Lost Landscapes. Poblenou, From the Industrial Revolution to the Digital Age

The neighbourhood of Poblenou emerged in the mid-19th century from an initial concentration of industrial activities on the lands closest to the sea in the Vila de Sant Martí de Provençals. Between the old road to Mataró —today Carrer de Pere IV— and the Cementiri de l’Est, the area gradually filled with factories and simple workers’ houses, occupying farmland, pastures and wetlands.

Industry proliferated until Poblenou became the largest factory concentration in the western Mediterranean.

Around the 1960s, factories relocated to the Zona Franca industrial estate, and the activity and pulse of the neighbourhood declined until the 1992 Olympic Games brought about a major transformation from Icària to Diagonal Mar, reshaping the coastline and later opening up Avinguda Diagonal.

By the year 2000, Poblenou underwent its major change with the 22@ urban plan, which would recover its industrial vocation, now marked by technology and digitalisation.

Meeting point: L4 Bogatell, exit: Carrer Zamora. Estimated duration of the route: 2 h. Difficulty: moderate. Please wear comfortable shoes and bring water. Guide: Salva Clarós.