Barcelona seeks to welcome refugees and migrants into the fabric of the city, but its efforts have been stymied by the national government.
In Europe, it is the cities that once again lead the way as places of radical innovation and democratic renewal - and provide answers to the challenges we face in our continent. Español
Since the launch of Barcelona en Comú less than a year ago, Colau has taken pains to emphasize that she is just the most visible face of a movement that is horizontal in structure and collective in spirit.
How did Spain's activist-politicians first get onto the ballot paper? Spain's media should take note - through their roots in prominent local struggles and willingness to spearhead radical democratic participation.
This spring, Barcelona has become, once again, the battleground for the radical soul of Europe.
Barcelona's citizens are setting aside the historical baggage of the nineteenth and twentieth century struggles of industrial workers movements, inventing a newly resonant language of rights and democracy. Español.
Guanyem Barcelona is a citizen platform that has embarked on a mission to solve the current Spanish political crises with their own hands. This increasingly popular political movement aims to remove power from elites and bring democracy to the people.
The scholar of world politics and openDemocracy columnist Fred Halliday lived and worked in - and fell in love with - Barcelona. In a warm essay written five months before he died on 26 April 2010, Fred celebrates the home of his last years.
