The Government buys Casa Gomis to open a cultural center

Manifesta will leave a legacy. The contemporary art biennial opted to look beyond Barcelona in this year's edition and opened the doors of metropolitan spaces such as Casa Gomis, a rationalist jewel threatened by the expansion of Barcelona Airport. Unknown to the vast majority, visitors entered an oasis located in the natural area of La Ricarda, with planes constantly interrupting, making the ground tremble and filling everything with noise every few seconds.

Following the success of Manifesta, the Ministry of Culture has decided to acquire the property to open a cultural center and create a stable program of visits. This expands the use it has had until now. Beyond the biennial, previously, the El Prat de Llobregat City Council periodically organized guided tours. Accompanied by one of the descendants of the Gomis family, the owners of the space, Minister Ernest Urtasun has defended that the purchase has "solely the objective of guaranteeing the preservation of a heritage jewel," without evaluating how it may affect the plans to expand the airport, which have been frozen for some time.

The operation has been closed for an amount of 7.2 million euros. The Government, together with the Generalitat and the El Prat City Council, will now begin a process to define how the management of the new stage at Casa Gomis will be. Designed by architect Antoni Bonet, it was built in 1957 on a large estate located by the sea, in the middle of a pine forest, now urbanistically protected by the Natura 2000 Network. Its most characteristic element is a large vault that serves as a roof and reinterprets the historic and traditional Catalan vault. Commissioned by the marriage of Ricardo Gomis and Inés Bertrand, the space served as a refuge for artists such as Antoni Tàpies, Joan Miró, Joan Brossa, and John Cage during the dictatorship. In 2021, the Generalitat declared it a Cultural Asset of National Interest.