JUNETEENTH BARCELONA

THE PLACE TO BE

Barcelona is often celebrated for modernist architecture and Mediterranean beauty. But it was also shaped by deep, complex ties to the African diaspora that stretch far beyond its borders. As a major Mediterranean port, Barcelona has long been a crossroads of people, ideas, and power.

From the medieval period through the rise of the Spanish empire, the city was entangled in transatlantic trade networks that included the trafficking and enslavement of Africans, as well as the wealth extracted from Black labor in the Caribbean and the Americas. These global connections helped finance Barcelona’s growth, even as the lives and contributions of Black people were erased or marginalized in the telling of its story.

AN INVITATION

The Juneteenth Barcelona committee invites you to see Barcelona differently, not just as a European capital, but as a city meaningfully connected to and influenced by the African diaspora. By walking these streets with intention, we honor stories that have been cast aside and the people who were forgotten. We also recognize Barcelona as an important, functional node in Black history, as opposed to a romanticized symbolic ideal.

We also uplift the ideals of liberation and honor and pay respect to the people who fought - and continue to fight - to secure and maintain freedom and liberation for everyone.