Somewhere in the city it is necessary that ties be worn

He warned me that he would dress for the occasion. When he enters the living room where we are waiting for him, something between his twenty-one-button blue suit and his new-shoes-kid smile illuminates the air and almost makes Julia by Ramon Casas rise from her forgiving artichoke-like posture.

Paco Gaudier has a perfect verticality when standing, he would seem like a man with his tie in his gesture and with a permanent noblesse oblige, but his gaze sparkles like a sip of cava. We are in one of the most reserved and historic clubs in the city, and despite everything, the treatment is close and down-to-earth. Any discipline (sport, art...) has its elite. Barcelona's social life, of course, also has its own.

--- What does a Circle like this do in a city like Barcelona?

--- There's nothing new: we've been around for 175 years. Welcome.

--- What are you, then?

--- I like to say that we are a bulwark of civilization, which aims to disseminate culture among its members. Especially music, of course, for some reason we are neighbors of the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

--- Is the mission cultural dissemination?

--- Our first statutes already say so. We were born as a social club, but always with this permanent task.

--- Are you an elitist club?

--- Like the Liceu, no less. Although it is a public theater, it also has its entry barriers: opera does not have the same price as other types of shows. Like being a member of Barça, which also means being part of a private club.

--- So it's open to everyone?

--- Not everyone fits here. I mean physically. Our main limitation is space, as is also the case with the Polo, and that is why we must find a balance between being open and being a club. A football club also has its capacity limitations, although infinitely smaller.

"Not everyone fits here. Our main limitation is space and that is why we must find a balance between being open and being a club"

--- Don't think, we only ask for two endorsements from two members, and that an admission committee approves the application. There are usually no problems.

--- Never?

--- Well, let's see: you already know what you're coming for. If you don't like a place where they require a jacket and tie, perhaps you have a thousand other places to go.

--- Is the jacket and tie rule maintained?

--- It must be maintained somewhere. In fact, the youngest members are the ones who most demand that it be maintained. They see it as a space where they can behave differently from the usual.

--- Does a tie mark an attitude?

--- A tie makes you behave differently, yes.

--- Like writing with one typeface or another.

--- It's irrational, but it's undeniable.

"A tie makes you behave differently"

--- It's not exactly our merit, we don't have a collector's spirit. It simply turns out that among our members there have been many types of people and some succeeded in decorating with the best artists of their time. Ramon Casas and Rusiñol still maintain a very high value, and give us immense prestige.

--- And having preserved it.

--- We survived the Civil War. The famous Rotonda de Casas, these modernist furniture pieces, all of this didn't have to survive the occupation by the unions. The fact is that even they respected our architecture and artistic heritage.

--- What are the advantages of being a member?

--- The same rights as someone who joined fifty years ago, there are no seniority privileges. I warn that there are no advantages with tickets for the opera, because since our foundation the Gran Teatre operates separately.

--- The privilege would be being able to enter here.

--- The privilege is that we are here, exactly. Like living, which is also a luxury.

--- I don't know if at the new women's club Juno House they admit men.

--- We have been admitting women for a long time now. In fact, there is a club associated with us, in New York, where men are banned. Nothing happens, they have their rules. As for Juno, let them do what they believe. I don't have to get involved, right?

--- How do you see Barcelona today?

--- Despite all the criticism, it is a city that shines. Just look at Paseo de Gràcia: first it was a promenade of local shops, then it hosted several banks and the Drugstore, and now it is a place where you find luxury brands from all over the world. The Olympic Games and the opening to the sea helped this impulse, but that was a long time ago, and I am still in love with the city. It is perfect for living: I considered living elsewhere, in Valencia, Paris, Rome, Milan, Nice, but they were either too cold or too localist or too little dynamic. I really don't see anywhere else but Barcelona!

"I considered living elsewhere, in Valencia, Paris, Rome, Milan, Nice, but they were either too cold or too localist or too little dynamic"

--- Every big city has security or cleanliness problems, but we really don't value it much. Those who come from outside value it much more, indeed. Perhaps the gardening is a bit neglected, but visitors from outside tell me that the city is generally clean!

--- What else does the Círculo need to offer?

--- Perhaps it would be good to be able to offer rooms in the future. Like other international English-style clubs we are associated with, or like the Ecuestre.

--- What you do have is a new terrace.

--- From the time of the pandemic! Since there were few theatrical performances, we had to think of some new incentive for the members. And now we have a magnificent terrace with views of La Rambla! Just as Holland gained land in the sea, we have gained land in the sky.

--- And seventeen clubs.

--- And very dynamic. Each one carries out at least one activity a month. Really, this is now the opposite of an elitist cemetery.

"The Círculo del Liceo is now the opposite of an elitist cemetery"

--- With the masked ball, the Circle wanted to open up even more and attract new members. It didn't work enough. What we are, however, is a club updated in technological terms, in connection, in tools for young members. The "dandruff" thing no longer serves to try to define us.

--- Círculo del Liceo, Círculo Ecuestre, Real Círculo Artístico, Círculo de Economía… the circular city!

--- Mr. Borja García Nieto has promoted the C16, which brings together all the presidents of the sixteen prominent clubs in the city. We are more than connected right now. Now the Barcelona circle is almost one.

"The C16 has been promoted, which brings together all the presidents of the sixteen prominent clubs in the city"

--- Growth must be done with prudence, I have already told you that the space is what it is.

--- But we have to move forward, right?

--- Now, to maintain ourselves, in any case. If we maintain ourselves, I'm satisfied.