Urban Tourism, State Intervention and Peripheral Development in Barcelona and Naples, 1939–59

This article compares the development of urban tourism in Barcelona and Naples between 1939 and 1959 to explain why two peripheral Mediterranean port cities followed similar tourism trajectories despite contrasting political and institutional contexts. Drawing on a historical-comparative approach and local historiographies, the analysis is structured around three dimensions: state intervention and tourism governance, economic priorities, and local tourism policies and initiatives. The article argues that, although Francoist Spain and post-fascist Italy adopted different approaches to tourism governance – the former characterized by strong centralization and the latter by limited coordination – both cities faced similar constraints on tourism development. In both cases, industrial and port functions took precedence over tourism, while national policies prioritized other coastal destinations, relegating Barcelona and Naples to a peripheral position within the emerging Mediterranean tourism hierarchy. At the local level, public institutions and private actors sought to compensate for these limitations by promoting cultural heritage, organizing international events, and enhancing urban appeal. By demonstrating how comparable tourism trajectories emerged under different political regimes, the article contributes to understanding the relationship between state intervention, local agency, and urban tourism development in Southern Europe during the early postwar decades.