Street cries and public space noise abatement in 19th-20th Century Barcelona

Abstract

Focusing on Barcelona, this paper explores the historical and contemporary dynamics of streetbcries that allow traders to attract customers and make themselves heard in public spaces. While still common in marketplaces in southern Europe, there is a growing trend towards silencing these street cries in the name of reducing urban noise levels. By analysing archival records and municipal regulations, the study investigates the socio-spatial dynamics that have been employed since the 19th century to suppress this form of ‘noise’ associated with the working-class profession. The paper demonstrates that the expulsion of traders’ sounds from Barcelona’s central streets was achieved through their stigmatisation, illegalisation and peripheralisation – a pattern that could similarly affect other social groups that are increasingly displaced from the city. The persistence of street cries in the peripheries, despite regulatory efforts, illuminates broader issues regarding the management of public space and the contested nature of the governance of urban diversity through sensory ordaining.