No room for complacency

MADRID – Last Friday night this Spanish capital switched on its Christmas lights for the first time this season. The lights greeted me as I returned here from a two-day visit to Barcelona.

From the lights you’d think there’s no debt crisis in this country. And from the horde of tourists that jammed the parks, the streets and Christmas market on Saturday night, it’s hard to be pessimistic about Spain’s prospects for recovery.

The same was true in Barcelona.

In the city founded in 15 B.C. and made famous by the 1992 Olympics, 13 is a lucky number.

At the centuries-old Barcelona Cathedral, 13 huge, fat geese in the courtyard stared and honked at me, as if posing, as I pointed my camera at them.

Thirteen was the age when the Roman Christian virgin Eulalia, co-patron saint of the city, was subjected to 13 tortures and decapitated in A.D. 303 for refusing to renounce her faith. Since then, locals have believed that great bad luck will befall the city if ever the number of geese in that cathedral becomes anything other than 13.

The tale is just one of the many charming aspects of Barcelona, which is home to modernist architect Antonio Gaudi’s masterpieces, including the Gothic church Sagrada de Familia. It is also home to the Barça, the world’s largest football stadium. After Spain bagged its first World Cup title earlier this year, “futbol” has become even more popular here.

Catalonia is also famous for its cuisine, in a country world-renowned for its distinctive gastronomic delights.

“We’ve got the sea. We’ve got the mountains,” Francesca Guardiola Sala told me in Barcelona. “We’ve got everything.”

Guardiola is the deputy director for foreign affairs of the Catalonia Autonomous Region. She told me that despite being one of the world’s top tourist destinations, the region is intensifying efforts to attract more tourists and foreign investments as well as promote overseas the region’s small and medium enterprises.

Foreign tourist arrivals in Barcelona average eight million a year – the highest among all cities in Spain, according to Telma Ortiz Rocasolano, deputy director of the Department of International Relations at the Barcelona Town Hall.

The figure represents more than half of the 14 million foreign visitors last year for the entire Catalonia. Barcelona ranks up there with Paris and New York as the top cities for tourism. It is also the world’s fourth most popular sea cruise destination in terms of number of passengers.

While Barcelona officials are banking on tourism to keep their economy afloat through the debt crisis, they also emphasize that they need to do more to raise their global profile. I’ve heard the same sentiment from officials of the national government in Madrid, not only when discussing tourism but also trade and investment.

Carmen Claudin, research director at the Barcelona Center for International Affairs (CIDOB), told me that she first heard of the need to sell “Brand Spain” way back in 1999, but the effort didn’t take off.

“I think Spain is still suffering the consequences of a closed country” – an offshoot of Francisco Franco’s dictatorial regime, she told me. “There’s still a lot of provincial mentality.”

CIDOB’s expert on Central Asia, Nicolas de Pedro, added, “We have a problem selling ourselves.”

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In tourism, Spain already has substantial strengths. Its ancient attractions are complemented by modern amenities and top-rate infrastructure. Unfortunately for the country, it went over the top in infrastructure development during its years when its government acted as if (as one analyst put it) Spain’s rivers flowed with money.

Today Spain has modern, spacious airports that are rarely used – the opposite of our problem in the Philippines. Many Filipinos will probably prefer an overabundance rather than inadequacy of infrastructure. And while Spain’s overbuilding is one of the factors blamed for the current crisis, foreign travelers don’t mind.

It also helps to have foreigner-friendly mass transport facilities. I toured Barcelona on the hop-on, hop-off double-deck tour buses. Popular in many tourist destinations around the world, the bus is best enjoyed when the air quality is good and the environment generally clean.

Public markets are also major tourist draws, highlighting a nation’s unique culture. Among the most visited areas in Barcelona’s popular pedestrian walk, Las Ramblas, is the Mercat de la Boqueria, with its array of jamon and chorizo, fruits, nuts, cheeses and seafood. In Madrid, there is often barely room to move at the Mercado de San Miguel.

Tourists also like museums. In this city on a regular day, from 4,000 to 6,000 people wait in line at the Prado and pay up to 20 euros each (about P1,200) to see the masterpieces particularly of Spanish artists. On weekends the number can hit 10,000 a day; the record is 16,000. Pablo Picasso’s Guernica has been transferred to the nearby Sofia Museum, but I was able to see the masterpieces of Diego Velazquez, Francisco de Goya, and honorary Spaniard El Greco. Particularly interesting to me was Velazquez’s stunning painting of Spanish nun Jeronima de la Fuente, who at 66 traveled to Manila in 1620 and founded the Convento de Santa Clara de la Concepcion.

Another factor that draws tourists to Spain has to be the sense of personal safety.

Traveling to Barcelona I took the high-speed train from Madrid’s Atocha Railway Station. On March 11, 2004 (Spain’s “M-11”), bombs went off on four commuter trains along the station’s route, killing nearly 200 people and wounding 1,800 others. Today the station is fully rebuilt, with X-ray scanners for checking bags.

The terrorist threat subsided rather quickly in this country, without the need for the government to pass new laws curtailing civil liberties. Army Lt. Gen. Alfonso de la Rosa Morena, director of the Spanish Center for National Defense Studies in Madrid, is proud of this.

One major reason has to be the public trust enjoyed by the security agencies. Regular surveys conducted here nationwide have consistently given the highest performance ratings to the police and guardia civil as well as the military.

In Madrid I talked with Francisco Javier Velazquez, director general of the national police and guardia civil. I saw few cops outside his office, but tourist areas in Madrid seem to be saturated with police. The same is true in Barcelona.

The well-lit streets contribute to public safety. Even with the crisis, I was told that there has been no spike in crimes against property.

“Brand Spain” is an easy sell when it comes to tourism, and yet its officials believe there’s still a wide room for improvement in marketing the country.

In global competition, there is no room for complacency.