The gardens of Pedralbes are likely, for most Barcelonans, little more than an elegant park where a music festival is held at the beginning of summer. It is somewhat understandable that they are unaware that the site houses the main public diplomacy institution based in Barcelona: the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), made up of 43 countries.
Read more A dozen cases of scabies detected among the military deployed to Ceuta
The visibility of this office, created in 2008, was almost nil until, in recent years, Pedro Sánchez’s government reactivated it by convening high-level international summits there. This summer it debuted a new Secretary-General, the Lebanese Fadi Hajali. He replaces the Egyptian Nasser Kamel, who for years maintained intense diplomatic activity behind the scenes.
The same Barcelonans who in a hypothetical survey would admit to not knowing what the UfM is and where it is located would also have trouble guessing the current whereabouts of Casa Asia. This is an undervalued institution that in 2013 left its founding headquarters in the Baró de Quadras palace, on the Diagonal, to begin a precarious pilgrimage throughout the city. It is currently located on Elisabets Street, in the Raval, a place where it has regained vigor but has limitations that prevent the project from fully developing.
The good news is that the end of this itinerancy is very near. The permanent headquarters will be located in the same Pedralbes complex where the UfM is. The works are finally progressing and the offices could open before the end of the year. The former Güell family estate, which in 1924 passed into the hands of the City Council, will thus become a modest diplomatic hub, without detracting from its heritage and recreational value.
Read more The Government redirects its management in Ceuta: border secured, plans reception
Also read
It remains pending to find a proper headquarters for Casa Amèrica Catalunya, which now barely survives in a mezzanine of the Eixample. And, above all, to inject political content into the aforementioned institutions, beyond strengthening the cultural work they already carry out. The aim would be to guarantee sustained activity over time commensurate with their potential.
That said, there will always be the risk that, in a political context less favorable to co-capitals, Barcelona will again see its diplomatic projection diluted.
Read more The Iran war diminishes the U.S. military capability in the Pacific
