Badalona is a city and municipality in the Barcelonès region. Badalona, a city of 21 km, of irregular relief, extends from sea level to 465 m altitude. Surrounded in the northeast by the steep space of the Sierra de Marina, the city’s green lung where you can find a wide variety of vegetation and an interesting heritage and historical legacy, such as its farmhouses and farmhouses.
Badalona, a Mediterranean city located north of the mouth of the river Besòs, is one of the oldest and most historic cities in Catalonia. Framed within the province of Barcelona, it is just 10 km from the capital Barcelona. It is part of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area, and is the largest and most populated municipality in the region called Barcelonès Nord or Baix Besòs. With approximately 220,000 inhabitants, it is currently the fourth most populous city in Catalonia.
The oldest settlement remains in the area date back to the Neolithic, and then to an Iberian settlement, but it is usually dated to the founding of Badalona around 100 BC, when the Romans founded the town of Baetulo, name of the which derives the current toponym. The decline of the empire turned the city into a village for centuries. From the eighteenth century onwards, and especially in the nineteenth century, with the advent of the railroad and the rapid and intensive industrialization, the population grew exponentially; in the twentieth centurythe growth continued with the great migratory waves of the rest of Spain, that generated a chaotic urbanism towards the periphery.
Its fishing and industrial tradition has gradually diminished throughout the twentieth century. Currently, Badalona is mainly a city of services and has several streets and shopping centers, as well as several markets. It also offers different resources in both education and health, with the presence of centers such as the Pau Gargallo School of Art or the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital.
Culturally, Badalona has a municipal museum, three theaters and several libraries. It celebrates two major festivals in honor of its two patrons. The most popular are the May Festival, in honor of St. Anastasi, the central act of the festival being the Burning of the Devil, on the eve of the 11th. The other major festival, the traditional one, is the Virgin of ‘August, which is detrimental due to being summer time.
Socially, Badalona is an active city with various neighborhood, cultural and sports organizations. In sports, probably the most popular is basketball, whose greatest exponent is the Club Joventut Badalona, but also has clubs and teams in other sports such as football, football with the Dragons, tennis or table tennis. with the CTT Badalona, and related to water such as swimming or sailing.
History
The oldest remains found in Badalona date from the Neolithic period: tools worked in stone and flint in the area of Manresà and the hill of Seriol and also tombs with auxiliaries in Sistrells and Llefià. During the metal age, the open-air habitat became widespread and there were several sites found in the city, especially in several early Bronze Age basins and in Can Butinyà and Can Mora, in the Canyet district.
Ancient age
The first element of the ancient period is the Iberian village of Turó d’en Boscà, which dates back to the third century BC. But the origins of the city are usually dated to the Roman ex novo foundation around 100 BC when the Romans founded the town of Bætulo (or Bètulo) on a small hill by the sea. Urbanized orthogonally. The forum square was on the street above, where the church of Santa Maria de Badalona is located. Over time, the civitasit was walled up and achieved the status of municipium, a fact that proves the prosperity and growth of the city until the second century, especially around trade, thanks to the production and export of wine. This last information is corroborated by the archaeological discoveries made during the excavation of Plaça Pompeu Fabra.
Middle age
With the decline of the Empire began a general process of ruralization of the territory that depopulated the Roman town of Baetulo to the villages scattered around the area. In general, the territory suffered a demographic and economic decline due to the disappearance of trade and the continuing dangers posed by the attacks of the Germanic peoples and then the Muslims.
The medieval nucleus is the area today known as Dalt de la Vila, which occupies the same place as the ancient Baetulo. However, there was also a certain scattered population in the areas of Llefià, Canyet and Pomar. Demographically speaking it does not stand out; in 1380 it had only 130 fires, which had been reduced to less than 100 in 1553 due to war events, epidemics, and pirate attacks.
Modern age
The modern era represents for Badalona a continuity in the modus vivendi of the population and there is practically a demographic and urban stagnation due mainly to epidemics and pirate raids, which attacked in 1527 and 1564. Wars were another factor in fomenting the stagnation of the town. Politically town was under royal jurisdiction until 10 June of 1595, when the viceroy and captain general of Catalonia Badalona granted privileges, among which was the title of university, ie in-town and right to elect various public officials by the system of insaculation; the people chosen followed the same proportion according to the neighborhoods, La Sagrera and Llefià had a third each, the last was divided between Canyet and Pomar.
The situation changed in the eighteenth century, from the arrival of the Bourbons on the throne the pirate attacks ceased and Badalona experienced growth in all areas, demographically and urbanistically and also began an agricultural improvement that would later help its industrialization.
Contemporary age
At the beginning of the 19th century, the city began its path towards industrialization, trading its surpluses in the emerging Barcelona market, and the rural world began to shrink. The first textile factories arrived in 1804, and in 1825 the chemical factory Casanovas, Massanet i Cia (which had had to leave Barcelona due to pollution problems) moved to Badalona. The steam machining industry and the arrival of the railway in 1848 the consolidated definitively. Precisely to build it, the first wave of immigration took place, coming from Sant Carles de la Ràpita and Alcanar. The first boom can be seen in the demographic and urban leap that Badalona made between 1842 and 1860: from about 3,700 inhabitants to a census of 12,000 later, from not being in the ranking of the thirty largest cities in Catalonia to be the twelfth.
