This city and this country recurrently suffer attacks of melancholy. The idealization of the past is part of the genetics of all nationalisms, especially those that do not have a State at their service. The revolutionary epic also tends to keep in memory some overrated episodes that ended in failure. The streets of Barcelona still bear traces of the defeat of 1714 and the Tragic Week. It is more difficult to find memories of the stellar moments of that same history, such as the late industrial revolution of the 19th century or the impressive task of creating public infrastructures by the Mancomunitat. The last stellar moment in Barcelona and Catalonia was the celebration of the Olympic Games in the summer of 1992. Economically, politically, culturally and socially, the best of this city and this country converged in those days: public administrations with a desire for modernization and inclusion; a socially responsible private sector; an involved and empowered citizenry through volunteers, and a collective commitment to excellence.
The 92 is unrepeatable as it was produced. The world was experiencing an incipient globalization after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Spain was making its debut as a European, the transition was still indisputable, the whole of Catalonia was committed to the rest of Spain, Barcelona was leading with generosity and success. Recognizing that success also implies accepting that it will not happen again. We verified it with the fiasco of the Fòrum de las Culturas in 2004. And we have revived it again with the candidacy for the Winter Games. The past never returns and looking for substitutes is not a good collective purpose.
Regarding the Olympic Games of 1992, we should not feel nostalgia but rather pride, of what we are capable of doing and how we are capable of doing it in one of the most relevant cities in the world in a world in which cities can end up being more relevant than states. Pride is not simply self-esteem nor does it support any kind of supremacism. Pride is an incentive for self-demand, we can do things well because we have done things well. But each generation is entitled to its own dream. Those who today are the age of those who starred in the 1992 Games barely lived through the fullness of those days. Therefore, what we need is for them to be protagonists of their own adventure.
And today’s collective adventure that must start from the current context marked by the climate emergency, the internal diversity of a dense city like Barcelona, the need to give capitalism an inclusive veneer, the empowerment of citizens, competition between cities in the digital environment. Thirty years later, the dream has to be another based on the pride of that deed. A dream that was carried out by people. Thus, We have chosen the 92 most relevant, from the president of the International Olympic Committee to the volunteers, passing through the athletes who shone in those magical fifteen days. 1992 was also a stellar moment for EL PERIÓDICO as a newspaper. And this anniversary coincides with its rebirth, which is based on pride rather than nostalgia. enjoy the 92 portraits that the newsroom has done to commemorate this thirtieth anniversary over the next fifteen days.