'Ugly and smelly or useful insect hunters?' Perceptions of and attitudes towards bats in the turn of the twentieth-century public sphere in Barcelona.

In recent years, historians and sociologists of science have shown how turn of the century natural history research and its public communication in Barcelona was intrinsically attached to certain political orientations and the historical context. Likewise, the way society perceived bats and promoted their ecological services has been increasingly researched by the community of bat researchers. In this article, I describe attitudes towards and perceptions of bats in the 'public sphere' of Barcelona in that period and examine them using public communication of science and history of science analytical tools. I performed an exhaustive search of the available newspaper and magazine articles using the Catalan and Spanish words for 'bat' in the online search engines of the national Catalan and Spanish libraries from 1888 to 1929. I compiled and reviewed a wide range of periodicals, covering different political orientations and representing several different types of publication. The articles were classified into four different categories. First, bats were commonly used as a symbol to represent the city and right-wing, conservative politics. Second, bats were often linked to negative adjectives that portrayed them as ugly, disgusting or diabolic. Third, many articles made an active effort to stop children chasing and killing bats. And fourth, I also identified a non-organised group of popularisers across the whole media spectrum who promoted what we call today the ecological services provided by bats, and especially their role as agricultural pest controllers. This study provides a better understanding of science popularisation, and specifically, perceptions of and attitudes towards bats during the studied period. This approach illustrates how historical accounts can be used today to improve perceptions of bats and suggest a more complex context of science popularisation.

Animals for the mayor: Barcelona's zoo in the making of local policies and national narratives (1957-73).

From 1957 to 1973, Barcelona Zoo was transformed from a small-scale, antiquated establishment harboring very few animals, a place that was still in a poor condition following the Spanish Civil War, into a new, larger, modern, and internationally recognized institution that included up-to-date animal enclosures and that boasted one of the first dolphinariums in Europe, as well as a famous white gorilla as its icon. From its very beginning, this renovation involved an intense popularization campaign.In this paper, by describing the public discourse generated throughout this transformation and by analyzing the roles played by Antoni Jonch, the director of the zoo at that time; Josep Maria de Porcioles, the then-mayor of Barcelona; and General Francisco Franco, the Spanish dictator who was head of state during this period, I will highlight how the context of the dictatorship not only authorized the new Barcelona Zoo but is, in fact, crucial to its understanding. The narratives that surrounded the renovation of the zoo focused on its civic and educational purpose, with a firm emphasis on modernity. The zoo was a modern space for learning about animals in order to become better people. These narratives were not only suitable to the policies, ideas, and aims of Porcioles' City Council and Franco's dictatorial regime; in fact, they completely matched them. Both local and national governments benefited from the restructuring of Barcelona Zoo and from its public discourse as a tool for social control and an instrument for their own propaganda, legitimation, and perpetuation.

Desperdicios urbanos, peste bubónica y salud pública en L'Hospitalet de Llobregat de la primera mitad del siglo XX / Urban waste, the bubonic plague and public health in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat during the first half of the XXth

En este artículo explicaremos la relación entre la gestión de la salud pública y las industrias de recogida, selección y transformación en abono de los desperdicios urbanos d ela ciudad de Barcelona en la vecina Hospitalet de Llobregat desde finales del siglo XIX hasta los años 50. Bajo los preceptos de higienismo, durante todo este período, estos basureros fueron percibidos como un verdadero problema para la salud pública por los responsables médicos del Hospitalet, representados por la Junta Municipal de Sanidad. Así, nos centraremos en las preocupaciones, regulaciones y posibles soluciones planteadas por este organismo durante este período así como dedicaremos especial atención al broto de peste bubónica surgido en 1931 en Hospitalet alrededor de estas industrias de gestión de desperdicios

In this article we will explain the relationship between the management of public health and the collection, selection and transformation into fertilizer of urban waste from the neighborhood of Hospitalet de Llobregat in the city of Barcelona form the end of the XIXth century to the 50s. Under the dietate of hygiene, these rubbish dumps were regarded as a real problem for public health by the physicians responsible for Hospitalet, represented bye the Municipal Board of Health. Therefore, we will concentrate on the worries, regulations and possible solutions considered during this period, as well as a special dedication to the outbreak of bubonic plague in Hospitalet in 1931 around these industries of waste management

Homínidos, dudas y grandes titulares: La controversia del Hombre de Orce en la prensa española (1983-2007) / Hominids, doubts and big headlines: The Orce Man controversy in the Spanish press (1983-2007)

En junio de 1983, varios periódicos españoles anunciaron el descubrimiento de un fragmento de cráneo del género Homo, aparecido en Orce, Granada, que parecía revolucionar el panorama científico del momento. Un año más tarde, el mismo fósil fue atribuido a un asno, directamente en el periódico El País. Estalló una gran polémica: el famoso «Hombre de Orce» se transformó en el «Burro de Orce», los descubridores fueron criticados por su precipitación y los científicos se enfrentaron en los medios de comunicación. Mediante un estudio exhaustivo del tratamiento del caso en prensa diaria española, este artículo muestra, en primer lugar, el desarrollo de la controversia y la relación con el contexto histórico que vivía la paleontología y la paleoantropología en Cataluña y España. En segundo lugar, este trabajo también busca entender las razones por las que, en el caso del Hombre de Orce, el consenso entre científicos enfrentados es imposible de alcanzar. Finalmente, el análisis del papel de la prensa enla controversia permite profundizar en la comprensión de la forma en que los medios decomunicación intervienen en los procesos de generación, validación y establecimiento del conocimiento científico (AU)

In June 1983, several Spanish newspapers announced the discovery of a cranial fragment of the genus Homo in Orce, Granada, which seemed a scientific revolution at the time. One year later, the same fossil was attributed to a donkey, as the newspaper El País reported. A strident controversy began: the famous ‘Orce Man’ became the ‘Orce Donkey’, the discoverers were criticized for their precipitation and the scientific debate moved to the mass media. Through an exhaustive study of the case in the Spanish newspapers, this article first explores how this dispute unravelled and its relationship with the historical context of palaeontology and palaeoanthropology in Catalonia and Spain. Secondly, this paper seeks to understand why it was impossible to reach a consensus among the scientists dealing with ‘Orce Man’. Finally, analysis of the role of the press in the dispute sheds light on how the media are involved in the generation and validation of scientific knowledge (AU)