For those looking to explore urban areas outside the city center, this walking tour will guide you through the social movements, communities and the development of the city of Barcelona.&nbsp;

The name of Verneda refers to some of the trees that grow outside the rivers, the verns. The neighborhood is closely related to La Pau, which means “Peace”. These districts form an urban and social community where we can see how together, preservation and peace have manifested in the neighborhood and community collectives. The first group of houses was promoted by the Municipal Housing Board, in the 50's and was a popular area for immigrant workers in Barcelona through the later half of the 19th century. In this walking tour, we explore the story behind this community; the history of life in the area, and the social movements behind urban development of this neighborhood. Get ready to take a step back in time and experience the story of urban immigrant life, trials, tribulations and ultimately, prosperity.

Credits 
Image&nbsp;Barcelona skyscrapers&nbsp;by <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26326823">M</a><a href="https://flic.kr/p/qe9dbf">aciek Lulko</a>

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Memories of Early La Pau and La Verneda

Welcome to the Museu d’historia de la immigracio de Catalunya where we begin our tour by taking a deep dive into the phenomenon of early migration to Barcelona. The MHIC is Europe’s first museum to focus exclusively on immigration. While many museums of humankind and history cover aspects of early immigration, none in the EU are dedicated solely to this subsector. This museum is also of particular interest because it came to existence largely due to the involvement, collaborative efforts, and contributions from citizens in the immediate vicinity. The experiences memories and testimonials collected are, a large percentage from immigrant families in Palmera, La Pau, Verneda Alta, St Marti de Provencals and La Verneda Baixa. The temporary exhibit space is used to showcase primarily local arists and their works, many of whom are immigrants or descendants of immigrant families.

Upon arrival, focus your attention on the landscape. Lanscapes and infrastruce hold important meaning in all urban spaces and often times are more of an afterthought to our primary trajectories or daily activities. But, in this walking tour, we will point often to new and old elements of the landscape and buildings and what they represent in the context of our story.

You can already see a juxtaposition of natural spaces and urban infrastructure. The community garden on one side, dived by the El Sevilliano Train from the Can Serra interpretive centre, a converted 19th-century farmhouse. . The garden serves a duel purposes as a general leisure area for the community and an open-air space for the&nbsp; museum. &nbsp;&nbsp;In the peripheral areas – we have large scale urban infrastructure – the Ronda Litoral Loop, The Grand Vila Power Station and the Football stadium- fabrications of the post-industrial and modern era. The juxtaposition between the MHIC space and that of the surrounding district is intentional and accentuates the two contexts to remind us how urban areas have so deeply changes over time. An example of this can be the intentional covering of the permanent exhibition room that can be seen from La Ronda.

Community Garden and Museum

Now before you take some time to explore this enticing space and exhibits, I want to direct your attention to some notable displays. Firstly, how can you miss El Sevilliano, a preserved example of the mode of arrival for many immigrants to the area. When you step inside you are transported back to walk in the shoes of many foreign and domestic displaced people embarking for a new and uncertain life in the “City of Wonders”. &nbsp;The Franca Train Station was the most typical port of arrival where, between 1940 and 1970 over 1.5 million people came to Barcelona from elsewhere in Spain. They were the most courageous, most entrepreneurial and in many cases the most deprived. During this time in Spain, nearly half of the national population made their livelihoods from Agriculture. The brutality of drought and despair in the country left many rural people without food or jobs. This pushed countless Andalusians, Extramadurians, Manchegoes and Galicians from the land of their families, to a new place. You can imagine this train filled with hopefulness -&nbsp; cluttered people grasping to their luggage and small mementos from their families and homes hoping to emerge in a post-war city where their dreams could become reality.&nbsp; These mementos are&nbsp; kept because of their associations with treasured people or events-&nbsp; tokens that serve to connect us to something cherished.&nbsp;

And before you finish at the Museum of the History of Immigration, take a stroll around the exterior of the old farm house and temporary exhibit building. Here you can find a detailed journey through the historical behaviors of human movements from prehistory to the twentieth century. Sorted into four interactive thematic spaces, you can see various aspects related to migrations throughout history such as nomadism, prejudice, terrorism or the causality of migrations in a historical context.

