When I first arrived in Spain, a real estate agent told me to avoid Manresa, the working-class city outside of Barcelona where a friend of mine lived. “Don’t go there, it’s not very nice,” he said. “Go to Costa Brava [a vacation site up north] — instead.” Unperturbed, I took a train to Manresa the next day. After seeing hammer and sickle graffiti and anti-capitalist slogans as soon as I exited the…