It is a warm late-summer morning in Barcelona. Lionel Messi and his team-mates are nowhere to be seen, en route to Leganés for an evening match, but still the crowds flock to the Nou Camp. The club’s megastore buzzes with activity, as do the unofficial merchandising outlets beyond the gates. Four busloads of tourists are dropped off inside ten minutes. Some are rushed inside for official tours of the stadium. Others just stand and gawp before reaching for the selfie sticks.

The Nou Camp is the biggest stadium in Europe, but its appeal as a tourist destination is about more than grandeur. It is about the sense of wonder and mystique the place inspires. There is a romance about Barcelona, an ideology that goes beyond