History of Immigration in Catalonia Museum

In the sixties, Barcelona was overwhelmed by the lack of housing.&nbsp;The urban population had been growing at an unstoppable rate since the end of the civil war.&nbsp;With the phenomenon of immigration, the public administrations lost control over many aspects of housing regulation.

Self-made, shandy houses used to line the train tracks stretching one mile through this neighbourhood to Verneda and into St Marti. The inhabitants were mostly children of gypsies rooted in Barcelona for several generations and the living conditions were very precarious, as is recalled by many inhabitants.

However, after many years of clashes over the dire housing situation, the municipal authorities only acted when certain central areas had to be eradicated, as was the case with the barracks that surrounded the grounds of the 1929 International Exposition. But the problem wasn’t solved so easily, the vertical barrack-style of housing was produced in other areas of the city and thousands of inhabitants were relocated, post-haste. (“La Font Verneda Blog,” 2012) Later, we will see the location of one of the most important barrack neighborhoods.

👣  The Emergence of Vertical Barracks

As we can see from the rich immigratory history, industrial Barcelona had attracted massive numbers of workers during the mid 1900’s. The shantytowns were already part of the urban landscape. But, there was little attention paid to the housing problem and the lack of other public resources for growing populations. Another problem was that the construction sector had industrialized marginally slower than other sectors. Rent prices were stagnant, and as a result, owners had less incentive to rent houses. All of these factors ultimately led to a shortage of popular housing. The only possible solution to all that chaos was to create and encourage the construction of housing blocks at affordable prices for new workers. These districts were meant to house more people in minimum square footage. Unfortunately, they were constructed with a severe lack of facilities, and the poor conditions of the lands where they were located had all kinds of constructive and urban deficiencies; everything had been done in a hurry and nobody was checking if the quality requirements were met. Barracks style housing in Barcelona tripled between 1914 and 1922 and went from a capacity of 1,200 to 3,600 people. The influx of inhabitants was also escalated after The Somorrostro, a barrack neighbourhood in Barconoletta and Ciutat Vella, disappeared in 1966 and the transfer of the inhabitants to houses of the Work of the Union of the Home to different areas in the city. These buildings constructed in the second half of the 1900s are a reminder of the displacement of these people but also of the progressively better lifestyle that came f the urban development of the area.

&nbsp;Here you can see, located between the Rambla de Gui-poo-scua and Gran Vía, one of the notorious existing barracks and the largest still remaining in the neighbourhood. The Fernando de los Ríos building, nick-named La Pau. Following a number of disputes with the neighborhoods of the Besòs and the Maresme, this third neighborhood of barrack buildings was built by the Work of the Labor Union. The block of La Pau opened with the accelerated growth of the area and in full force of the last modification of the plan.&nbsp;The polygon of La Pau was part of the campaign to wash the image of the Work of the Union. However, this project almost from the first day, raised the anger of its inhabitants.

Placa de Fernando de los Rios

This square sits at the border of entry to the neighborhood of La Verneda – a neighbourhood that uncompassed the 336&nbsp; gigantic barracks beginning at La Perona as a responsive and rushed city effort - a source of much citizen insecurity. This dormitory neighborhood that was known for many years by the generic name of La Verneda was born in the early fifties.&nbsp;elperiodico.es

At this location we can see the square is christened with meaning, holding the name “Pau”, meaning “peace”. Franco was inaugurated in 1966 in the acts of the "25 years of peace" campaign following the end of the Civil War; It is this campaign for which the neighbourhood is named. The square where you stand, Placa la Pau, was once a site of many local disputes and revolts, whereas residents would common together with a common voice for improved quality of life and express doubts in government policies and inequalities to the worker class. Today however, it is identified with the positive connotations of the concept "peace".

