Not just any port after a storm: The commemoration and heritagization of fishing in Catalonia

Abstract

On 31 January 1911, a terrible and unpredicted sea storm affected most of the coast from Catalonia to Valencia, causing nearly 140 deaths, mainly among the fishing population. As a result of this storm, a sea port was constructed in Arenys. This article analyses the decision to build it in one of the few villages on the Catalan coast with almost no fishermen, a village in which the marine tradition ended half a century before the disaster. It examines the management of this catastrophe as a process of heritagization of maritime culture by the local elites. Of particular interest is the place of attracting tourists in the decision-making of these elites. To provide an insight into the political economy of maritime culture, the study also assesses the commemoration of the disaster in 2011.