Balañá, el mayor espectáculo del mundo

Twentieth-century show business evolved from the live excitement of bullfights, boxing matches, and the circus to the simulation of risk in Hollywood adventure films. In this transition towards a society of the spectacle, no one in Barcelona understood the tastes of the public like Pedro Balañá Espinós (1883-1965), one of the largest Spanish businessmen in the world of entertainment and, from now on, one of the best studied. The journalist Josep Guixà has spent five years immersing himself in the lights and shadows of a man who knew how to deal skilfully with politicians to forge his work (he was a Barcelona City Councilor in two different regimes) and whose legacy has lasted several generations. From the dairy farms in his hometown of Sants to the slaughterhouse, from the sale of fighting bull meat in the municipal markets to the creation of a bullfighting empire, from the lyrical and circus performances in the Plaza Monumental to the big movie theaters, Balañá's life is a spectacle in itself.