In the summer of 2017, the young group Arran coordinated a series of protests in Barcelona and other Spanish cities to denounce the negative effects of global mass tourism. These acts of dissent fueled a heated public debate in both Spanish and international press, mainly due to the ‘radical’ tactics employed by the demonstrators. Following the narratives about these protest acts across a diversity of media outlets, this article identifies the complex power struggles between the different actors involved in the discussion on the benefits and externalities of global mass tourism, offering an extensive analysis of the political uses of the term ‘turismofobia’ (tourismphobia) and a revisited interpretation of the notion of the ‘protest paradigm’. This qualitative analysis was based on more than 700 media texts (including news articles, op eds and editorials) collected through the database Factiva, from January 2014 to December 2017.

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Saint Mark’s Square is unquestionably the most famous tourist attraction in Venice, a piazza characterised by its complex history, unique aesthetics and many allusions to power (given its proximity to the Doge’s Palace and Saint Mark’s Basilica). This square is the largest open space in the city and while it is routinely crowded with tourists from all over the world, political demonstrations have been prohibited since 1997. This article explores Saint Mark’s Square as a contested political space by focusing on the many local struggles against cruise tourism in Venice and its lagoon. Instead of constituting an ‘apolitical’ space, the preferred uses given to the square by local authorities and tourism stakeholders are manifestly ‘political’, producing a space of leisure and consumption that benefits the economic logic behind the ‘normal’ functioning of the piazza. Other alternative social and political uses of the square are not only discouraged but banned, which brings into discussion the Lefebvrian notion of the right to the city: who has access to the centre as a (political) privileged space? The article examines protest acts undertaken by the collective No Grandi Navi, particularly the political events that took place after the MSC Opera collision with another tourist vessel and the dock in June 2019.

This essay presents a new analysis of Costa Rica's political stability in the last four decades. It underlines two basic features during this period: first, the efforts to redistribute wealth; second, the abolition of the army as a permanent institution.

Saint Mark's Square is unquestionably the most famous tourist attraction in Venice, a piazza characterised by its complex history, unique aesthetics and many allusions to power (given its proximity to the Doge's Palace and Saint Mark's Basilica). This square is the largest open space in the city and while it is routinely crowded with tourists from all over the world, political demonstrations have been prohibited since 1997. This article explores Saint Mark's Square as a contested political space by focusing on the many local struggles against cruise tourism in Venice and its lagoon. Instead of constituting an 'apolitical' space, the preferred uses given to the square by local authorities and tourism stakeholders are manifestly 'political', producing a space of leisure and consumption that benefits the economic logic behind the 'normal' functioning of the piazza. Other alternative social and political uses of the square are not only discouraged but banned, which brings into discussion the Lefebvrian notion of the right to the city: who has access to the centre as a (political) privileged space? The article examines protest acts undertaken by the collective No Grandi Navi, particularly the political events that took place after the MSC Opera collision with another tourist vessel and the dock in June 2019.

Este artículo presenta los principales discursos asociados a las prácticas del graffiti (tagging, arte urbano, político) y sus productores en el periódico La Nación, durante el periodo 2001-2010. A través del análisis cualitativo de artículos de noticia y de opinión, el graffiti aparece como una amenaza a nociones de patrimonio y bien común, enfatizando su impacto sobre el orden público y la seguridad. No obstante, el graffiti en su forma más artística (influenciado por la cultura hip-hop) parece ser aceptado socialmente solo a partir de la institucionalización de la práctica, considerando su valor estético y sus usos sociales.PALABRAS CLAVE: GRAFFITI * JUVENTUD * PRENSA * CRIMINALIDAD JUVENIL * ANÁLISIS DEL DISCURSO ABSTRACT This article presents the main discourses associated to the practices of graffiti (tagging, street art, political) and its producers in the newspaper La Nación, during the period 2001-2010. Through the qualitative analysis of both news and opinion articles, the graffiti appears as a threat to notions of heritage and common good, emphasizing its impact in the public order and the security. However, the graffiti in its more artistic form (influenced by the hip-hop culture) seems tobesocially accepted only through the institutionalization of the practice, considering its a esthetic value and social uses.

RESUMENEste artículo pretende introducir el debate acerca de la incompatibilidad del proyecto de la "ciudad espontá-nea" y la ciudad racional-normativa-hegemónica erigida en nuestras sociedades capitalistas contemporáneas, incrustadas entre procesos globales y locales. Considerando las reflexiones acerca de la ciudad y de la revolución espacial planteadas por Lefebvre, este texto resume algunas de las tendencias actuales del urbanismo y la arquitectura que apuntan a la creación de "espacios seguros" y que constituyen, de hecho, una mercancía disponible solamente para ciertos grupos afluentes de una sociedad dada. Cuestionando las soluciones ortodoxas y comerciales al problema de la delincuencia y la criminalidad en los escenarios latinoamericanos, este artículo reafirma la necesidad de una crítica amplia a los procesos de construcción y representación del crimen, a sus geografías y sus causas sociales.Palabras clave: ciudad espontánea; criminología; geografías del crimen; espacio público; urbanismo. Spontaneous cities: Security and public space in Latin AmericaABSTRACT This article aims to introduce the debate about the incompatibility of the "spontaneous city" as a project and the rational-normative-hegemonic city erected in our contemporary capitalist societies, embedded in global and local processes. Considering the reflections about the city and the spatial revolution remarked by Lefebvre, this paper summaries some of the current tendencies in the urbanism and the architecture that aim to create "secure spaces" and that constitute, indeed, a new commodity available only to wealthy groups of a given society. By questioning orthodox and commercial solutions to the problem of the delinquency and the criminality in Latin American scenarios, this article reaffirms the necessity of a broad critique to the process of construction and representation of crime, its geographies and its social causes.

Desde mediados de los años ochenta se está desarrollando una nueva fase del debate público en relación con la Educación Superior en América Latina. Esta fase se distingue por la sustitución de la imagen politizada que prevaleció hasta los años setenta. Este artículo examina la participación de los organismos multilaterales en la formación de la nueva imagen pública de la educación superior. Se sostiene que la influencia de instituciones como el Fondo Monetario Internacional, el Banco Mundial, la OCDE, la UNESCO y la Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos, ha propiciado la transformación de los sistemas educativos y creado necesidades y áreas de acción que requieren y/o reconocen la intervención de actores locales, nacionales, regionales y globales.