A Qualitative Study of Barcelona Food Tours: Representing Gastronomic Heritage Through Urban Culinary Imaginaries

Abstract

Gastronomy has acquired a central role in contemporary tourism where experiences centered around food are increasingly developed. Food tours have become a prominent urban tourism product due to their ability to connect tourists with local communities. These tours promote the exploration of local gastronomic culture beyond traditional tourist itineraries, encouraging the co-creation of experiences involving guides, producers, restaurateurs, and residents. This study adopts an exploratory comparative design based on ethnographically informed participant observation, conducted during four gastronomic tours based in different neighborhoods of the city of Barcelona between May and June 2026. Observational data were collected regarding food selection, gastronomic explanations, references to tradition and locality, interactions between guides and participants, and the cultural framing of the culinary experience. The analysis reveals that the depth and specificity of gastronomic representation are shaped less by price than by the guide’s expertise, territorial rootedness, and the scale of culinary imaginary a tour mobilizes; price operates as a contextual condition rather than as the principal explanatory factor. Whereas experiences that remain within a globally recognizable culinary imaginary tend to trivialize the discourse and representations surrounding local tourism heritage, tours led by specialized and territorially rooted guides more frequently offer articulations of food culture that are deeply embedded in local contexts, foregrounding traditional practices, regional products, and micro-local gastronomic identities.