But it was during the second half of the nineteenth century that the industrial and population boom took place: large textile, chemical and food industries settled in Badalona with a large workforce and high production: alcohols, spirits, leathers, glass., the first electrical material, pharmaceuticals, gas. At the end of the century it was an urgent need to expand the city to plan a growth that had long since begun and that in 1900 made a total of 19,200 Badalonians (ninth city in the country).
In 1900, the failed Uprising of Badalona and other Catalan and Valencian towns led by Salvador Soliva took place in favor of Carles de Borbó and East Austria.
At the turn of the century there was a significant cultural dynamism, which was later slowed down and retaliated against during the two dictatorships. By 1910 there were already 20,900; and in 1936, 48,700, becoming the fourth Catalan city. This rampant boom led to growth in poorly connected neighborhoods and without facilities. After the civil war, the dynamic did not stop in the opposite direction: new immigration and the uncontrollability of expansion led to dizzying figures: 76,300 inhabitants in 1950, 92,200 in 1960 and 201,200 ten years later.
During the 1980s, and since its appointment as the sub- venue of the 1992 Olympic Games, Badalona underwent a series of urban transformations and the arrival of new immigrants, a process that is still in force today.
Despite this constant demographic boom over the last two centuries, Badalona has not become a simple dormitory district of Barcelona, but has retained its own identity thanks, in part, to the active presence of their cultural and sports organizations; and also thanks to its particular urbanism.
Tourism
Badalona is a city with many places to discover. An ancient and modern city, current and diverse, proud of its past and working to improve its future, a city to be visited. A city with an important historical and cultural heritage that define its own personality. It also has numerous sports and leisure activities. In front of the sea, with almost 5 km of beach next to the Serralada de Marina, Badalona is green and blue. Badalona is a city where there is always something to do, something to know and something to enjoy. Discover its essence. Discover their secrets.
Urbanism
Badalona had been reduced to Dalt de la Vila and the small fishing village of Baix a Mar, but population growth made the city grow in size. Although the greatest expansion took place during the twentieth century, when the arrival of new immigrants gave birth to neighborhoods on the outskirts of the term, which was done spontaneously from urbanizations made by private individuals. After the Civil War, the government was not very dedicated to the design of sustainable urban models, they made the growth of the town a subdivision into areas urban and social level, which caused inequalities and did not care to maintain internal road connections.
The historical and maritime Badalona
Extending along the coastal area of the same municipality, it occupies a part of the buttresses of the Sierra Litoral Catalana. At the beginning of its Roman foundation, the famous Baetulo, is reflected today in the Dalt de la Vila neighborhood, which is located at the foot of a small hill, which is why we find narrow roads of a considerable level. In this neighborhood, forgotten today, it is home to the remains of the Roman city and it is there where the Badalona Museum is located. In this sector of the city of medieval squares, it connects with the sector of Baix a Mar where we find the commercial and administrative axis of the city: the house of the city of 1877, headquarters of the City Council of Badalona, in the Plaza de la Vila.
From there it goes to Calle del Mar, Badalonese commercial axis that ends in the Rambla of the city, a promenade full of bars and restaurants with a presence of palm trees along the road and, to the wall that signifies the passage of the historic commuter train line dating from 1848. Furthermore, it should be remembered that the area that today is the current Martí Pujol, long ago was known as El Sorral, due, as its name indicates, to the inability to cultivate any species due to the presence of sand in that location.
A promenade cut by the railway line leads to one of the most emblematic beaches on the coast (see the city’s coastline). The city is characterized by being a fishing village (today in extinction) and as an industrial village, where for years the wastewater that contaminated the area and affected the Besós river itself was discharged. With the construction of the Paseo Marítimo in the penultimate decade of the 20th century and the intention of connecting it with the Port of Badalona, inaugurated in 2005, the area has been revitalized and little by little it has been displacing the remains of the old industrial Badalona, replaced by a residential one. Axes in the center of Badalona, in addition to Calle del Mar or Plaza de la Vila itself, are Calle Francesc Layret, Vía Augusta, which effectively follows the route of the old Roman road.
Badalona, widens the center a little more as the old Canyet or Folc stream passes: Martí i Pujol street, President Companys avenue, which closes Vía Augusta from side to side, and then Prim street; the Matamoros stream, which had been the perimeter of the first Badalonese expansion or the area of the neighborhoods of Casagemes, Canyadó, Santo Cristo, with the Old Cemetery of Santo Cristo, touching Can Solei, and the Manresá, more industrial areas that delimit the city with Montgat and Tiana with the Polígono Industrial de Les Guixeres, also full of nightlife areas. The Cañada neighborhood comprises one of the city’s most important lungs: Can Solei Park, which will soon join Ca l’Arnús Park, once it is open to the public.Badalona Pompeu Fabra and in the future to build an intermodal station where a hypothetical railway transfer could arrive that would use more citizens, and links with various bus lines. It is a perfect link with the only industrial district of Progreso. Of this sector, it is worth highlighting the area of the historic Maignon Market.