The building "Piramidón", a skyscraper of seventeen floors, was built in 1971. After a time without any specific destination, it is currently the seat of different entities and cultural, neighborhood and social associations. This building is a representation of the beginnings of neighborhood development which ultimately fulfilled the purpose of creating spaces for social and publicly enriching activities. This square represents the forward moving nature of the development of La Pau, whereas from the 1930s to 1960s it served a a gathering place for social unrest and today is the home of such community associations as the adult school of La Pau, Civic Center and a Center for Contemporary Art. In this light, we can see the district also develops as a result of social petition. In the case of Placa La Pau, the calls for change were met and as you can see from your exploration of the surroundings, that the movement towards a equitable and peaceful lifestyle, have in many ways, come to be realized.

Placa La Pau

Piramidón Centre for contemporary art is located here on level 15 through 17. The gallery was officialised in 1990 and acts as an hybrid creation space and an art gallery. From the beginning, the center was based on the promotion and exhibition of art in its different registers, one of which was to bring contemporary art to the general public. Piramidón main aim is to support artists in the area that are vulnerable to instabilities of the art market and have difficulties of finding a reliable workspace for their needs. There are 15 studio spaces, all leased to residents of the surrounding districts and its these artists that contribute the largest amount of art for display in the gallery. The gallery, located on level 17, is free for entry so now I encourage you to take some time to absorb these brilliant pieces by local artists. &nbsp;

Piramidion Centre D'Art Contemporani

Here we stand at once was site of La Perona, a neighborhood formed in&nbsp;1947. The entire barrack neighbourhood stretched from the old Bridge of Espronceda and was parallel to the train tracks, ending shortly before the Church of San Martin de Provensals. From testimonials we can recall that La Perona consisted of two very different parts: the Sant Martí round and the Sant Martí fund . The round began at the Espronceda bridge, between Carrer del Clot and Rambla Guipúscoa and reached the Treball bridge. Those who lived in this area of the neighborhood were people from various parts of Spain, mostly from Andalusia, "who came to Barcelona with the only ambition to find work and build a better future.&nbsp; Those who lived in the background of Sant Martí, to the promenade of Prim, were people who lived in marginality, without a known occupation. Both groups were overwhelmed with poverty, high levels of unemployment and terrible sanitation and healthcare. Malaria plagued many households and some residents recall living off only eggs or bread for days. &nbsp;

The district took it’s name from a&nbsp; &nbsp;visit made that year to the city by&nbsp;Eva Duarte de Perón&nbsp;, wife of&nbsp;Juan Perón. She, after observing that dreadful quality of life in the barracks, made a pledge to use her powerful influence to revive the neighbourhood and the wellbeing of its people. Unfortunately, this promise never came to be realized for years to follow and, as we will see, through many other channels of social petition.

&nbsp;Until&nbsp;1966&nbsp;the number of barracks did not exceed 200 but, after a military exercise was held in with the presence of Franco, it was decided that the Somorrostro was to be dismantled, and many of the inhabitants of this neighborhood move to the perona. The situation became more complicated for locals as the population of La Perona grew, reaching 1,000 barracks and some 5,000 people, mostly of&nbsp;gypsy ethnicity&nbsp;.&nbsp;In one scenario, there were almost 2,000 people crowded in 35-meter barracks many of them living without basic services. Public areas were non-existent and the streets surrounding the barracks acted as a dump. Still, most residents lived without access to plumbing or running water. The City of Barcelona convened a Conference on Roma population and the case of Perona was stressed as a priority, &nbsp;where the increasingly poor status is officially classified as "deplorable (“La Verneda ( La Perona ) | Space De Benja Grech,” n.d.) Mayor Porcioles in 1972 promised to eradicate the barracks of the neighborhood, ten years later, not only had they not be eliminated, but they had once again grown. Conflicts in the neighborhood intensified in 1982 by the wave of shoplifting and crime, which were attributed to the gypsies who lived there.

