¿Espacio de consumo o consumo del espacio? El caso de Palo Alto Market, Barcelona

Abstract

Cities have gone from being the privileged scenario for social reproduction, to become spaces of and for consumption per excellence. Neoliberal policies have been pushing cities like Barcelona to leave behind its industrial past and embrace a process of terciarization, which has generated a potent local metamorphosis, not only in its productive nature, but also in its urban fabric. The ancient food markets and other newly created are shown as real epicentres of these commodified practices, becoming centres of consumption and leisure. Palo Alto Market, in the Barcelona’s neighbourhood of Poblenou, is characterized by its commitment to sophistication, as well as its great setting. However, the powerful symbolic resources that make it unique in the city could hide practices and relationships permeated by domination. Furthermore, Palo Alto Market could be acting as a vanguard in the socio-spatial transformations that its immediate surroundings are witnessing.