The post-industrial Badalona
This area already fully enters neighborhoods such as Progreso, precisely connected to one of the longest roads in the city parallel to the railroad: Industria Street. It reaches the Gorg neighborhood and plays with the Port of Badalona. One of the most central squares in this area is the Pep Ventura square, bordering the Raval neighborhood. Guifré street, Eduard Maristany street, Progreso street or Marqués de Mont-Roig Avenue, which ends at Pep Ventura and is in turn at Francesc Maciá, are a series of axes parallel to the sea, which connects the center of the city. city with the most peripheral neighborhoods such as Gorg, San Roque, Llefiàand Artigas. The most important of these is Calle Alfonso XIII that comes from San Adrián del Besos and traces a diagonal until it finds a connection between Pep Ventura and Marqués de Mont-Roig, both of which become one, Calle Francesc Maciá.
The extension of Industria Street was occupied by a whole set of well-characterized low houses where the workers, who worked in defunct factories such as Can Cros, lived. The area, bombed during the Spanish Civil War, also includes other historical factories such as the Cristalería, which disappeared like the previous one, or the still active Anís del Mono factory.
The north Badalona
Although the train track is currently a barrier to access the beach, more problematic is still the geographically outer ring of the town, which is separated from the two areas previously treated by the passage of the C-31 motorway and comes from Barcelona towards Mataró. The main problem, in addition to splitting the city in two right in the middle, is the shortage of underpasses that makes it even more difficult to connect the neighborhoods that are farthest from the administrative center of the city, which in turn are the most populated.
La Salut, Llefià and Artigas, the neighborhoods bordering Santa Coloma and San Adrián are the first to be found in the west. This is the most inhabited area of the city, even though its dimensions and its expansion are attributed to two waves of immigration: that of different areas of Spain during the Franco regime. And today, immigration that comes from abroad, mainly from the Maghreb, Eastern Europe, Pakistan and Latin America. The commercial hub of this area is located on Paseo de La Salut, Pérez Galdós street and the Llefiá and La Salut markets.
Moving towards Mataró, we find a second point of populated neighborhoods, which mainly includes the neighborhoods of Sistrell, Lloreda and Nueva Lloreda, areas of which the Colina de Caritg stands out, about 80 meters high, where an earth canal is intended to reach inside from the Port of Badalona. The Lloreda Park is also important, which quickly connects with Santo Cristo and the next commercial center of the city, the one called the other center, due to the volume of consumption that moves the department stores in the area: Montigalá and Puigfred. It is these expanding areas that give way to the Morera and Bufalá, where the old streams that go down to Martí i Pujol or President Companys start.
Here is the most wooded and ecologically valuable area of Badalona, residential and with little density, where the main attraction is the monastery of Sant Jeroni de la Murtra, is the coastal mountain range, where we also find paths that start from the Cross of Montigalá or the Cantera de la Vallensana. The particular neighborhood of Pomar and the urbanization of Mas-Ram, are the last neighborhoods, in this case before driving on the Conreria road, which leads to San Fausto de Campcentellas.
Architectural and artistic heritage
Within the architectural and artistic heritage of Badalona, many architectural works and typologies are represented, which can be found both in the urban area and in the valleys of the Serralada de Marina. The following are listed as Cultural Assets of National Interest. However, there are many other works that make up the heritage of Badalona that receive the qualification of Cultural Asset of Local Interest.
Sant Jeroni de la Murtra
The exclaustrated monastery of Sant Jeroni de la Murtra, or Our Lady of the Bethlehem Valley, is located in the middle of the Sierra de Marina, in the valley of Poià or Bethlehem, currently in the neighborhood of Canyet. It was founded in 1416 from a transfer of monks from Garraf with the help of the merchant Bertran Nicolau, who gave them the old house of La Murtra. Built at various times, in which we find different monarchs of the house of the Trastàmares and the first Hispanic Austrians, it is mainly of Gothic style, and its cloister stands out as the most monumental part.
In 1835 it was excluded from the confiscation of Mendizábaland shortly afterwards set on fire and partially destroyed, until its sale, which will put it in the hands of several families. It was not until 1971 when Francesca Güell acquired it and through the Casa de Santiago she created a rest area, with the mission of also rebuilding and restoring the monastery. In 1975 it was declared by the state a historical-artistic monument of national interest, and in 2014 as a cultural asset of national interest, together with its outbuildings and its natural context of the Poià valley.
House Enric Pavillard
Residence named after its first owner, Enric Pavillard, an industrialist of French origin. The work was commissioned in 1906 to the Badalona architect Joan Amigó i Barriga, the greatest exponent of modernism in Badalona; in fact, this house is possibly the most representative work of both this style and Amigó in the city. It is located on the corner of Avinguda de Martí Pujol with Mossèn Anton Romeu, forming part of the Eixample of Badalona, which was begun to develop in the early twentieth century. Structured in two bodies, with a gabled roof, the most outstanding is its floral and naturalistic style decoration in various applied arts, but the wrought iron samples on the balconies, grilles and front door are also interesting.
