In 1986 Barcelona was chosen as the place which had to organize the 1992 Olympic Games and, as in other moments in the past, it used the event to make large-scale changes in the city. The Games supposed a catalyst for a Barcelona that had just walked out of the Spanish Transition.

The Olympic effect was considered a success at first, and even today many other cities still take as an example the “Barcelona model”. In the early 2000s, however, this apparent success began to be questioned.