Where new meets old

From industrial powerhouse to creative zone and technological hub, Poblenou has probably seen more changes than any other Barcelona barrio in the last 25 years. In the 19th century, ‘the Catalan Manchester’ was home to the largest concentration of industries in Catalunya. Fitful deindustrialisation in the 20th century tapered into decades of relative neglect but, like much of Barcelona, Poblenou was reshaped in the lead-up to the Olympics, its regeneration owing much to an influx of creatives, as well as the 22@ urbanisation project and Barcelona’s natural expansion. Today, its proximity to the beach and insulation from touristic tides have made it one of the city’s preferred neighbourhoods for international residents looking to settle here.

The barrio’s origins in marshy wetland are recorded by street names such as Joncar (reedy) and Llacuna (lagoon). From the 12th century it was used as pasturage for Barcelona-bound livestock and, for some 600 years, it saw exclusively agrarian use. Manufacturing arrived in the form of modest outfits, which benefited from cheap real estate and the abundance of water, plying trades such as bleaching, printing and dyeing. By 1897, when Poblenou—together with the rest of the Sant Martí district—was formally incorporated into Barcelona, the area had become an industrial powerhouse, home to increasingly mechanised, large-scale mills and factories producing textiles, fertilisers and metals.

Working hours in these mills and factories were long, wages low and conditions poor. Cramped, unhygienic living quarters—including shantytowns periodically laid to waste by floods—made the neighbourhood vulnerable to infectious disease, and cholera and typhus epidemics continued well into the 20th century.

The poor living conditions fuelled Poblenou’s anarchist tendencies and high unionisation rate, coming to a head in the Setmana Tràgica of 1909, when churches and residences of the wealthy were torched. Left-wing agitation preceded the Spanish Civil War and, in the revolution of 1936, much of the clergy and bourgeoisie were put to flight—some summarily executed—and factories were collectivised to be run by worker councils.

Long working hours were offset by better pay and the communal model produced some remarkable successes, owing to innovative methods and modernised machinery. Over time, however, shortages and war imperatives forced many inessential industries to shut down.

Though its importance to the war industry made Poblenou a frequent target for Nationalist bombs, the real disaster was Loyalist defeat. Franco eradicated the radical left, together with any companies of a strong political character, and thousands were executed or fled. He also reversed many of the improvements in conditions that had occurred under collectivisation. Political repression and shortages characterised the early years of his reign and, in the subsequent decades, economic factors gradually expelled the old industries. They left behind closed-off streets and increasingly dilapidated iron-and-concrete colossi.

Traditionally encompassing most of Sant Martí, Poblenou was greatly reduced in size in the 2006 revision of Barcelona’s administrative districts.

(Each of its four neighbouring barrios still have Poblenou in their names.) Although elderly locals still speak of ‘going to Barcelona’, the extension of metro line 4 in 1977 brought it firmly into the city. Its place in this newly outward-facing city was also affirmed by the pre-Olympics remodelling of the seafront and the completion of Avinguda Diagonal in 1996. Both projects required old factories to be torn down.

Poblenou’s evolving identity as a centre of digital technology and innovation owes much to 22@. The project was initiated in 2000, by the Ajuntament, with the intention of transforming 200 hectares of industrial flooring into an ‘innovation district’. Inspired by Silicon Valley, 22@ hoped to create a cross-hatching of highly skilled companies collaborating with nearby universities and incubators. As well as clearing up to 70 percent of Poblenou’s disused industrial land, the project has created parks, subsidised housing, rebuilt much-needed infrastructure and inspired dozens of copycat projects. It was stalled somewhat by the 2008 crisis, but in the past two years the constant construction-work heralding 22@ has recommenced.

For Sergi Bueno Navarro, a 41-year-old native of the barrio, 22@ has brought new green spaces, street lights, wider roads and other improvements to the neighbourhood quality of life, however it’s also meant the loss of heritage. “A thousand corners, a thousand chimneys we’ve known since we were children have disappeared,” he said. Some residents were moved from the homes they were born in to make way for the area’s urban renewal. The artistic profile of Poblenou’s more creative residents has changed too.