Torre Vella
It is the heir building of the feudal era par excellence in Badalona, considered a palace-palace, is located in the historic center of the city, Dalt de la Vila. Originally built in the 13th century, the Torre Vella has undergone several reforms over the centuries, mainly in the 16th century, but also in the 18th – 19th centuries.; it has Gothic, Renaissance elements, such as the cover, and later. It had a defense tower that was demolished in 1967 to urbanize and widen Temple Street. Throughout its history, it was the residence of the so-called lords of Badalona, who changed according to the times through sales, who finally put it in the hands of the Barcelona elites, until it came into the hands of the Marquis of Barberà. At present, and from 1939, it is soothes of the Cultural School. On the other hand, its ancient estate was the source of important Roman finds from the ancient Baetulo.
Godmar Castle
Also known as Cal Comte, the castle is a fortified farmhouse built in various eras, located in the valley of Pomar, currently the neighborhood of Pomar de Dalt. Probably built on top of an ancient Roman villa. It has been documented since 1030, related to the acquisition of the site by Bishop Godmar III of Girona in 989. The old medieval tower gradually became a stately residence, an allotment that changed hands until it was acquired by the Blanes-Centelles lineage in 1402, which still owns the property and uses it as a residence. particular, and which transformed the old farm into fields of Pitch and Putt, which were built and inaugurated in 1997. It does not have a definite style, as it retains Romanesque elements from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and other Gothic from the fifteenth century, when it was walled and had a defense tower. In the twentieth century it was renovated in neo- medieval style, which completely changed its appearance, giving the current look of a romantic castle with walls, battlements and towers, some of which came from the destroyed castle of Sant Martí de Centelles, owned by the same family.
Can Canyadó
This farmhouse has as a characteristic element its defense tower, located on one side of the building, which is 12 meters high distributed over three floors and a roof, crowned by two battlements and battlements. Can Canyadó is a farmhouse whose oldest documented origins date back to 1492, when it was being built, between the 15th and 16th centuries, and later a tower was added in 1648 to protect it from attacks. of the pirates who ravaged the coasts of Badalona during the modern age. Named after the former owners, the Canyadós, the farmhouse and its estate were occupied and their fields were exploited as farmers until the 1980s, and it was acquired by the Badalona City Council in 1987., which eventually turned it into a civic center and center of traditional culture. The farmhouse ended up giving its name to the lower part of the Pomar stream and also to the current Canyadó district.
Can Bofí Vell
It is a farmhouse located between the neighborhoods of Montigalà and Sant Crist, which according to legend stopped to rest Christopher Columbus on his way to Sant Jeroni, where the Catholic Monarchs were waiting for him. It was originally built in the 15th – 14th centuries. Like Can Canyadó, Can Bofí Vell was one of the farmhouses in Badalona that was fortified to protect itself from the pirate attacks that the town suffered during the modern age. The house and its estate were active by farmers until the 1970s century xx, moment from which it begins to suffer a process of degradation and progressive ruin, of which practically only its monumental tower survived. The building of the house has been rebuilt and the farmhouse, in general, restored. It is currently owned by Badalona City Council, but is still unused.
Oil Bridge
The Pont del Petroli is an old pier that goes about 250 m into the sea and about 6 m above it, offering a privileged view of the city seen from the Mediterranean. It has become one of the symbols of the city.
In the 1960s, CAMPSA built this structure and its tankers used it to unload petroleum products in land tanks. The bridge was closed for years and was about to disappear, but was avoided thanks to the struggle of neighborhood activist Josep Valls i Pla. It is currently owned by Badalona City Council, which opened it to the public in 2009.
This old oil pier has made it possible, once its use is over, to create a unique underwater ecosystem on the Catalan coast. The facility is used as a platform for scientific study of aspects related to the marine environment, providing it with tools for environmental and biological measurements.
Sanitary equipment
Badalona has a wide range of sanitary facilities. These include the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital, popularly known as Can Ruti; is a public center of the Catalan Institute of Health. It acts as a basic general hospital for a population of more than 200,000 inhabitants, both in Badalona and Sant Adrià de Besòs, and is a reference hospital for the almost 800,000 people who live in Barcelonès Nord and Maresme. It is also a first-class research and teaching center. Next to it is the Guttmann Institute, which specializes in the specialized treatment of people with spinal cord injury and acquired brain damage.
In addition, the city also has the Municipal Hospital and the El Carme Sociosanitary Center, as well as a network of Primary Care Centers, one for the care and monitoring of drug addictions and one for sexual health care. and reproduction; the vast majority of these centers are managed by the entity contracted by the Badalona City Council Health Services.
Municipal markets
Badalona has six municipal markets: Mercat Maignon, Mercat Torner, Mercat de La Salut, Mercat de Llefià, Mercat de Morera-Pomar, Mercat de Sant Roc. The Mercat Maignon and the Torner are two historic buildings in the city built in 1889 and 1926 respectively, and are nicknamed Plaça Vella and Plaça Nova; the Torner market is also the largest in the city.
Culture
Museums
The Badalona Museum, inaugurated in 1966, is mainly dedicated to the city’s Roman past, and you can visit the Roman baths and other archaeological remains. Annually, on the last weekend of April, it organizes a Roman festival, called Magna Celebratio, dedicated mainly to historical reconstruction activities. On the other hand, the Museum of Badalona also preserves pieces from other eras, a very important Image Archive and also manages the Historical Archive of the City of Badalona.
