Typescript of the Second Eixample

Just 125 years ago, building a structure in the middle of the street in certain areas of Barcelona was not only possible but also legal.

Ildefons Cerdà’s Eixample began to take shape 170 years ago, on land surrounding Barcelona’s walls but belonging to other municipalities like Sants, Hostafrancs, Vila de Gràcia, or Sant Andreu de Palomar.

The Eixample Plan for Barcelona began in 1859, but without jurisdiction over the municipalities that surrounded it, so no matter how ambitious the Eixample plan was, for a developer or company, it was more important to align with a street like Pere IV or Clot in Sant Martí de Provençals than to respect the layout of a future street, which might or might not end up being built.

In this way, in all those municipalities where Barcelona could not govern, far from facilitating the deployment of Cerdà’s Plan, construction continued in spaces that should have been reserved for new streets. The first annexations began in 1876, but it was not until 40 years after its approval in 1899, almost into the 20th century, that the most important municipalities like Sarrià, Sant Gervasi de Cassoles, or Sant Martí de Provençals were integrated.

The true and most radical difference between the right and left Eixample lies in Barcelona’s lack of governance beyond its municipal limits until the early 20th century. Maps of the time show unequal development on either side of the border between Barcelona and Sant Martí. The left Eixample strictly followed the project’s layout and geometry, with the first modernist buildings emerging on its streets. On the contrary, in the right Eixample, detached from Cerdà’s guidelines, a certain anarchy prevailed, with some exceptions from more visionary minds.

However, this vision of a shared future ultimately precipitated unity. The Plano de la Unificación de los Pueblos del Llano de Barcelona, drawn by Ricard Alsina Amils in 1899, sealed an ambitious pact based on the certainty that they would fare better together. Certainly, there were common challenges that transcended the interests of each particular municipality.

On the one hand, the dire need to escape the walls that suffocated an unhealthy Barcelona plagued by tuberculosis. On the other hand, the business opportunity that everyone saw in this inhospitable new land, with new streets, new means of transport like the tram, and new technologies to implement, such as gas or electricity, where Barcelona’s push during the 1888 and 1929 Universal Expositions proved decisive.

The problems Barcelona faces today are no smaller than those of the early 20th century; the limits of Collserola, the Besòs, the Llobregat, and the sea are the walls of the past.

The problems Barcelona faces today are no smaller than those of the early 20th century; the limits of Collserola, the Besòs, the Llobregat, and the sea are the walls of the past. And the neighboring counties of Barcelonès, Maresme, Baix Llobregat, and Vallès are its adjacent municipalities.

The challenges are also significant. The lack of residential land, the need to green cities and combat climate change, or a serious metropolitan transport policy, so that choosing to live in Sant Cugat, Tiana, or El Papiol does not depend on car reliance, are just some examples.

Expanding the playing field is essential, and for that, it is necessary to also change the rules. There is no real morphological difference between Sant Andreu de Palomar and Santa Coloma de Gramenet, or between Sant Adrià de Besòs and Sant Martí, but there are administrative and political ones. The 1899 realization that, under a single government, territorial policies on transport, housing, or scientific and technical evolution would be more effective, seems today to face many obstacles.

The Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, with 36 municipalities and almost 3.5 million people, presents itself as a Tower of Babel with differing interests and political strategies.

We are now witnessing the recent approval of the Metropolitan Urban Master Plan (PDUM), which has undergone a lengthy debate and, as expected, a lengthy participatory process that will conclude in October with the submission of amendments. The PDUM leaves behind the overused 1976 General Metropolitan Plan (PGM—it seems we like 40-year cycles), this time with an eye on 2050, but without true changes in political governance.

The evidence of facing a major challenge drove the unification of the Llano de Barcelona under a single municipal government over a century ago. Today, the pages of the origin of the second Eixample are being written. Time will tell if this territory will require a new city hall.