Bueno Navarro describes two broad phases of artistic regeneration. The first was characterised by analogue arts, like painting and sculpture, and the opportunistic use of abandoned spaces, where artists often set up studios for free. In the last 10 years, projects such as 22@ have eliminated these spaces and sent these artists further into the suburbs. The new colonisers—designers, architects, people working in sound and film—are now coming for the affordable, rehabilitated warehouses with light and air, and they’re more likely to work digitally. The proliferation of coworking spaces is the most visible sign of this change.

Bueno Navarro runs Niu, a bar and artistic space that typifies some of the tendencies of the new Poblenou. As well as exhibiting visual art and hosting an unorthodox programme of music and film-related events, Bueno Navarro provides inexpensive office space for up to 10 audiovisual artists. It is in spaces like Niu that Poblenou Urban District, an association of creative enterprises, organises its events. Its recent cross-Poblenou open night comprised a variety of events including exhibitions, concerts, workshops, multimedia installations and performance art. Lapin, a French illustrator and sketch artist who has lived in Poblenou for a decade, said Urban District is one of the things which sets the neighbourhood apart, helping it foster a community of creatives of all stripes.

The search for authenticity in Poblenou is precisely one of the factors diluting it. "I'm a bit afraid it will become hipster in a very short time," said Lapin. 

It’s partly initiatives such as this which are attracting a newly affluent and international crowd to Poblenou. Tom Garner, a 35-year-old documentary-maker and teacher, who purchased a flat there in mid–2016, spoke of three key reasons for his move: the quality of its beaches, which he considers “the nicest in Barcelona, much quieter and cleaner than Barceloneta’s”; the fact that it's well-connected, close to the city centre and accessible by bike; and its genuine, neighbourhood air that central Barcelona lacks. Garner’s frustrations with the “tourist village” echo those of many after a couple years of living in the city centre, and Poblenou’s authenticity seems to be a key attraction for prospective residents. As recent arrivals, Garner and his partner are still getting to know the neighbourhood. Though they appreciate the relative quiet and the businesses oriented towards locals, Garner says they’ve found it less accessible than they expected. That Poblenou’s niche events and communities are more opaque than their equivalents in other areas of Barcelona, of course, may be precisely why they’re worth getting to know.

Raul Salmeron, a 42-year-old, bilingual school teacher from Valencia, has lived in Poblenou for 10 years and has a different perspective. Every time his five-year-old daughter passes the woman sewing on their ground floor she gives her a treat, he says, and the butcher opposite their building, like the Greek couple down the street, greets her by name. Salmeron spoke of a rare sense of community that he and his family are happy to embrace. He also highlighted Poblenou’s growing cosmopolitanism: while he rarely heard English on the streets when he first arrived, this, like Poblenou itself, has “changed dramatically over the last few years”.

For Salmeron the barrio’s developing internationalism is a definite advantage. Locals are more likely to see it as a mixed blessing. The search for authenticity in Poblenou, ironically, is precisely one of the factors diluting it. “I’m a bit afraid it will become hipster in a very short time,” said Lapin, “and lose part of its spirit.” Foreign speculation is a growing problem. Prices have risen dramatically, with the cost of renting up by 20 percent since 2014, one of the greatest jumps of any Barcelona barrio. In Bueno Navarro’s opinion, Poblenou is undergoing a “brutal period of gentrification”, adding that “some streets have already been reduced to restaurants and bars”.

In the sense that Poblenou is the next frontier for touristification, the ongoing debate about its identity is one about Barcelona as a whole. “It’ll be really hard for Poblenou not to become a victim of its success,” Salmeron says. Has Barcelona already? The problem of how a 21st-century city should accommodate both visitors and residents alike remains unsolved. In Poblenou today this question relates above all to the construction of hotels. The two-year moratorium on tourist accommodation in zone 1 Barcelona is set to expire in the coming months and, in some areas not covered by the moratorium, construction has never ceased. But Bueno Navarro applauds the current administration in at least one respect: it seems willing to have a real conversation with all the stakeholders and neighbourhood associations involved.

Today, the Rambla del Poblenou heaves with tourists in the summer, and in formerly quiet bystreets hostellers make noise in the early hours. For those who’ve lived there all their lives these changes are understandably challenging. To celebrate its seven-euro terrace lunches, or the dead-ends where street art curtains old warehouses, may be to miss the point. But Poblenou perhaps more than any other barrio offers a template for change that is conscious of history. The way it’s organised and the people it attracts also means it offers a particularly good route to beginning to understand Barcelona.  

Click here to read our top picks of places to visit in Poblenou.