In the future, the Museum of Comics and Illustration of Catalonia must also be installed in the former factory of the Compañía Auxiliar del Comerç i la Indústria, which has been the subject of of a comprehensive restoration. However, although the museum was scheduled for 2012, the project has been delayed in terms of the collection of documentary funds and, nevertheless, the lack of liquidity of the Generalitat, which froze the opening of new museums in 2011. However, recent moves have been made to try to get the project up and running again.
The Escola del Mar is the center of marine studies that was created in Badalona in 1987. Its aim is to maintain the link that the city has with the Mediterranean, and it does so by publicizing the biology and ecology of the sea and encouraging respect for the environment. It also does a task of recovering historical memory, while disseminating the maritime tradition of Badalona, which is reflected in aspects such as fishing, sailing, or lambing. It organizes conferences, exhibitions, sea trips, visits to its aquariummarine, and offers a wide range of educational activities, such as information on jellyfish bites, among other activities. It carries out scientific research in the field of the coast, with studies on the effects of the bioaccumulation of mercury in oysters, the populations of benthic organisms on the seabed, the conservation of the Posidonia prairies of Mataró, etc. In 2013 it was awarded the Blue Flag Center as a facility open to the public that carries out pedagogical tasks in the field of marine ecosystems.
Cinema, performing arts and music
The city has the presence of three municipal theaters: the Teatro Zorrilla, founded in 1868, the Teatro Principal, both in the Center district, and the Teatro Blas Infante, in Llefià. However, the Catholic Circle also has its own theater, which completes the city’s scenic offer.
In terms of theaters during great part of century XX the majority of cinemas located in the city center, including the street Sea. The Zorrilla Theater itself functioned as a cinema, taking the name of Cine Aya from the fifties; the Teatre Principal was also a cinema. Other cinemas were the Cine Nou or the Cine Verbena. However, there were also other cinemas scattered throughout other parts of the city, which over the years closed. After the Picarol Cinema in December 2008, the last cinema that the Center had, closed its doors and so did the rooms of the Montigalà Shopping Center, the city has only one multiplex (Megacine Badalona), in the new Màgic Badalona shopping center.
Various events are held in the city throughout the year: a jazz festival, the Li-Chang Memorial magic festival, remembering the figure of the Badalona illusionist Joan Forns and the Filmets short film festival.
In the field of music and education, we find the Conservatory of Music, located in the building of the old Escola del Treball, strongly linked to the Badalona Symphony Band, and the School of Modern Music of Badalona.
Civic centers and libraries
The city has a network of civic centers, distributed throughout the neighborhoods. The first were those of La Colina (Puigfred) and Morera. Currently there are also the civic centers of Can Cabanyes, Torre Mena, Dalt de la Vila, Sant Roc, La Salut, Can Canyadó and Can Pepus. They all carry out a series of activities for the neighbors. Of special mention are the Medieval Festival of Can Canyadó, or the Indian Festival of Can Cabanyes.
Badalona also has six libraries. All of them have a specialized local fund and some of them also have special funds in some subject. Firstly, the central library of Can Casacuberta, in addition to the highly specialized local collection, also has a collection of old works in Catalan, magic, as well as having a reading club and hosting the Betúlia cultural space.. The others are those of Lloreda, with a fund specialized in Arabic culture, that of Sant Roc, with a fund specialized in flamenco that of Llefià -Xavier Soto, with a fund specialized in manuals for to run for office, and that of Pomar. On 28 March of 2015 was inaugurated a new library to serve neighborhoods Canyadó and Casagemes the name of the poet Joan Argenté in recognition of his career and his relationship with the city.
Gastronomy
Badalona’s cuisine is part of Catalan cuisine, with its own recipes, related, above all, to the maritime field or the rural origins of the city. From the administration and from various civic entities were recovered from 1989 to 2009 with a Gastronomic Conference initiated by the Department of Tourism of the City Council, recovering recipes that, in some cases, were not documented.
The star dish is the so-called badalonina octopus, consists of an octopus stew accompanied by potatoes and denied allioli, a recipe that is also present in other coastal towns. Other recipes replace some ingredients with anise, such as badalonine cod, made with a stir-fry of tomato, onion and red pepper, adding a drizzle of dried monkey anise; or monkfish with juice, a typical dish of fishermen, replaces the typical absinthe with anise. Other dishes also traditionally cooked in the city, some of which were presented during the gastronomic days, were the vine peach stuffed with meat, bullabessa or cod with potatoes and allioli.
Many other genuine dishes were part of the menu of restaurant dishes that were a reference to the city and had projection outside of it. Among some of the well-known recipes are the rabbit with prawns or prawns, the pork feet in the gatxona, from the Fonda d’en Gatxó, the zarzuela, from Can Ramonet, or Francis Boix’s beans, from the Nereida restaurant.
On the other hand, in recent years there have been a proliferation of gastronomic days and meetings, as a way of promoting local cuisine, as well as the city’s restaurants. Some of these initiatives have had the collaboration of the Fishermen’s Guild of Badalona.
