On the evening of the inauguration of the Barcelona Olympic Games, the American journalist broadcasting the ceremony for NBC warned viewers (with great suspense, which allowed them to eke out a few more minutes of audience) that the last time the King of Spain had entered that stadium's box he had been met with a good booing and that everyone was waiting to see what was about to happen. He was referring to the re-inauguration of the Montjuïc Stadium in 1989, when the Freedom for Catalonia group made it clear that either the Games were also in Catalan or there would be noise. That afternoon in 1992, viewers saw Joan Carles de Borbó entering to the chords of Els segadors, followed by those of the Marxa reial, amidst the audience's applause. After crossed threats, the Olympic pax avoided linguistic conflict, to the point that Catalan became an official language of those Games.

In 1992, Barcelona achieved one of its primary objectives with the organization of the Olympic Games, which became known as "putting the city on the map." Indeed, after that event, the Catalan capital once again became a "point of attraction for outsiders" (to use the terms used before the war to promote tourism). Mayor Maragall, who chaired the Games' organizing committee, feared that the city would not have sufficient hotel supply to cope with the challenges. With his well-known stubbornness, a Hotel Plan was implemented in the late 1980s, which even included the allocation of public land for the construction and operation of establishments. The measure was strongly opposed by a lobby that would eventually become very powerful, the Hoteliers' Association, which believed it would generate excessive supply that would be impossible to offset by the then-subdued demand. For very different reasons, the neighborhood movement also spoke out against it, one of whose leaders stated in an assembly that "the next time Barcelona is proposed for an international event, we should say no." And this "no," explained journalist Maria Favà, "is the result of a feeling that is taking root in the most critical sectors of the city, who believe that because of the Games, they are selling us the city piecemeal, that a city is being built for us." yuppies from which the working classes are scared away."