In&nbsp;1985&nbsp;there were still 55 barracks and a population of about 400 people. Finally, in 1989, after almost 40 years of answered demands and appeals and countless broken promises, this part of the neighbourhood was to be dismantled definitively. However, what’s disappointing is that the action ultimately came down to the fact that the Olympics were approaching, not that the social breaking point had finally been reached. After all, Barcelona had to consider its image in the global opinion. Just as we consider the enablers of the developments in Place Pau and Palmera, we can contrast the motivations behind alterations that occurred in this neighbourhoods as well. A history of strong community protest that resulting in little government or political action.

&nbsp;Regardless, in June of&nbsp;that year the last barracks were demolished, and their inhabitants moved to other neighborhoods. Here, in the park of St. Marti was where the last barrack had once stood. In a way, we can commemorate that the people of this community were able to withstand awful living conditions and arrive on the other side of such events, holding together with strong community values.

👣  La Perona

The Plaza de la Palmera has great importance as it was one of the first spaces won for the city in the beginnings of municipal democracy. It had later become the location of the Ballast Drums Factory which was a source of employment for many immigrants until it’s demolition in the 1980’s. You can still see the original towering chimneys has been preserved here as part of the plaza design – another important icon connecting past and present. &nbsp;

At first arrival on location, you might first notice the great dividing structure here in the park. What, on first glance, seems like a partition is in fact an enormous sculpture, called 'The wall'. IT is formed by two blocks of white concrete- each 53 metres long and three meters tall. It was created in 1984 by American sculptor, Richard Serra’s and was his first public sculpture in Spain. This work is an early representation of his signature minimalist constructions that are in existence today, all around the world, perhaps most popularly know for the Snake at the Guggenheim in Bilboa and the Tilted Arc in New York. However, Serra has not always fared so well in polarity in Spain and over the years the police prevented the lawbreakers from destroying the work many times. It is probably true that a great majority of Barcelonans know more of Serra’ works at the Guggenheim than for their own outdoor piece in the Catalan capital. It could be argued that although The Wall has been protected for it’s historical and artistic value, other features of the park are more beloved by it’s inhabitants and it the social collective.&nbsp; &nbsp;The identity sign in La Plaza de la Palmera of course comes from the iconic palm tree.

&nbsp;It was a palm that gave its name to the square of La Palmera at it’s inauguration in 1984, and, by extension, to the entire neighborhood of its surroundings. The palm had been there, long before the square itself existed or any other developments for that matter- shanty houses, block houses, factories or even sculptures. This final palm was the only one left of the group of 3 that was in the yard of the factory and remained in the public space when the factory was destroyed. They knocked two down and the neighborhood struggled to save the remaining one.

Sadly, in December it had to be removed because it was decaying from the affliction of the Red Spruce Beetle. &nbsp;One neighbour recalls the feelings of sadness as he and his grandchildren watched the city crew divide the dead tree and load the small pieces into the truck for removal. It was obvious that this artifact was quite relevant as more than just the name of the district. Now, a new palm has been installed by the City of Barcelona. However, it is a different species: the original was a canary palm and now a palm of Brazil has been planted.

We can pause to appreciate the reoccurrence of the theme of preservation; one for industry, one for nature and one for art. What is interesting, is when we consider the enablers behind this heritigization efforts and which tokens of the past are most treasured in the hearts of La Palmera?

Credits 
Image&nbsp;El Mur 04 by <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26326823">Ismael March</a>

Placa De La Palmera De Sant Marti

Part of the development of this neighbourhood can be seen through it’s artistic elements. The addition of artistic forms in the public spaces show how progressive development in this area has become, where at once time it was a struggle to develop provisions at a basic level-&nbsp; and now much of the building is done for aesthetic and cultural appeal. In the next minutes, we will consider two artistic works, both commissioned by the Government of Barcelona and both by the same artist. This first installation is El Llarg Viatge created by Francesc Torres Monsó for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The relevance of the sculpture has little meaning for our history of immigration but the name, “The Long Journey” is fitting, in that on this road we come to our final stop, at an important point of centrality in this vibrant neighbourhood. This work was mandated as an effort to beatify the neighbourhood proceeding the Olympics.

