Avinguda de la Llum (

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

for ''Avenue of Light'';

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: Avenida de la Luz) is a now-closed underground mall in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, the first one of its kind to open in Europe, open between 1940 and 1990, on a 2000 square-metre site built in 1929 and boasting 68 commercial establishments, including a movie theater. It was underneath Carrer de Pelai, between Plaça de Catalunya,

Carrer de Balmes ''Carrer de Balmes'' (), named after the Catalan philosopher and ecclesiastic Jaume Balmes, is one of the most important avenues in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain). It was devised in 1859 as part of Ildefons Cerdà urban plan. Balmes is along '' Ca ...

, Carrer de Bergara and Plaça de la Universitat, upstairs of the

Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (, "Catalan Government Railways"), or FGC, is a railway company which operates several unconnected lines in Catalonia, Spain. The lines operated include metro and commuter lines in and around the city o ...

(FGC) station

Catalunya Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, between its vaults and the street. Despite initially being part of an ambitious plan to build an underground city from Plaça Urquinaona to Plaça de la Universitat, the

urban decay Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban deca ...

prevalent in the area from the 1960s onwards prompted its progressive abandonment. The Avinguda de la Llum was in a state of decay and had a large homeless population by the time of its closure on May 21, 1990. On the ground upstairs stood an empty triangular area between buildings which came to be called ''Triangle de la vergonya'' ("Triangle of shame"), which contributed to the adoption of measures to renovate the area in time for the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

. Nowadays its main corridor is part of the underground stage of a Sephora store in the El Triangle shopping centre (its successor), while some parts of it are still abandoned and remain closed to the public.

In popular culture

*It features in

Bigas Luna José Juan Bigas Luna (19 March 1946 – 5 April 2013) was a Spanish film director, designer and artist. His films are typically characterised by a strong emphasis on the erotic, often related to food, something for which he admitted a strong pa ...

's 1978 film ''

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

''. *The rock band Loquillo y los Trogloditas wrote a song about this mall called "Avenida de la Luz". *It features in '' The Labyrinth of Spirits'' (original title: ''El laberinto de los espíritus''), a fiction novel by Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón. This is the fourth and final book in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series.

References

External links

University of Barcelona page on Avinguda de la LlumSong by Loquillo y los TrogloditasBigas Luna's ''Bilbao''
{{Authority control Underground cities Urban exploration Buildings and structures in Barcelona Eixample 1990 disestablishments in Spain Former squats Squats in Spain Former buildings and structures in Spain 1940 establishments in Spain

In popular culture

See also

References

External links