One of Barcelona’s most prominent avenues is called Avinguda Diagonal – The Diagonal – an 11-kilometre slice across the grid of blocks that make up l’Eixample (Catalan for extension). It’s the one in green.
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Urban planner and engineer Ildefons Cerdà conceived it as one of two major avenues – the other of course The Meridian, in red – that would meet at Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes, the yellow circle, and that plaza would become the new city centre.
Didn’t happen – at least the city centre part. That turned out to be Plaça Catalunya, which connected the Ciutat Vella, the old city, with the new. And the junction of the Diagonal and Meridian – known simply as Glòries (described with pictures in previous posts, starting here) – became the gateway to the industrial area of the city: Poblenou.
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This was the home of the industrial revolution in Spain. A century later, it and The Diagonal would be transformed to serve the economy of technology.
Centro Comercial Glòries
Centro Comercial Glòries