Festivities and traditions
Badalona includes several festivals that pay homage to saints such as Sant Sebastià (patron chosen by the people), Sant Pere (patron saint of fishermen), or the Paseo de Sant Antoni (patron saint of round-footed cattle). Thus Badalona celebrates the procession of Corpus Christi, that of Carmen, the Procession of the Mysteries documented in the seventeenth century and characterized by silence, and has recently recovered the procession of Sorrows, a step that almost a century ago did not go out. Of course, these are joined by typical festivities throughout Catalonia such as the Carnival, the Diada, Sant Jordi, theNight of San Juan, or the Night of Kings, where these arrive from the beach. The Festa Major de Badalona is celebrated on the 15th of August, for the Virgen de Agosto, although only a few festive events are held on these dates. However, in the twentieth century the popular celebrations moved mainly to the month of May, when the most characteristic festival of the city is actually celebrated.
Badalona promotes and lives the culture very intensely throughout the year. The number of events held there is innumerable, including the popular Cremada del Dimoni, on the night of May 10, the eve of Sant Anastasi, an event declared of tourist interest in Catalonia. As part of the May Festival, events are also held such as the traditional Micaco Dance, the Badiu Festival, the Fira de l’Arrop, the Festa de les Migas, the Sardinada de Baix a Mar, etc. The refurbished Blas Infante, Principal, and Zorrilla theaters host a wide range of international cultural interest throughout the year. Examples include the international short film festival Filmets, the Blues and Rhythms music festival, the Li Chang memorial, etc., as well as a wide and up-to-date range of musical and theatrical performances. August 15 is the main festival of Badalona, with events such as the gathering of sardanas, correfocs, giant dances, etc.
May holidays
The festivities of May have as their central axis May 11, the day of the patron saint of the city and a holiday, Saint Anastasi. The night before, May 10, is the Demon Burning on the beach, accompanied by fireworks; this wooden demon, anchored in the sand, is the winning design in the “Burn it.” competition, which is organized to choose the demon that will be burned. These festive days are full of activities: correfocs, the dance of the Eagle, habaneras, burnt and sardines in the Festa del Baix a Mar, street dances and, as a result of its foundation in 1998, the performances of the Castellers de Badalona and the Gegants de Badalona. This May festival was declared a Cultural Asset of Tourist Interest in 1991, and it seems that they are already dated to 1635, and the baron of Maldà himself described them in his Tailor’s Drawer.
Within the framework of these festivities, the traditional Fira de l’ Arrop is celebrated, which in 2013 celebrated its 33rd edition. You can find typical candied fruits and other food products such as honey, quince, jams, cheeses, sausages, breads, sweets, beers and wine.
The seven treasures of Badalona
Owing to the capital of Catalan culture in Badalona in 2010, in 2009 proposed a popular vote, open to everyone, not only in Badalona, to choose the seven treasures of cultural heritage material from Badalona, a imitation of other processes that have been carried out in other places. Initially, both the organization of the capital and the Department of Culture asked the citizens and the entities proposed for the vote, to reach the forty candidacies, of which the following remained: ]
Ancient monastery of Sant Jeroni de la Murtra
Roman city of Baetulo
Sailing skate
Monkey Anise Distillery
Rambla de Badalona
Dalt de la Vila
Giants Anastasi and Maria
Natural space
Badalona, with almost 5 km of coastline, has in its eight beaches, one of the main resources and tourist attractions. The beaches of our city become, especially when the summer period arrives, the stage where numerous sporting, cultural and leisure acts and events take place. Habaneras, tournaments and exhibitions of different sports, children’s performances, gastronomic proposals, etc. As an example, they are a small sample of what we can find there. To the north of the city, Badalona is delimited by the mountainous area called the Sierra de Marina, which with its dense vegetation stands as the green lung of the city. We will be able to appreciate an interesting and rich representation of buildings and elements of great historical relevance, such as the old farmhouses and farmhouses, the fountains, the hermitages, as well as a series of duly signposted routes suitable for walking or cycling.
Green areas
Badalona has 96 ha of urban greenery spread over small gardens and large parks. The Can Solei / Ca l’Arnús –historic garden– with 110,000 m² and the Montigalà, with 102,600 m² should be highlighted.
The historic gardens of Can Solei and Ca l’Arnús both located in the Casagemes neighborhood, today cannot be understood as two separate units.
Can Solei Park
The origin of the estates dates back to 1565, when Dalmau Ros bought El Mas Solei, an old agricultural estate. It was not until the second half of the 19th century, in 1851, when Evaristo Arnús y de Ferrer, a wealthy and influential man from Barcelona, following the tradition of the well-established families of the 19th century, acquired a part of the old Mas Solei. From that moment until 1936 the farms were separated. Until one day of that year the Arnús family opened the farm to organize a concert in order to raise money for the militias that fought in the Spanish civil war on the side of the Republic.
During the civil war (1936-1939), Can Solei was confiscated and opened to the public. After the war ended, the estate was returned to its former owners. In 1977, Can Solei definitively became the heritage of the city. The Can Solei park has an area of 3.5 ha.
Ca l’Arnús Park
The park has an area of 8 hectares and can be divided into two zones. One of neoclassical style with more than 50 years old and another with about 130 years of history. The historical-landscape complex of Ca l’Arnús is unique in the city of Badalona, both for its unique buildings and for its extraordinary plant and wildlife richness.