Running perpendicular, along the Rambla of Gupiscoa we can catch a glimpse of another work, from the similar timeframe, La Línea de la Verneda . In 1999 emerged this second instillation of industrial design, as a tribute to a neighborhood that went from agricultural to factory and its struggling people. It is the first sculpture in the area with minimalist form and, this time, a politically committed content. The considerations for this work were very different that those for Torre’s first work- in that it’s purpose socially based and not for image and reputation. In fact, at times it paints a picture of a very grim past. Torres has made a 1,5 km line of stainless steel that travels through the streets, hidden for moments and in others it resurges making loops. The artists intent was to parallel the “hidden parts of the line” to the sometimes “masked” history of the neighbourhoods. From our understanding and testimonials of the lives of immigrants in this neighbourhood, we can draw many examples. At its ends, we find the letters A and B, which illustrate to the artist the ends of a linear story. The line has inscribed phrases about episodes of local history, delivered as fragments of unofficial history. That of everyday life, that of migratory flows, of the hard-postwar period. In a subtle way, these facts reconstruct the memory of the neighborhood, of a town. The entire piece stretches far down the Rambla and includes historic moments from all adjoining neighbourhoods, particularly that of Sant Marti de Provençal. I encourage you, after this tour to experience this work in it’s entirety and enjoy stories of surrounding districts as they supplement the history of this one.

Credits 
Image&nbsp;El Llarg Viatge by <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26326823">M</a><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3484059">utari</a>

Progressive Development

The crossing of the renovated Ramblas of Prim and Guipúzcoa, and the neighboring subway station, make up a point of centrality and commercial and civic dynamism, which perfectly exemplifies the great improvement of urban quality that the neighborhood has experiences in recent years. In some ways, this is the new manifestation of community Plazas, where the main modern arteries of the neighborhood meet the heart.

&nbsp;Today the oldest barrack neighbourhoods have been dissolved and replaced by new, grandeur developments such as the Grand Via and Litoral Road. But, we still have memorabilia, to hold and cherish in our collective minds. Just as, 80 years ago, our immigrant characters held tightly onto small mementos from their past, La Pau and La Verneda on a grander scale, hold tightly onto communal memories and icons that signify something greater than the change any one person can make.

I would like to thank the staff at the Immigration Museum of Catalunia, the wonderful works of Merce Tatjer and all of the people that participate in telling their stories of immigration. Mostly, I would like to thank you for joining me today for this journey and I hope you can click off this tour feeling a little more enriched.&nbsp;

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Intersection of Roads

For those looking to explore urban areas outside the city center, this walking tour will guide you through the social movements, communities and the development of the city of Barcelona.&nbsp;

The name of Verneda refers to some of the trees that grow outside the rivers, the verns. The neighborhood is closely related to La Pau, which means “Peace”. These districts form an urban and social community where we can see how together, preservation and peace have manifested in the neighborhood and community collectives. The first group of houses was promoted by the Municipal Housing Board, in the 50's and was a popular area for immigrant workers in Barcelona through the later half of the 19th century. In this walking tour, we explore the story behind this community; the history of life in the area, and the social movements behind urban development of this neighborhood. Get ready to take a step back in time and experience the story of urban immigrant life, trials, tribulations and ultimately, prosperity.

Credits 
Audio tour&nbsp;developed by „Mementos: The Pursuit of Peace in Early La Pau and La Verneda“ and powered by IZI.Travel

Image&nbsp;Barcelona skyscrapers&nbsp;by <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26326823">M</a><a href="https://flic.kr/p/qe9dbf">aciek Lulko</a>

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Barcelona

Memories of Early La Pau and La Verneda

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