Barcelona Traction Share

This chapter discusses a share certificate issued by the defunct Barcelona Traction company, and explores the layers of its meaning and significance. First, to the general public it tells the story of a Canadian company, with Spanish subsidiaries, whose shares were mainly owned by Belgian citizens. Second, it reminds lawyers of the dispute between Belgium and Spain before the International Court of Justice, in the matter of the corporate hijacking of the company at the hands of Francisco Franco’s cronies. Third, it evokes to international jurists controversial technicalities like the nationality of transnational corporations and the nature of state obligations owed erga omnes, that is, to the international community. The chapter illustrates how a piece of paper has—within a certain epistemic circle—quasi-mystical connotations, speaking to the promises and the unfulfilled potential of international law.