The park contains a swimming pool, lawns, ornamental trees, in the neoclassical style area. Instead, the rest of the park is made up of classic elements of the romantic garden: caves, islands, bridges and lakes. Palm trees, pines, shrubs, eucalyptus, banana trees, cypresses and bamboos also abound. Next to the guest house, Evarist Arnús had a meteorological station built. His son, Emilio Arnús, added a castle with a square tower to the park.
Evarist Arnús hosted the royal family for two days on the occasion of the Universal Exhibition of Barcelona in 1888. Both the Queen Regent and her son King Alfonso XIII (aged two and a half years) stayed. The chain that borders the house remains as testimony of this visit, an external sign that a member of the royal family stayed there for the night.
In the first decade of the 21st century, the castle and the historic gardens were restored, which has brought about the recovery of the beauty and splendor of yesteryear. The definitive union of both spaces did not become a reality until 2003, when the Badalona City Council made the symbolic connection effective through a door that joins the two spaces, although a project is pending that will definitively permeate the passage through the two spaces.
Turó d’en Caritg Park
This park has 6.1 hectares of surface, the first phase was inaugurated in 1990 and the third and last in 1999. It is within the limits of the Sistrells neighborhood, very close to the Virgen de la Salud Group. It is a forest-style park that brings together a large number of Mediterranean species. It has the peculiarity of being on a hill that is totally within the urban nucleus. In the park there are pines, holm oaks, elms, ash trees, rosewoods, gillnets, palm trees and shrubs such as rosemary, hardwood (Viburnum tinus), mastic, gorse, cotoneaster, ivy and steppes. In the last phase, the same type of plants were implanted and an amphitheater has been built, with grass slopes, a paved walkway and a geyser-type fountain. All this at the foot of the Caritg hill, in what is called the Plaza del Centenario. This park has been popularly known for many years as Los Cañones because it used to house artillery pieces at its highest altitude to repel the sieges that the city received from the sea.
The mountain belongs to the Tertiary era, the Miocene period. The mountain that is known today was formed as a result of strong erosion on the coastal mountain range that, through torrents and floods, deposited a material that was compacted and inclined at the foot of the hill. The soil of this place is made up of red clays, in which mineral remains such as quartz and slate are inserted, some that can reach more than a meter in diameter.
Various excavations carried out during the first half of the 20th century uncovered various early Christian graves. These burials were made in Roman cemeteries located near the Via Augusta, which passed very close to the mountain. Currently the remains have disappeared, because for many years there was an intense extraction of clays for the vaults for more than two centuries. Thanks to its privileged location, during the last century it was used as a defensive position, which is why the Spanish army occupied it until the 1980s.
Montigalá Park
With an area of 8.1 ha and inaugurated in 1991, it belongs to the Montigalà neighborhood. The central trunk of the park is designed as a semi-forest park, with gentle slopes of mowed grass and accompanied by a Mediterranean vegetation of holm oaks and pines and topped by paved paths. If you enter the avenue Puigfred you will find a wide path flanked by trees and grass.
Park G 4
Designed as a forest park with pines, cork oaks and Mediterranean shrubs. The park is covered with grass and has paved paths. It was inaugurated in 1994 and has an area of 6 ha. Although it belongs to the Montigalà neighborhood, it is halfway to the Bufalà neighborhood. It is the one with the least presence of people, being in a transit area. Without being far from the homes, it does not give the feeling of proximity as both the G-5 park and the Montigalà park do. Although today it is well cared for, in the past it was a bit forgotten by the town hall. It has few benches to rest. It can be considered the least attractive of the three, but it is advisable to visit it.
Park G 5
A park with an autochthonous landscape style, full of plants, arboreal and shrub, deciduous and perennial, in turn incorporating the spontaneous vegetation of the place. It belongs to the Montigalà neighborhood, it was inaugurated in 2003 and has a surface area of 4.20 ha. The soil is made of sauló, open joint pavers, upholstered with grass and meadow. The walls are made of reinforced earth and the small hills are reinforced with breakwater.
Gran Sol Park
Park in the populous neighborhood of Llefià, was designed with multidisciplinary purposes. With simple vegetation, it is a park with a hard surface, with basically arboreal and shrub vegetation. There are pines, poplars, acacias from Japan, holm oaks and cypresses. It joins a promenade paved with banana trees and palm trees. It has an amphitheater that allows hosting popular parties, rallies and recreational celebrations. It was inaugurated in 1985 and occupies 1.8 ha.
Nueva Lloreda Park
Park in which leafy trees and bushy plants abound in order to give the passerby a leisure space, in which to enjoy shaded spaces, walks or reading, as well as sports. The ground is dirt with sand. The park is divided into three levels, as it is slightly inclined, all with a walk around its perimeter. It was inaugurated in 1982, after years of neighborhood protests that demanded an adaptation of an abandoned land that had been used as a landfill. It has 1.5 hectares of surface.
