The event also marked the launch of the new UIC Barcelona Humanities Forum, an initiative led by the Faculty of Humanities aimed at creating “a lively platform for intellectual exchange, open to the major questions of our time and to thinkers who have made significant contributions to the humanities”. The dean of the Faculty, Laura Gandolfi, described Tenorio as “one of the most important Mexican historians today” and highlighted the close friendship they share.
An unconventional lecture
Rather than delivering a strictly academic talk, Mauricio Tenorio offered a personal and urban reflection on Barcelona based on the walk he had taken through the city earlier that same morning. The lecturer turned walking into a way of thinking, observing and interpreting contemporary Catalan society: “the rattling of suitcases over Modernista tiles, the smell of sun cream… Yesterday, Barcelonans lamented the absence of tourists; today, they lament their presence.”
Throughout this “literary walk”, Tenorio reflected on Barcelona’s urban and tourist transformation, referring to places such as Carrer de Girona, Balmes, Gràcia and L’Hospitalet. With a mix of irony and critical insight, he touched on the rise of “matcha tea”, social inequalities between neighbourhoods and the gradual disappearance of traditional Catalan shops within what he described as a “mythical Barcelona” which, in his view, “is not dead, but more alive than ever”.
Walking as a form of understanding and self-discovery
Tenorio described walking as a form of knowledge and self-awareness. “My work is to write and teach history, and that has allowed me to take these walks, which in turn give me material to teach and to write,” he explained.
For the historian, walking is not simply movement or tourism, but a way of thinking and relating to the city. It forms an essential part of his intellectual and creative practice, helping him to observe, reflect and gain a deeper understanding of the world around him. As he suggested, this experience connects people more directly with the present and encourages a more conscious way of inhabiting the city.
The session ended with a Q&A, giving students and members of the university community the opportunity to talk to the professor about the city and the experience of walking.
“Walking should not be confused with being lost.” I don’t walk simply for a change of scene; however, if I didn’t, I would lose heart. Walking through cities is a habit closely linked to thinking, reading or writing. To walk a city is to bear witness: the walker testifies to human life,” the historian concluded.
