Miquel Bartual situates this transformation within the broader historical continuum of post-Enlightenment visual regimes, tracing how the logic of exhibition and aestheticization has evolved into a dominant urban practice under late capitalism. In cities like Valencia, tourism reshapes the material and symbolic architecture of space, privileging visibility over depth and spectacle over functionality. The urban fabric is reconfigured not to be lived in, but to be displayed, curated, and consumed, much like an image on a screen or a product in a store. The metaphor of the skin emphasizes the tactile, affective, and intimate dimensions of this transformation: cities no longer reveal themselves through organic contact or shared experience, but through pre-packaged narratives, themed facades, and choreographed interactions. As heritage becomes an asset, and streetscapes are standardized into photogenic backdrops, the city loses its capacity for surprise, friction, and genuine encounter. The inhabitants themselves are displaced, either physically through gentrification or symbolically through the erasure of their cultural imprints, becoming extras in a theatricalized version of urban life. Crucially, the third skin is not neutral—it operates as a camouflage for economic violence, masking socio-spatial inequalities under layers of cultural varnish. The text calls for a radical reassessment of urban authenticity, advocating for the peeling away of this artificial epidermis in favor of a deeper, relational engagement with space, memory, and urban subjectivity that resists commodification and reclaims the political potential of place.