Joaquim Torrents i Lladó Square
Garden dominated by Mediterranean trees, pines, elms, holm oaks, oaks, palms and cypresses. Various pieces of grass harmonize with the paved area together with various shrub fences. At the bottom of the garden is a small hill of grass. It is in the Bufalà neighborhood, it was inaugurated in 1999 and has an area of 0.81 ha.
Casa Barriga Park
Small park landscaped on two levels, with trees, bushes and lawns. Trees of Mediterranean origin, pines and holm oaks, share the space with exotic trees such as jacaranda, or xicandres in Catalan, and pepper trees. We also find trees from the old Can Barriga farm. It should be noted that the irrigation of this park is done with groundwater. It belongs to the Bufalà neighborhood, bordering the historic Dalt de la Vila neighborhood. With an area of 0.52 ha and inaugurated in 1993.
Second Republic Square
Although it gives its name to a square, it is really a park that was inaugurated in 2003, it belongs to the Lloreda neighborhood and has an area of 1.57 ha. For years it was nothing more than a wasteland but, after the urbanization of the nearby area, the residents spent several years claiming a park from the city council that in the end they ended up building.
One third of the park is made up of concrete floors, with the remaining two thirds made up of earth and sand, with grassy areas. This park is equipped with children’s games, table tennis and petanque. It is commonly known by the name of El Parque del Condis, since in the park is the Condis supermarket.
Beaches
The coastline of Badalona, bathed by the Mediterranean Sea, is 5 km of which 500 m of beach were lost with the construction of the new marina. Badalona currently has nine different beaches totaling 4.5 km of fine golden sand, including the nudist beach of La Mora and Barca María, thus being one of the longest in all of Catalonia. The city’s promenade stretches for almost a kilometer. These beaches constitute the tourist base of the population.
Badalona’s beaches have improved a lot, since in the eighties it was a real recklessness to bathe in its waters. At the time, there were no such restrictive environmental policies as there are today. There is now a more efficient treatment of sewage and naval vessels do not wash their holds offshore as easily. As if this were not enough, many polluting industries such as chemicals or hydrocarbons that settled on the coast moved their activity to other regions. Now that same land is a residential area. Today the beaches of Badalona enjoy a four-star category (out of a total of five) assigned by the Department of the Environment of the Generalitat through the Catalan Water Agency.
The construction of the new marina has caused eight of the nine beaches in Badalona to benefit from a greater accumulation of sand, which makes them grow continuously, because the marine currents erode the coastline, removing that same sand from the beaches. south of the port.
The beaches of Badalona, from north to south:
Playa de la Barca María, with a length of 915 m is located between the Torrent Vallmajor and the border with Montgat.
Playa del Cristall, with a length of 300 m, is located in the Canyadó neighborhood and receives the name of an old glass factory that was installed in the area.
Pont d’en Botifarreta Beach, 620 m long, is located between the Canyadó neighborhood and the Riera Matamoros, on this stretch of beach we find such emblematic places of Badalona as the Club Nàutic Bétulo and where the «Titus Club ».
Playa de los Pescadores, with a length of 420 m, is located between Riera Matamoros and Calle del Mar, it is the most central beach coast of La Rambla and receives its name from the fishing boats that are next to the fish market. city.
Playa de los Patines de Vela, with a length of 150 m is located between Calle del Mar and Avenida Martí Pujol, it is the best known beach in Badalona since it is where the Badalona Swimming Club is located, where lovers of sailing.
Playa de la Estación, with a length of 390 m, is located between Avenida Martí Pujol and Avenida Sant Ignasi de Loiola, in this stretch of the coast we can find: The Covered Municipal Pool / Bathrooms and the restaurant El Pescador / Los Baños la La Platja Track and Sports Track. It receives this name because it is located right in front of the Badalona train station.
Pont del Petroli Beach, with a length of 370 m is located between Sant Ignasi de Loiola Avenue and the Plaza de los Patines de Vela, receives this name because the emblematic bridge that receives the same name is located and where the important Anís del Mono factory.
Playa del Coco, with a length of 250 m, is located between the Plaza de los Patines de Vela and Calle Cervantes.
Playa de la Mora, with a length of 585m. It is located between the Port of Badalona and the border of San Adrián de Besós, it is the most southern beach of Badalona and is known par excellence for the practice of nudism.
Sport and leisure
Badalona is a sporty, dynamic and active city. But if for some aspect Badalona is especially recognized for the sport of basketball ” Badalona cradle of basketball. ” Badalona has clubs with a long sports career, standing out mainly in the world of football, swimming, athletics, etc. And also with sports practices with great roots in the city such as the different water sports -with sailing as the main reference-, Pitch and Putt, cross-country racing and cycling, among others. For free or in groups, improvised or planned, collectively or individually,… Badalona lives the sport with energy.
Beyond physical activity, in our city you will find different proposals to fill your free time. You will discover a lot of activities to spend a very pleasant day in our city. If you like to go out to dinner, and have a drink while having a drink, in Badalona you will find what you need. Badalona not only lives by day, it also lives by night. At the northern end of the city, in the Can Ribó industrial estate, in the Manresà district, you can find most of the city’s nightlife, with numerous bars and pubs with a wide variety of musical styles. Also, on Santa Madrona Street, next to La Rambla, there is an outstanding and modern offer of music bars, where you can enjoy the night very close to the sea.