barcelona thus claim, not only the protection of the spaces of this ancestral urban commerce, but also, and above all, the activity that several generations of the same family have inherited, serving successive generations of customers. Protecting the activity as a way of relating, living and working, in workshops and artisan workshops, and with specialized attention behind the counter is what is sought by aspiring to achieve the institutional recognition of centenary and unique shops as collective intangible heritage assets.

As the lawyer of the association that brings together some fifty historical and unique businesses in Barcelona ---out of a total of just over sixty that are open--- points out, "intangible heritage is not just an element of tradition. In the case of shops, these are part of the physiognomy of our cities and our country, of their identity as a people and, ultimately, of the quality of life of our fellow citizens, since they also form part of the customs and ways of life that characterize and distinguish us before the world."

Places of memory

The walls of the Ganiveteria Roca, in Plaça del Pi, not only display, as they have for decades, a complete universe of cutting tools, razors, scissors, and knives for professional and domestic use. The entire space holds a large piece of the city's history and of the people who had lived in the neighborhood. Also of many customers who had butcher shops, fishmongers, and other businesses in other neighborhoods of Barcelona and in other towns everywhere. Knowing that everything is there and that you are advised by a person who knows the trades, the materials they sell, who knows how to hit the mark with the product as a solution, is what dignifies, gives meaning, and makes necessary the continuity of activity in the city's historic establishments.

Centuries-old shops are not part of any open-air museum, although some may also consider this function. These shops are the life that starts every morning on the street, a service to people, neighbors and from further afield, the way of life of their owners, but, above all, the perpetuation of a centuries-old dedication passed down from generation to generation, a trade that endures, and a relational link of the city with people, at street level.

Favoring the economic viability, the patrimonial conservation of historical commerce and the commercial role of the lifelong shop means preserving the most unique identity of each city, a way for people to relate and a contribution to sustainability, with local shopping

From sewing machines at home where the first hats were made of the Sombrereria Mil,in the workshop on Moles Street, 31-33, where today the fifth generation of this family designs and manufactures caps, hats, berets, and barretinas, more than 160 years have passed. And the store of this saga of hatmakers, at number 20 on Fontanella Street, opened to the public in 1917. Núria Arnau Roldós is at the head of the business. She cries out to heaven to be able to to continue negotiating an affordable rent for its centenary store, because he has already seen how other businesses as historic as his own had to close down for this reason. Municipal recognition as emblematic businesses does nothing in this regard; this is the struggle of each owner, although, every time one closes, the city also loses.

Barcelona loses in essence, in character and personality, which is what lifelong businesses bring out in its streets. "It worries me a lot that when a historic store closes, franchises open that are the same everywhere, in this and other cities. The rental of the most central premises to the highest bidder leaves us unprotected," laments Núria Arnau.

At Droguería Rovira, it is already the fourth generation attending behind the counter. They dispatch cleaning products, some with their own formulas that embody wisdom and experience from many years helping to remove stains, odors and prolonging the life of furniture and household items. They were pioneers in domestic recycling and have solutions and advice for every need. Building neighborhood and city, the great variety of items they have for sale give life to this centenary business that last year received the Premi Nacional de Comerç from the Generalitat de Catalunya.

For all these establishments, from the Association of Emblematic Establishments, chaired by Josep Maria Roig, protection is requested beyond their facades as a tourist attraction. "It is our activity inside these establishments that gives them meaning, and it is the viability of this activity that needs protection, but for that, it is necessary for it to be valued by the public administration itself, by the government of the city and of Catalonia," he points out. Roig is the owner of the pastry shop La Colmena, in Plaça de l'Àngel, making sweets since 1849.

Josep Maria Roig was one of the merchants present at the event that brought together the best intentions of the representatives of emblematic commerce from Rome, Paris, and Lisbon, a year ago at the Llotja de Mar. Of all the associations represented, Roig states, "Barcelona is the city in Southern Europe that preserves the most centenary and unique establishments." And he specifies: "Bars and bistros that Paris, for example, might have are another matter, but in terms of shops with counters and artisanal products, Barcelona is the city with the most historical businesses still open." The Granja Viader, where Cacaolat was born, the pharmacies Galup, Franqueza, Puigoriol, the bar Quimet d'Horta, the fresh pasta makers since 1904 of La Italiana, the herbalists Llobet y Llansà, Casa Beethoven, and almost sixty other establishments are part of the Route of the Emblematic Businesses of Catalonia.

A great contradiction, as stated by the secretary of emblematic establishments, Josep Cruanyes, is that we have "a city with a lot of tourism, which seeks what is differential, but Barcelona, by losing its historical and unique commerce, is losing this most differential trait. What defines the city's personality should not be destroyed and, therefore, the necessary tools must be ensured."

Local commerce and merchant associations are considered in the European sphere as prescribers of sustainability, which can help disseminate awareness and commitment to the 2030 Agenda that establishes the Sustainable Development Goals pointed out by the United Nations. To raise awareness about the importance of this local commerce, as a key activity to strengthen communities and local economies, Europe designated May 9, 2019, as the first European Local Commerce Day. And along the same lines, different administrations—European, state, Catalan, and Barcelona—have worked on the project of European Capital of Local Commerce, which is expected to be implemented next year, with Barcelona's candidacy to inaugurate it.