Like most Barcelona residents ---and citizens of the world in general---, yours truly has no idea what the America's Cup is. In fact, who knows if like most Barcelona residents ---and citizens of the world in general--- I discovered this mega sailing competition by lazy diving on Netflix and enjoying like a teenager the documentary Untold: The Race of the Century, a wonderful film by Chapman Way about the historic usurpation of this trophy (ancestorally deposited in the chambers of the New York Yacht Club) by the grace of the Australia II crew. Like most Barcelona residents ---and citizens of the world in general--- I have learned that the America's Cup is a very important event (and forgive the easy joke), one of those sporting extravaganzas that make the concept "the world is watching us" a reality and that, in turn, we must fervently applaud, as it entails a ton and a half of hotel stays and visitors willing to spend calerons.
Like most of my city's fellow citizens ---and especially, those in the neighborhoods most affected by the race in question, such as Barceloneta--- I have had the audacity to think that this America's Cup is nothing more than a group of posh billionaires happily playing the fool with sailboats as technologically advanced as a Formula 1 car. The temptation is strong if one only looks at the entourage of this event, full of people with African bracelets on their wrists and an unprecedented dose of influencers (hip sway, puckered lips ready to kiss, freshness and super energy in the city) per square meter. But I have heard all these prejudices cited almost identically when talking about the sport I have practiced for almost thirty years (the most noble art of fencing) and, therefore, I tend to distrust disqualifications that smell too much of social resentment, even more so if people keep them to themselves when talking about sports like football, which move many more tons of money.
My sailing friends ---I have many and from all social conditions--- tell me that hosting an event like this is magnificent for sports fans and also has an important effect in generating new enthusiasts. In this sense, most Catalan sailing clubs (and they are not few nor sportingly irrelevant) are delighted with the arrival of the America's Cup in the city; in fact, if any amendment is necessary, fans of sailing in general regret that the City Council has carried out a much more tourist-economic promotion of the competition than strictly sporting. It is normal for many fellow citizens to criticize the inconveniences that a spectacle like this can generate (I would say, however, that the residents of Barceloneta protest much more about the state of the neighborhood than about the pomp itself...), but it is also necessary to say that the inconveniences caused seem scarce and that we have too many people who have turned grievance into a profession.
On the other hand, it is also undeniable to highlight that the city has entered into a policy of international events that ---beyond leaving an important mark in Barcelona and for Barcelonans--- dangerously bring us closer to models like the Valencian one. Too often, we embrace the America's Cup or a Formula 1 Grand Prix with the little song of "what is left in Barcelona" while we forget (yes, I'm going to invoke Olympic nostalgia!) what Barcelona and only Barcelona can offer the world. I perfectly understand that opening up to the world must involve strengthening one's own identity. In this sense, and I insist, I would say that the anger of the residents does not stem from the America's Cup, but from the clash that occurs when seeing a city that sells itself to the world like a bonbon but that every day is more uncomfortable, aggressive, and expensive for its natives. This anger does not seem artificial to me and I would say that the administration does not attend to it with sufficient care.
That said, however boring the sailing thing may seem to us, we will go down to Barceloneta to see from afar those huge boats that look like giant spiders from a comic, and I would say that ---when October arrives--- we will continue without really knowing what the America's Cup is about. The inhabitants of the adjacent neighborhoods will pray, at least, that the world's sailing fans are somewhat more polite (and less noisy) than football and sports fans in general.